Oucho Sparks is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States. Since the formation circa the turn of the century, the ensemble has gone through several style and personnel transitions. The consistent thread has been a strong display of musicianship, complex/dense song arrangements, and a

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

work ethic.

About the band

The name Oucho Sparks is a

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

on the name

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

. In its various incarnations, Oucho Sparks is known for its

vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...

, epic guitar lines, icy

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

, and lush cinematic soundscapes. They have been compared to other rock bands such as

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

, and

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

Timeline

The

formed around 1998 as a

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

group with experimental tendencies. The founding members were Ryan Chindlund on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, Robert Salihar on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, and Aaron Allietta on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. Dan Haggerty and Scotty Kattenbraker were soon added as

guitarists A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves ...

. The first album ''From The Blue Light House'' (1998) showcases this particular incarnation. In the next year, the

had some significant personnel changes as

Haggerty and Kattenbraker left to pursue other artistic ventures. The ensemble added a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, Mike Strazzulla and Jason Lavalle respectively. With the addition of horns, the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

element was emphasized. Salihar remained as the main

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

though Chindlund would perform the lead

on certain songs. The resulting work of this incarnation was the second album ''Rebirth of the Fool'' (1999.) The title is a

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

on the

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

album titled ''

Birth of the Cool ''Birth of the Cool'' is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis, released in February 1957 by Capitol Records. It compiles eleven tracks recorded by Davis's nonet for the label over the course of three sessions ...

''. During 1999, the band performed several live shows but lost

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Lavalle toward the end of the year. The

continued as a four piece until

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Rob Heinz and

Tim Sandusky joined in late 1999. 2000 proved to be a major transition for the band as many new members were added.

Guitarists A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves ...

David Gallagher and David Bowers replaced

Rob Heinz. Second

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

James Gallagher and

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

Matt Topic concurrently joined also. Much of the reason for this increase in personnel was in preparation for Zappening 2000, a festival held in tribute to

. The bill included bands with Zappa band alumni and notable acts with Zappa flavor. After Zappening 2000 Dave Gallagher, Dave Bowers, James Gallagher, and Matt Topic all became official members as their other project ( Dave's Tune) ceased performing. Soon after,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist Chris Grant joined, thus making Oucho Sparks a ten-member band. This period produced the most

influenced music. By 2001 Oucho Sparks started to emphasize the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

element of their sound. After dropping Mike Strazzulla, Chris Grant, and Matt Topic, the

embarked on recording ''Silver Daddy'' (2001.) This album is mostly instrumental and features some of the most advanced instrumental arrangements with sparse vocals by Salihar and Chindlund. Two songs from ''Silver Daddy'' ("" and "Floigan") appear in the 2002

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Urban Ground Squirrels. Throughout 2001 and 2002 The seven member lineup performed several festivals and concerts most notably Camp Buzz and The Blackhawk Farms Festival. The members of Oucho Sparks collectively founded an underground music venue named Cafe Ballistico in 2003. Many now notable Chicago music acts had some of their earliest performances at Cafe Ballistico including Bound Stems, Bang Bang (band), and The Andreas Kapsalis Trio. The Ballistico concept culminated at the 2004 Ballistico Fest featuring Oucho Sparks and several other Ballistico friendly bands. Except for Ballistico Fest, Oucho Sparks as a music project was unseen from 2003-2007. During that period, the band reformed once again and decided to take a more vocal-focused approach. In late 2003 the band started a new recording to help define the musical direction. Laura Grey joined to provide female

, while former

Tim Sandusky took over lead male

. In order to properly record this album, Tim Sandusky and cohorts built a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

now known as Studio Ballistico. The album ''Foreign Cars and Robots'' was completed near the end of 2006. This album marked the modern age of Oucho Sparks and supporting shows in 2007 reflect this. The project has been largely inactive since 2009.

Live concerts

The band throughout its incarnations has been known for its "over the top" live shows involving

props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

and

theatrics Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. Currently Oucho Sparks desires theaters and alternative performance spaces for the multimedia show. A live concert was released on the official website in 2009, and free on YouTube.com.

Discography

*1998 ''From the Blue Light House'' *1999 ''Rebirth of the Fool'' *2001 ''Silver Daddy'' *2001 ''Live From Earth Vol. 1'' *2002 ''Live From Earth Vol. 2'' *2007 ''Foreign Cars and Robots'' *2009 ''Photographs & Epitaphs'' ive

References

External links

ouchosparks.com
— The official Oucho Sparks website
Oucho Sparks on MySpace

Oucho Sparks on last.fm

Amplifier Magazine Article
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Chicago American post-rock groups American experimental rock groups American psychedelic rock music groups American art rock groups Indie rock musical groups from Illinois Math rock groups Musical groups established in 1998 Progressive rock musical groups from Illinois