Oxymoronatron

According to Isaac Asimov there are Three Laws of Robotics. 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given to him by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. In their own way, the demented musical scientists and robot enthusiasts of local sci-fi rockers Oxymoronatron have added a fourth law to Asimov's edict: A robot, when ordered, must join with human musicians to kick out the jams at extreme decibels.

Since performing at the Lego League Robotics Competition at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in December, the members of Oxymoronatron have been locked away in their lab working on several different projects. In addition to remixing songs for an upcoming CD and completing the full-length DVD Robots Gone Wild, Robot X5, Hard Wood Paneling, Jet, MC WoodChuck and amERICan Dream have been revamping their robotic band mates and working on a few new prototypes. The cyberpunk combo recently emerged from the latest round of experimentations to play its first show of the year at Elbo's on March 20. Release dates for the CD and DVD were still tentative at press time but in the meantime, Oxymoronatron will satiate human and robotic fans alike with a split 7-inch single with local post-punkers My Latex Brain set for release in April. To find out more, visit www.oxymoronatron.com.
- Dayton Dailey News

I had to look twice to make sure I wasn’t loosing my mind: Oxymoronatron, scheduled to play Chicago’s hotspot Empty Bottle club on a Saturday? Could this possibly be true? I’d met band that couldn’t get a Saturday night at the Bottle even after they’d signed to a major label!

I checked it out on the web, and indeed, Dayton’s favorite, chaotic performance artists were most accursedly to be there. So with my roommate in tow, we went to show our support for the Gem City.

We Arrived during Oxymoronatron’s sound check. The group sounded very different then the last time I’d seen them, but then again, Oxymoronatron is a rare band that sounds different every show.

We talked briefly with the band’s members, then stationed ourselves near the stage to wait for another friend and the appearance of what was to be , by all accounts, a show the likes of which Chicago had not yet experienced.

To Call Oxymoronatron a band is inaccurate. Oxy isn’t so much about the music as it is abut the presentation. The idea, of course, is that there are MAD ROBOTS taking over the world, and as renegades from an embittered interplanetary war, they must attempt to warn us all about the mad robots’ evil plot. Or something like that, it’s hard to tell. A home movie projected onto a screen behind the stage opened the show, followed by a “grand entrance” b the band members (read: three costumed dudes charging up very loud. The “transmission” began, and the group played some of its odes to action figures, TV shows and pop culture to an audience that remained skeptical.

The show was interrupted at various points with messages from “the leader” and scrambled signals from the mad robots. Two things stick out: No. 1, how well the video footage went with the music; and No. 2, just how much these guys don’t care if people get it.

Frankly, the group’s concept is something hard to follow. On record, these guys sound a lot more together than they are live, but then, given the fact some of their instruments are remote controlled by audience members, it’s hard to rag on their technical abilities. Besides, in what other Dayton band can you see a man hump a keyboard?

Part electroclash, part one-chord hard rock, Oxy isn’t afraid to jump around, run off the stage and antagonize its audience. Only later would one of the band members observe, “Man, Chicago is a rough town.” While Chicago might not have been ready for the chaos that was Oxymoronatron, the group is prepared to deliver the message again. As our Chicago friend so elegantly put it: “For sheer entertainment, the $8 admission was well worth it.”
- Impact Weekly

In the summer of 2000, in a galaxy far, far away, three young men (“robots”) joined a musical coalition to impact the Dayton scene. Full of slaphappy antics, the musicians smacked audiences with a wave of dirty, electronic punk the likes of which few have heard before. Oxymoronatron (yeah, say that in one breath) set the stage for action heroes everywhere with their cyber view of the world through techno glasses.

With songs such as “Robotic Parts,” “Show Me Your Rubies” and “Action Hank,” it’s hard to tell whether these guys are out of their minds or just cartoon-crazed robots at heart. The comical trio, known only by unique nicknames, prides itself on originality. Mr. Knuckles on rhythm guitar and Hardwood Paneling on various incarnations of keyboards and drum programming help to back up front-man/vocalist Robot X5, who also plays the guitar, bass, moog and turntables.

Music ideal for the 1980’s TV-fanatic and videogame-player, Oxymoronatorn’s songs range in topic from tributes to “The A-Teams’” Mr. T to the most violent videogame series currently on the shelves, “Grand Theft Auto.”

“Grand Theft” (the song) puts you right into the video game. You feel as if you’re actually in Liberty and Vice City experiencing all the mayhem,” Knuckles said.

Having grown up watching such television shows as “G.I. Joe,” “Battlestar Gallactica,” “Ren and Stimpy,” “Transformers,” “Voltron,” “Quantum Leap,” “The Simpsons” and “The A-Team” the musicians’ addiction to science fiction and action heroes forms the Holy Grail of their musical backbone.

According to Hardwood, the band’s “stage presence is so thick that you have to eat it with a fork, not a spoon.” Accordingly, the guys like tot stir things up during live performances.

“I constantly think of how I can push the envelope,” Hardwood said. “I want every show to be something fresh and new for the audience. I don’t actually care how they react, as long as we get a reaction.”

“We played a show at Canal Street where we rocked so hard we broke all of our gear-two guitars, one keyboard, three mics, one computer and three robots,” Robot X5 said. “We duct taped what we could to keep it going. It was a blast. We were blowing stuff up.”

Similar to his fellow bandmates, Robot X5 has been raising musical hell since he was an infant.

