Oval Opus

Meet Oval Opus...the hottest upcoming band in the country, fresh out of Cincinnati, OH. Having opened for many favorite artists, they're embarking on a musical journey and want you to come alone! Look for their brand new release, Oxygen, to hit stores in mid-December; and check them out at a city near you!

Why this name?
Do you want the real reason? It has something to do with a favorite sandwich. You'll have to figure the rest out by asking us!

Do you play live?
Yes! Anywhere we can, and we love it. We've had many special moments, including opening for Vertical Horizon, Sister Hazel, Guster, and The Pat McGee Band.

If you make it big..?
WHEN we make it big, we'll always remember how we started.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
We feel it helps the "up-and-coming" artists get their music out there, just like this site is doing.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Band History:
The Cincinnati area band, Oval Opus, has enjoyed overwhelming success in its short three-year history. This band was created in the winter of 1997 at Miami University. Dan Edmondson and his younger brother Josh had been playing together for years but felt as though something was missing. That winter, the two brothers met Aaron Patrick at the University. Aaron, who is rooted in folk and gospel music, quickly became a friend to the brothers and a musical partnership had begun. Dan grew up mimicking players such as Kenny Aronoff, Steve Gadd, and Dave Weckl. His younger brother Josh is a student of blues and jazz, but grew up admiring folk guitarists such as Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, and James Taylor. The three of them were rewarded with each other’s musical background and were ready to move forward. During the next six months, the three wrote, produced, and arranged the music for their debut album Wagonwheel.
This self-produced album turned out to be a great success. Just five months after the release of the album, Oval Opus was named “Cincinnati’s Best New Artist” at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. The following summer, they had created such a buzz in the area that they were asked to open for “The Doobie Brothers” during their Cincinnati stop at Riverbend Music Center. In May of 1999, the band was blessed with an accomplished bassist, Amos Heller. Amos is experienced in funk and jazz, which adds a unique texture to the already acoustic sound of the band.

Oval Opus is featured on the WOXY-FM’s 97xposure compilation album which was created from the area’s 20 best bands out of 208 that were vying for a spot on the disc. In March of 2000, they were voted “Cincinnati’s Favorite Band” and “Cincinnati’s Best Alternative Rock Band” by The Cincinnati Enquirer. The band also had the opportunity to perform with Guster during their 2000 winter tour and Sister Hazel during their spring tour. Oval Opus is currently in the studio recording their second album, which is due for release this fall and promises to outdo the standard that was set with the first album. In the meantime, Oval Opus has continued to entertain packed clubs throughout Ohio because of the band’s growing fan base. Their energy-packed shows are second to none and they will proceed to fill their schedule with dates all of the Midwest. - Soundclick.com

Having played together since their high-school years, the members of Oval Opus are now focusing on adult issues through their writing.

“We wanted to write songs with bigger issues. It’s a different writing, it’s a little more grown-up,” said singer Aaron Patrick. “We wanted to take out time. We didn’t want to force it.”

This loving singer, whose military father recently was activated to help in New Orleans, is more than just a front man in a band; he understands real-life emotions, whether they are loving or hurtful.

The band’s new LP is due out in December, but Oval Opus isn’t rushing the album they’ve been working on since 2003.

“We wanted to write songs, take them on the road, let them breathe and come alive,” Patrick said. “I feel like I learned a lot over the years. With this record we’re ready to take the next step.”

On their new EP, the song “First Name Kids” floats with lyrics, “After all the dreams and the first kids’ names/ There's no one to blame/ But I'm still here without you/And do you feel the same when I tell you that I'm feeling all right?”

Do not let the maturity of Patrick scare a first-time listener away. The sound of Oval Opus is very similar to O.A.R., a college radio type of sound. Also, it is light and airy, like Jason Mraz.

Oval Opus has shared the stage with Guster, Maroon 5 and Fastball.

“Erwin Musper is the producer of the new album. He’s produced albums with Van Halen and Bon Jovi. There’s a reason his name is on over 80 million records,” Patrick said.

