OHMME


OHMME is a rock band from Chicago, composed of singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist duo Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart formed in 2014. Since 2016, Matt Carroll has been OHMME's drummer.

Background

Both Cunningham and Stewart attended Whitney Young Magnet High School on the city's near west side. While Macie Stewart was in high school she played and sang in Kids These Days. She co-founded Marrow with Cunningham's brother, Liam, in 2013 after Kids These Days disbanded. Drummer Matt Carroll also played in Marrow. As of 2019, Stewart also plays violin and keyboards, and sings, in Chicago's avant-garde jazz community, including as a member of Marker, led by Ken Vandermark. Cunningham played in bands, worked on solo projects and curated music festivals since 2008. Since 2017 or 2018, Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, along with Ken Vandermark, Anton Hatwich, Steve Marquette, and Isaiah Spencer, also participate in the annual winter performances in Chicago of the Jeff Albert-led Yes We Can Band, which covers New Orleans rhythm & blues/funk tunes, especially those of Allen Toussaint and the Meters.

History

According to Cunningham, the band started because, "we knew we could sing well together, and we wanted to make some noise with the guitar". Both artists are trained as classical pianists and were familiar with the scope of sonic spaces keyboards had to offer but, according to Stewart, "since we were interested in experimenting and creating something different from what we had both done in the past, we chose guitar as our outlet for this band. We wanted to create parameters for ourselves that were both new and uncomfortable to force ourselves into a different creative space”.
OHHME have been touring both nationally and internationally since January 2016, including playing Pitchfork Music Festival in 2016. They have toured with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Iron & Wine, The Joy Formidable, Tortoise, and The Ophelias. In 2016, OHMME added drummer Matt Carroll, who also worked with Cunningham and Stewart in the band Marrow.
OHHME released their first single on November 13, 2015, a self-titled EP in 2017, and two full-length albums: Parts in 2018 and Fantasize Your Ghost in 2020. OHMME have vocal and instrumental credits on projects of other musicians, including Chance the Rapper, Thor Harris, Richard Thompson, Twin Peaks, Ken Vandermark,, V.V. Lightbody, and Whitney.
OHMME have been dubbed "the band at the heart of Chicago's music community," by Noisey.
Fantasize Your Ghost, OHMME's second full-length album, was released on June 5, 2020 by Joyful Noise Recordings.

Band members

Albums
EPs
Singles