Conny Ochs

Known as a "dark folk" performer, Conny Ochs draws listeners in with gripping solo acoustic sets and recordings marked by desolation alongside emotional depth. The force of his output, paired with his musical beginnings, has earned him firm acceptance within Europe's metal community, where he maintains close ties. He has collaborated on recordings and tours with Scott "Wino" Weinrich along with various doom metal outfits and has appeared at the renowned Roadburn Festival.

Cornelius Ochs entered the world in 1979 in Halle (formerly Salle), an East German city. Rock & roll captured his attention by age ten, when heavy metal became a passion and he picked up the guitar. While still attending high school at fifteen, he took the frontman role in the local group In June and spent the following ten years performing and singing across several additional bands.

Early in the 2000s, membership in Zombie-Joe introduced Ochs to Woody Guthrie's catalog, an encounter that broadened and reshaped his artistic direction. He recognized immediate alignment between Guthrie's narrative ballads and his own heavy metal sensibilities. Under the name Z-Joe and the Dustbowlers, he delivered the Guthrie homage A Woody Zombie Hootenanny in 2002.

Ochs kept touring alongside Zombie-Joe yet also launched solo acoustic performances, during which he encountered the work of Townes Van Zandt and Chris Whitley, both of whom became central influences. In 2009 he co-founded the band the Baby Universal, whose self-titled debut appeared in 2010. That same year he issued the solo acoustic album Raw Love Songs on his own; the collection contained only original material written across the prior two years. Exile on Mainstream later signed him and reissued the record in 2011.

Late in 2011 Ochs crossed paths with Wino during the metal veteran's European tour. Drawn to Ochs' material, the two began appearing together as a duo. Their alliance produced two 2012 albums: Heavy Kingdom via Exile on Mainstream and Labour of Love for Latitudes. The latter featured covers of songs by Whitley, Joy Division, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Van Zandt. Follow-up joint tours sold out repeatedly across Europe.

Ochs' second solo acoustic effort, Black Happy, arrived on Exile on Mainstream in 2013. Its austere sound, featuring unamplified guitar passages laced with metallic riffs, joined with stark yet lyrical and sincere words to earn critical notice and expand his live following. Invitations to support doom and black metal acts followed. The three-track single "Suiciety" surfaced the next year.

He reunited with Wino for the third joint release, Freedom Conspiracy, which appeared in 2015. Toward year's end he returned to the studio with producer Thommy Krawallo, who had overseen the Black Happy sessions. Ochs broadened his sonic palette; although acoustic guitar stayed central, he incorporated piano, drums, organ, bass, and electric guitars. The resulting album, Future Fables, reached listeners at the close of February 2016.