“When I was one-year old I discovered how to scratch records. My dad was pissed. They took photos of me crawling around with huge headphones on … in the nude,” Robot X5 said. “In kindergarten I was involved in an experiment where they tried to teach a select few to play the violin. Ever since, I have been playing music.”

Robot X5, who, according to Knuckles, “sounds like the Incredible Hulk raring,” found his niche listening to James Brown, Jon Spencer, Devo, Brainiac, XBXRX, the Beastie Boys and Beck. “All these entertainers know how to keep my sprockets moving,” he said.

Knuckles, who refers to himself in the first person, said he “prefers the soothing rock sounds of the Dead Milkmen.” Hardwood, on the other hand, got hooked on Queen, Joy Electric and Aphex Twin while growing up.

Taking themes straight out of their childhood, the members of Oxymoronatron each embody a robotic action hero as their musical alter egos. According to this fantasy, “The Mad Robots are the bands arch enemy. They sabotage equipment and from time to time adduct band members and replace them with robotic doppelgangers,” Knuckles said. “They wan to dominate the music scene throughout the universe, but to do that they must first eliminate their greatest competition.”

In order to overcome the fictional Mad Robots the imaginative rockers “use the power of music, M.C. Hammer’s pants, OXY-GEN and science to combat evil robots,” Robot X5 said.

Hardwood added, “I absolutely adore all music. I tend to gravitate toward anything which is keyboard-based, as that is my instrument of choice, but in reality, I love anything with a good beat and nice melody.”

Featuring techno drumbeats from a keyboard synthesized background noise and robotic vocals, Oxymoronatron’s recent EP, Demo CD Version .0001 (the follow up recording to Version .01 featuring drummer Rocket Fuel) is an appropriate soundtrack for the life of a computer-savvy, sci-fi addict.

“While Version .01 had a lot of punch, it was designed more for listening a Jaguar with the top down. Version .0001 is more danceable, but still has the harsh edge,” Robot X5 said.

The band hopes to release a full-length album in 2003, followed by a nation-wide tour. “We are also working on a VCD and DVD of our live shows and a music video,” Robot X5 said. (We have) lots of plans. There are more modifications to the robots that will be very cool.
- Impact Weekly

* What happens when you combine songs about kung-fu, a wall of singing plastic fish and a (literally) electric singer/guitarist man? Oxymoronatron, of course.

Fronted by Jason Sanders, or Robot X5 as he likes to be known, Oxymoronatron is one of the more unique bands around town. They formed in the summer of 2000, and, after a six-month break, the band is hitting the stage again. With a back story that smacks of the X- Files (secret government agencies, cover-ups and kung-fu assassination attempts are just the beginning), Oxymoronatron brings a much needed sense of humor to local music.

With songs including odes to Mr. T, the Iron Chef and the Cartoon Network, the band is winning over new fans with every performance.

`That was an experience. That was just incredible,' said local music fan Turtle after a recent Oxymoronatron show. `You just have to see it to understand.'

Their stage show is what sets Oxymoronatron apart from the pack. Sanders plays guitar and sings lead vocals while dressed in swanky '70s suit and doing kung-fu moves. James Cook (keyboards) and Arnell Johnston (guitar) add to the funky mix with a range of costumes and their own unique stage presence.

But what really sets them apart, and what gets the crowd on its feet, are the robots. It started last autumn with MR 7-12 Wall of Fish, a contraption of singing `Billy Bass' hooked up to synchronize with the band's songs. Now that they have reformed, they have added three others to the lineup: MR 3 DJ Robot, an upside-down trashcan on wheels with a turntable spinning on top; MR 4 Bass Robot, a Halogen lamp with a bass duct taped to the front; and the biggest robot of all, MR 6 Drum Robot. The drumbot has a bass drum attached to the front and the robot's head lights up and looks like the ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The band depends on audience members to get the robots going, so seeing the band isn't necessarily a passive experience.

Their Battlebots with soul sound has been all over the place lately (Canal Street band playoffs, Elbo's Courtyard Collision, MS Walk) and for more information about how to see the band soon, go to www.oxymoronatron.com/.
- Dayton Daily News

After the long wait, Oxymoronatron took their place on stage!

Early on, I was speaking with the front man, known only as Robot X5, only to find out the truth, "...that basically, ALL humans, deep inside, really want robots to yell at them!" And yell they did! Now, before I continue, I want to explain the situation here. The sound man never tested nor checked the sound system before they went on, and during the entire set, was basically NOWHERE to be found!

Hmmm! Could he be one of the "Mad Robots" set out to destroy Oxymoronatron? Could be, but that didn't stop them! They pulverized the stage with their brash rock/punk passages, mixing the abuse of several instruments, including scratching from a turntable, and hand held keyboards! Their tongue-in-cheek approach of their original songs were humorous, and they shined during "Mr.T's Advice" & "MC Hammer's Pants"!

This package of robotic carnage is not for everyone, but the people in attendance seemed to enjoy the hilarious antics, especially the girl who couldn't keep her extremely large mammaries to herself! Uh...thanx, I think!!

The highlight of the evening was when the human patrons were subliminally forced to request an encore, and were enslaved to participate in tormenting Robot X5's electronic effects whilst he droned savagely away at his guitar-like appendage!

An interesting evening to say the least, the musical noises and attacks had an adverse effect on a few humans, mainly women...exposing their breasts, letting men grope and salivate on them, and at least one female who couldn't seem to convince ANYONE, even her husband's best friend, to copulate with her, although she kept trying...and trying...and trying!!"
- DaytonBands.com