The band plans to tour the East Coast, including a stop at The Outpost in Kent.

Mahoney’s favorite aspect about playing a live show is the one-on-one contact with fans.

“We feed off the energy of the crowd,” Patrick said. “Some of the best shows are at packed clubs where everyone is sweaty, and there’s an electric energy in the air. You’re out there with your emotions on your sleeve.”

Oval Opus is a solid band, keeping the same line-up together for eight years and four albums.

“Collective debt as a band held us together,” Mahoney said with a chuckle.

Another project that Oval Opus has succeeded in accomplishing is earning a spot in the top three semi-finalists in the MTV/Coca-Cola Make it Real Contest, which awards the hardest working unsigned music artist.

“It’s a really unique job with this business. But it all comes down to the music,” Patrick said. - Kentnewsnet.com

Oval Opus is a four-man band hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio. In their eighth year as a band, these guys could easily be called seasoned, having toured the college circuit, as well as visiting at least 25 other markets in the nation, supporting their growing repertoire of music. I had a chance to sit down with the band in the Mount Café, and get to know them a bit better.

The band consists of brothers Dan and Josh Edmonson, on drums and guitar respectively; lead singer Aaron Patrick and bassist Patrick "Trick" Martin.

"We met at Miami University [in Ohio] and since we're brothers, together we met Aaron at a party. He was sitting around playing guitar, and we talked to him and formed over there, started some writing sessions, played some stuff there, and we met Patrick later on," Dan says. Martin, born in Fort Lauderdale, joined the band in 2002, to help the band record their third studio album "Red Sky Recovery."

The band already has quite an extensive library of albums building, and quite a loyal following along the Mason-Dixon Line, especially throughout their home state of Ohio. I posed the classic question on the band's influences. They responded jokingly at first saying Madonna, but noted that while they could claim bands like Barenaked Ladies, Live, Sister Hazel and others in the college rock genre as influences, but as time has gone on they feel they "it's weird to have overall influences like a big funnel, but you kinda hope when it comes through the other end, its something unique, something very much ours, and I think Oval Opus has tried to do that, we've found our own niche, found out what we are."

"It's always different, it's always involving," Patrick said about recording a studio album. "I mean for our first record, I cut vocals in our bathroom, set up in our living room to do the recording. Our second album, we worked with a producer, and both were very different experiences." The band is currently working on a new album in between a busy touring schedule. Patrick continued, "We're in the process right now with a new producer, and we kind of spent the last ten days in there, and blocked out about forty days to just finish a new record. So it's always exciting to get in there, and into an environment where you don't have any of the external pains associated with touring." - The Mountain Echo

If last month's Cincinnati Entertainment Awards had recognized the "Most Ambitious Local Band," Oval Opus surely would have won. The Pop/Rock quartet is poised for a giant leap to the national scene with the release of their latest CD, Oxygen, later this month.

The band members all balance waiting tables during the lunch rush with frequent rehearsals and weekly gigs, locally and in Cleveland and Michigan. Any spare time is devoted to perfecting their songwriting, which Oval Opus stresses is a cooperative process.

While lead singer Aaron Patrick usually takes charge in the lyrical department, songs are a result of the entire band's input. Whether they start with a guitar hook by Josh Edmonson, a drumming sequence by his older brother, Dan, or a bass line from Amos Heller, songs are first brought to the table for everyone's opinion.

"We don't move forward with a song until we're all happy," they insist.

So what's the product of all this collaboration? "We end up with something that's a little of all of us," says Patrick. This evidently includes his own Gospel and Folk roots, the Edmonson brother's experience in Jazz and Blues, and Heller's undying affinity for old Heavy Metal.

With many different musical backgrounds and no single decision-maker, one would think agreement would be difficult to come by. But not according to Oval Opus.

"We all pull from different areas," explains Heller. "I'm excited to do the next album already, because of the diversity. It's really fun writing with these guys. When we get something that's really good, we all like it. We all trust each other."

