Oneida is an American experimental rock band from Brooklyn, New York, United States. Their influences include psychedelic rock, krautrock, electronic, noise rock, and minimalism, but the overall structure and intent of their music is not taken directly from any of these styles. Common elements found in their music include improvisation, repetition, driving rhythms, antique and analog equipment, and an overall eclecticism.
History
In 2001 Oneida performed at the El Macombo in Toronto with the Constantines and Grand Total. In 2002 the band released an LP, Each One Teach One, which begins with two especially long tracks, Sheets of Easter and Antibiotics, the former over fourteen minutes long, the latter more than sixteen. Both of these songs consist of one repeated riff, which typifies the band's frequent use of repetition. Oneida's music can also be distinguished by the band's use of antique keyboards and analog electric pianos. The band also operates Brah Records, an imprint of Jagjaguwar. The label has released records by Dirty Faces, Parts & Labor, Oakley Hall, Home, Company, and an Oneida/Plastic Crimewave Sound split 12". In September 2007, the group celebrated 10 years of existence with a concert at the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York City. In June 2008, it was announced that the band would be releasing a triptych of new records, referred to as the "Thank Your Parents" series. The first of these was Preteen Weaponry, which was released in August 2008, and the second was a triple album, Rated O, released in July 2009. The final release, the experimental Absolute II, followed in 2011. The band were chosen to perform their third extended 'Ocropolis' set at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival curated by ATP & Portishead in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In 2011, the band lost its dedicated studio "The Ocropolis" when the Monster Island Complex was demolished: one of the innumerable casualties of Brooklyn's endlessly compounding gentrification. A List of Burning Mountains, released in 2012, is "the last transmission from the Ocropolis." The band retreated from the studio for a number of years in favor of the stage, and putting-out a variety of ultra-limited, uncompromising releases that documented the band’s continuously unfolding journey over the next few years. In 2016, they released their album-length collaboration with Rhys Chatham, What's Your Sign? By this time, they'd started rehearsing and recording at Secret Project Robot and in 2017 signed with Joyful Noise Recordings to promote and release their next album Romance.
