Biography
O. crafts experimental instrumental pieces from the bare essentials of drums and baritone saxophone, fusing metal, dub, jungle, funk, noise, and additional strands into a single volatile sound. London residents Tash Keary on drums and Joe Henwood on saxophone apply the exacting execution and responsive dialogue shaped by their jazz foundation to constantly shifting, risk-taking arrangements. Those foundations first appeared across the 2023 Slice EP and reached full, aggressive expression on the 2024 debut album WeirdOs.
Keary started drumming at age nine, beginning with pillows and tissue boxes before acquiring a proper kit during secondary school. Programmed rhythms from hip-hop and dance music shaped her earliest tastes until jazz intervened, drawing her toward the approaches of Art Blakey and Karriem Riggins. In 2018 she joined the Female Frontline ensemble under the Tomorrow's Warriors initiative. A Tomorrow's Warriors performance the following year introduced her to Henwood, who had spent ten years in the Afro-jazz outfit Nubiyan Twist and absorbed the effects-heavy methods of experimental saxophonist Pete Wareham.
An immediate rapport surfaced whenever the pair played, yet separate schedules postponed serious collaboration until the COVID-19 pandemic halted live work. During lockdowns they merged households, bonding over Radiohead, Deftones, and Floating Points while improvising for extended stretches. These sessions steered their music away from jazz and toward the rock, electronic, and rap textures they had favored in youth, directions that surfaced once the duo began performing publicly in early 2022. Initially calling themselves Toe, they adopted O. after discovering a Japanese post-rock band already using the former name. A show at Brixton’s Windmill venue opened tours alongside Gilla Band and Black Midi. The connection with Black Midi’s producer Dan Carey followed, leading to a deal with his Speedy Wunderground imprint and the November 2022 release of the debut single “OGO.” A year later the Carey-recorded Slice EP appeared, and in June 2024 the duo delivered their first album, the Carey-produced WeirdOs, whose tracks moved freely among doom metal, breakbeats, and dub passages.
Keary started drumming at age nine, beginning with pillows and tissue boxes before acquiring a proper kit during secondary school. Programmed rhythms from hip-hop and dance music shaped her earliest tastes until jazz intervened, drawing her toward the approaches of Art Blakey and Karriem Riggins. In 2018 she joined the Female Frontline ensemble under the Tomorrow's Warriors initiative. A Tomorrow's Warriors performance the following year introduced her to Henwood, who had spent ten years in the Afro-jazz outfit Nubiyan Twist and absorbed the effects-heavy methods of experimental saxophonist Pete Wareham.
An immediate rapport surfaced whenever the pair played, yet separate schedules postponed serious collaboration until the COVID-19 pandemic halted live work. During lockdowns they merged households, bonding over Radiohead, Deftones, and Floating Points while improvising for extended stretches. These sessions steered their music away from jazz and toward the rock, electronic, and rap textures they had favored in youth, directions that surfaced once the duo began performing publicly in early 2022. Initially calling themselves Toe, they adopted O. after discovering a Japanese post-rock band already using the former name. A show at Brixton’s Windmill venue opened tours alongside Gilla Band and Black Midi. The connection with Black Midi’s producer Dan Carey followed, leading to a deal with his Speedy Wunderground imprint and the November 2022 release of the debut single “OGO.” A year later the Carey-recorded Slice EP appeared, and in June 2024 the duo delivered their first album, the Carey-produced WeirdOs, whose tracks moved freely among doom metal, breakbeats, and dub passages.
Albums
Singles