The younger Edmonson agrees. "Everyone's pretty much on the same page," he says.

Oxygen, the result of a long, 14-month effort, provides strong evidence of the band's persistence and devotion to each other and their music. "We started in August of last year and scratched it all in December," says Patrick. Under the direction of a seasoned producer, Chris Estes, Oval Opus was able to create a more marketable album without radically changing their approach.

"Chris helped us find our niche and reevaluate what we wanted to do," elaborates Patrick.

Although Oval Opus committed to a definite Pop feel for the new CD, the band maintains its usual diversity between songs. "Walk Away" and "Dixie Queen" feature a Country leaning, while the opening track, "What About Tomorrow?" is an instrumentally strong, straightforward Modern Rock song with a lot of depth, easily the most effective on the disc. The soft ballad "Don't Love Me Anymore" brings 'N Sync to mind, but fortunately it retains a stronger sense of musicality and originality than the typical "boy band" product. Ironically, the hidden track at the end of the CD best reveals the band's wide variety of vocal influences from heartfelt Gospel to silly, lyrical stylings akin to Barenaked Ladies.

Oval Opus, always conscious of the possibility of crossing the line between originality and marketability, admits to purposely creating a radio-friendly album, but adamantly defends their position.

"Pop does mean popular," recognizes the younger Edmonson, "but we wanted something different."

"We're not selling out," reinforces Patrick. "It's still us. It's not a full departure, just a change of season."

"It was a pretty serious change for us," allows Heller. "But it's also made us much more savvy as writers and businessmen."

The most refreshing thing about Oval Opus is their honesty and their realism about what it takes to make it big in today's music industry.

"We wanted to do a professional, national CD," asserts Heller. "We want people to come see us and say, 'These guys are local, and they shouldn't be.' "

The band is marketing its album as much as humanly possible, even resorting to handwritten announcements in sidewalk chalk on the University of Cincinnati campus.

"We're not allowing ourselves to fail," says Heller.

"If you want to get to a certain level, you always need to be one step ahead," explains the elder Edmonson. "That's what we're trying to do."

But no matter what their goals, Oval Opus never loses sight of the main reason they play: their love of music. Expect no stage fright from these guys; they live to play in front of an audience. The band is committed to making the live performance a major production, a special show, while having as much fun as possible.

"The energy given off is definitely given back," explains Patrick.

"You'll definitely have a good time, no matter who you are," assures Heller.

OVAL OPUS will host their CD release party Friday, Dec. 15 at Bogart's, with openers Austin Speigel, the Mike Farley Band, and Promenade. - Cincinnati City Beat

"Oval Opus is one of the Midwest’s best kept secrets. Due to the band’s drive and dedication, their undercover existence will soon be uncovered."


- Flyer News

Oval Opus probably chose to self title their new album because it really is who they are. They dive right in a bring that pop-alternative sound to the listener right off the bat with some well written songs. The two opening tracks are surely going to catch the ear of any music fan and hook them into wanting to hear the entire album through. And why shouldn't they want to? The best stuff comes towards the end of the disc. Oval Opus decided to take a couple of their classic tracks and redo them to make them even better than they already are. The most recent track to wow fans was 'Anchorman' and previously appeared on their self titled EP, which preceded this album. It could be Oval Opus' best song to date, and may be the one that has their sounding ringing in the ears of radio DJs and label representatives. The last track is surely the most classic and most recognizable of the bands songs. 'What About Tomorrow', which appeared on one of the bands' earlier albums, had new life breathed into it in the studio and reminds us of why Oval Opus keeps on trekking and recording albums. This offering is sure to wow any listener, especially the ones that will recognize that these guys have what it takes to make it in the biz. Rest assured, this won't be the last we hear from Oval Opus.
- ThisIsModern.net

Oval Opus is a group that emphasizes the live show with its intense vocals, hypnotic groove, and irresistable melodies. Radio friendly Rock/Pop that is soothing to the ear. - LizardMusic.com