Ohm

Quote:

Part frightened child, part rabid cur, the music snaps around your ankles, sometimes retreating, sometimes advancing; from world-weary rock ballads to an ambientesque drum'n bass. At times I was put in the mind of David Bowie 's younger days, but not for long enough to be lulled into any secure places.  Direction Magazine March 2000

Prior to the formation of Ohm all of the members of the band had been involved in various other  South African musical projects, some of which are still continuing.

Albums:

1. OHM
   

Brendan Jury is a well-known face on the South African music scene. Famous for forming Urban Creep, the biggest and most popular rock group in South Africa at the time, BrendanÙs musical career is expansive to say the least. Playing viola and piano from an early age he went on to study at Natal University where he gained a doctorate in musicology. After his sojourn with Urban Creep he founded Trans.Sky with Andre Van Rensburg. This dance oriented, techno, drumÙnÙbass, trance band have released one album and currently exist as a studio project. Brendan has worked on a number of movie soundtracks as well as composing for television commercials. He has also worked with Greg Hunter on a track for a compilation produced by Survival Intl.  Brian Eno and Kris Weston. More recently he has been invited by Faithless to play with them and Michael Stipes in San Francisco as part of a prestigious International venture called The Astronaut Project.

Andre Van Rensburg started playing guitar aged seven years and was classically trained. At 18 he moved to London where he busked for a year before returning to South Africa to form Supernature with whom he produced two albums released on Sugar Cane records. Following this he started playing with Butterfly 9, (with whom he still plays) who have released five successful albums. He then went on to play guitar with Brendan in Trans.Sky, before forming Ohm. He also continues to work on sound installations and multi-media events in galleries and dance exhibitions under pseudonym Poison Dwarf.

Sven McAlpine started playing violin at a very early age and with expertise on a number of instruments could be defined as a musical prodigy. At 16 he started playing drums in a death metal band Urban Assault, going on to form the nucleus of Plain as the main singer/songwriter. In Ohm he plays guitar and bass.

Sean Ou Tim joined Ohm in 2000, after playing bass with Urban Creep for the last year of their existence. Although bass playing is what he is known for he is also a virtuoso drummer, and can play most instruments in both a rock band and symphony orchestra. Raised in Kimberly with Chinese heritage, multi talented Sean is now working on his own sample based dance music alongside his work with Ohm.

Gaston Goliath was also originally from Kimberly, but moved to Johannesburg when he was 18 and played drums in a disco band. Since then he has played in a number of groups spanning a variety of genres. He has played with Carlo Mombelli as Prisoners of Strange, producing esoteric, experimental jazz music. Although seen by many as primarily a jazz drummer, he started playing drumÙnÙbass long before it was popular in South Africa both as a DJ and live performer. He also joined Urban Creep, playing with Brendan for a year. A founding member of Ohm, Gaston has now moved to London to continue his career there.

With such diverse talents OhmÙs music is difficult to categorise. Influenced by music from all over the world, but essentially informed by the South African experience, Ohm are an experimental post-rock outfit with an Eastern melodicism breaking through. Constantly creating new sounds and dissolving boundaries, their songwriting structure is highly original and their music expansive.