Biography
O. Children took their name from a Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds track and emerged in London after the short-lived, provocatively named Bono Must Die collapsed once Bono initiated legal action against the group. Tobi O’Kandi on vocals and Andi Sleath on drums assembled the project in 2008, then recruited Gauthier Ajarrista for guitar and Harry James for bass to finalize the roster. Drawing heavily from 1980s sources, the quartet’s music centers on the brooding, introspective atmosphere first shaped by Joy Division and simultaneously incorporates the sweeping, gothic textures long identified with the Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim. The band secured a deal with Deadly People Recordings in the U.K. in early 2009, which issued their first 7-inch single—the limited-edition Dead Disco Dancer—later that August. At the start of 2010 they entered the studio with Jas Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco to begin recording.