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Recent Quotes:
"This is a band to get excited about! Their songs take you places, undulating, unraveling, ungodly, otherworldly. Excellent vocals and superior musicianship.... I love this music!"
~Sylvia Massy, Famed Producer/Mixer
"Oedipus....A remarkable blend of heavy and melodic destined to be a major factor soon."
~Ron Nevison, Famed Producer/Mixer
"In an industry saturated with style over substance, Oedipus breaks through with a heavy dose of high energy rock comprised of standout musical performances, hooky melodies, with an artistic component that push mainstream rock to a new high."
~TuneJar.com
Oedipus seems pre-destined to kill convention and marry progressive heavy rock with an artistic twist that most certainly makes their sound rise high above the dull roar of mainstream modern rock.
This Los Angeles based power trio have taken the hyphenated genre model of such acts as Tool, Clutch and 311 and created their own hybrid that embraces the theatrics of contemporaries like Muse, Coheed and Cambria and System of a Down. In fact, legendary producer Sylvia Massy (Tool, System of a Down, etc) mixed three songs on the new Oedipus record after seeking the band out.
Welcome to the return of a rock n roll intelligentsia. Singer/bassist Jeremy Haffner has successfully tapped the veins running through his three main obsessions: music, art and literature. A self-proclaimed constant reader, Haffner chose the name Oedipus after spending a large portion of his formative years immersed in Greek mythology; he is also fluent in Latin. Much of the new record was inspired by Haffner’s recent digs into the works of Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Choke) and legendary drunk scribe Charles Bukowski (Women, Post Office, etc).
A few years ago, Haffner founded popular Downtown LA art gallery/event space Hangar 1018; where he created a thriving crossover scene between modern art and live music. This led to relationships between Oedipus and such acclaimed and high profile lowbrow artists as Bob Dob and Seamus Conley; who respectively provided original cover artwork for the band’s two full-length independent releases, 2006’s Humbility and 2008’s Covetous.
Together with guitarist Stephen Cohen, who formed the band with Haffner as young teens; and Midwest ex-pat Keith Larsen on drums who joined in 2004, they’ve managed to accomplish an impressive list of feats for an unsigned band. Oedipus has recorded and self-released a full length album and two EPs; they’ve self-booked and promoted several US tours; had their music placed in major motion pictures; and have acquired over 20,000 fans on their MySpace page.
Stephen and Jeremy grew up together playing on the same youth ice hockey teams from the age of 6 until 18 when they permanently traded their hockey sticks in for their guitars. Cohen says, "Touring with Oedipus is just an extension of what we grew up doing; traveling all over to play hockey tournaments. In 1997 we were the first California youth team to ever win a National Championship, so we know firsthand that hard work can pay off."
If knowledge equals power and you add heavy guitars, intricate bass, thunderous drums, melodic vocals and the kind of self-starting spirit that will stop at nothing; you've got a meteor headed straight between your ears, and with Oedipus’ momentum picking up more speed every day, heads up… it’ll probably hit you sooner than later.
Written by M. DeSantis, Los Angeles, CA. February 2008.
