The Oaks (sometimes stylised as "The OaKs") are an American rock band based out of

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, created by singer-songwriter/guitarist Ryan Costello and drummer/percussionist Matthew Antolick. The band's sound contains elements of

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 ...

with

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

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 ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

. The Oaks have gained international attention through their original fusion of music performance and

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

. Costello spent two years in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, living among recently returned

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

, teaching agricultural techniques and directly participating in food distributions. When he returned to the United States, he vowed to get the word out about the need of the Afghan people. The Oaks is the result of these aspirations.

Biography

Costello and Antolick met as students at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

. They played together in the project "Figure vs Ground" before relocating to suburban Orlando and creating The Oaks. Costello was pursuing a BA in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, while Antolick was working on his Master's in Philosophy and teaching

Environmental Ethics In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...

. In 2003, The OaKs' Ryan Costello sold everything he owned, joined a humanitarian organization and moved to

. Costello lived there for two years, working in the Central Afghan mountains with returned refugees, teaching them creative agricultural techniques and becoming fluent in their native language,

Dari (Persian) Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī � ...

. In 2005, Costello returned to the United States, reuniting with his long-time creative partner, The OaKs' drummer Matthew Antolick. Costello and Antolick collaborated to create the band's first CD, "Our Fathers and The Things They Left Behind", lyrically inspired mostly by Costello's time spent in

. The duo released the album independently in late summer 2006. They also partnered with Global Hope Network – an organization dedicated to helping impoverished

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

in Afghanistan – pledging 50% of CD and download sales towards their cause. The self-released album was completely home recorded by the pair, mixed by Martin Feveyear of Jupiter Studios, Seattle (

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...

, Damien Jurado), and mastered by Alan Douches of West West Side Music, NY (

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

). Their diverse mix of instruments includes

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, bells,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, assorted percussion, electronic organ and

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

, to name a few. Costello's lyrics range from self-examination to social critique. His songs are often about self-sacrificing figures such as Hugh Thompson"For Hugh Thompson, Who Stood Alone" on the album ''Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind''. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and he pulls inspiration from the Southern Gothic fiction of

Flannery O'Conner Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. She was a Southern writer who often ...

and Carson McCullers. In the winter of 2006, Costello and Antolick decided to expand the band, with the purposes of live performance and adding more outside influences to their established sound. After some trial and error, the band solidified their roster to include keyboardist Tim Cocking, lead guitarist Greg Willson,

backup vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

Melissa Reyes, and bassist Jeremy Siegel. All of the members of The Oaks are multi-instrumentalists. During a typical Oaks show you are likely to see: Reyes playing percussion and

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

; Antolick playing various percussion instruments and

; Cocking playing

, trumpet and

; Siegel playing

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

, percussion, bass and

; Willson playing

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

and guitar; and Costello alternating between acoustic and electric guitars as well as lead and harmony vocals.

Critical acclaim

Response to The Oaks has been overwhelmingly positive. In their short life-span The Oaks have established themselves not only in the

central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

scene, but nationally and internationally as well. Some notable performances/appearances: Showcasing artist, 2006 AntiPop Music Festival, Orlando, FL
Featured artist,

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

Newspaper CD Compilation
Showcasing artist, 2007 Florida Music Festival – main stage
Featured artist, ORock 105.9 FM
Showcasing artist,

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Music Marathon 2007
Featured artist, Virb.com MUSIC feature page
Featured in Paste Magazine, July 2007 cover story – "Can Rock Save the World?"
Showcasing artist, CMJ Music Marathon, October 2007
Featured artist, Public Radio International's Fair Game With Faith Sallie, January 2008
Showcasing artist, SXSW Music Festival, March 2008
Showcasing artist, FMF Music Festival, May 2008 The Oaks have shared the stage with many groups, including

The Six Parts Seven The Six Parts Seven is an American post-rock band formerly based in Kent, Ohio, Kent, Ohio. The band was founded in 1995 by brothers Allen and Jay Karpinski (playing guitar and drums, respectively), who had earlier played with Old Hearts Club, a ...

Michelle Malone Michelle Malone is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born and raised in Atlanta, she started performing in bands and writing songs as a teenager. Initially, she would sign with Arista Records after performing around parts of Atlanta ...

, and

Caribou (musician) Daniel Victor Snaith (born March 29, 1978) is a Canadian composer, musician, and recording artist who has performed under the stage names Caribou, Manitoba, and Daphni. Career Snaith originally recorded under the stage name Manitoba, but afte ...

On December 28, 2007, The Oaks' first album "Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind" was named by Jim Abbott of the

as number 9 in his top 10 musical highlights of 2007. The Oaks were the only local group named, and joined such company 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) ...

, the Flaming Lips,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

. The band's second album, "Songs For Waiting", was released on March 3, 2008 with a promotional campaign run by Fanatic Promotion. The band was featured on Public Radio International's Fair Game in January 2008, and played at the SXSW music festival in Austin in March 2008, and the Florida Music Festival in May 2008.

Future

The OaKs are currently working on long-distance collaboration with one another as lead singer Ryan Costello is attending graduate school at Oregon State University. Ryan Costello released his first solo album, "After The Fire", on October 20, 2009, guest-featuring The OaKs' Matthew Antolick on drums and Greg Willson on horns. It was featured in Relevant Magazine and critically acclaimed by the Orlando Sentinel, Oregon's The Source Weekly, and the blog Ryan's Smashing Life. Since then Ryan has released two more solo albums.

Online pages and contact information

General pages
The Oaks on Bandcamp
The Oaks EPK on Sonicbids
The Oaks online album stream of Our Fathers...
The Oaks on Myspace
on VIRB
on Garageband
Fanatic Promotion's Oaks page
on Purevolume
on Indie 911
> Publications
The Oaks featured in Paste Magazine July 2007
The Oaks featured in Relevant magazineThe Oaks' first album gets high praise from Jim Abbott of the Orlando Sentinel
Commerce sites
The Oaks on EMusic
The Oaks online Web Store / Online bay
The Oaks on iTunes
Video on the webThe Oaks on YouTube

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oaks, The Indie rock musical groups from Florida Musical groups from Orlando, Florida