Ollo

OLLO SO FAR... Since their debut album, ‘Sleeper’ appeared in late 2002 to rave reviews ollo have been on quite a ride. They have played live in Australasia, the USA and Europe, supported both Ninja Tune's Neotropic on tour in the USA, and Matthew Herbert at Sydney Festival. Live performances have been broadcast on Radio National and SBS Radio. They've presented Extended Play, a weekly radio show on Sydney's 2SER for the last 18 months, and have created celebrated audio collage soundscapes for FBI 94. Read more on Last.fm …read full bio

OLLO SO FAR... Since their debut album, ‘Sleeper’ appeared in late 2002 to rave reviews ollo have been on quite a ride. They have played live in Australasia, the USA and Europe, supported both Ninja Tune's Neotropic on tour in the USA, and Matthew Herbert at Sydney Festival. Live performances have been broadcast on Radio National and SBS Radio. They've presented Extended Play, a weekly radio show on Sydney's 2SER for the last 18 months, and have created celebrated audio collage soundscapes for FBI 94.5's experimental show 'Sunday Night at the Movies'. Lars recently performed one of these at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. They also write for Australia's Cyclic Defrost magazine and act as informal A&R scouts for UK/US label 12 Apostles, so far resulting in signings WA's Streaky Jake and Thailand's A Beautiful Taley. Ollo's remix of 1978 punk track by John Peel favourites The Dodgems reached number 8 in BBC Radio 1's Festive 50 chart in the UK in 2005, and was playlisted on FBI. They've also remixed Dsico, UK band R.O.C, and Stewart & Melville. Local DJ gigs include a residency at Sunday night institution Frigid, The Gypsy Tea Room, Überlingua, Club Kooky, Popfrenzy, Zero Kelvin, Sydney Esquisse, Speakeasy, The Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sydney Opera House. Internationally they've DJ'd in Europe, the UK, the US (including the Sundance Film Festival), and NZ. In May this year they played 2 live showcases in London, one at renowned label Rough Trade's club RoTA. A video clip for the track “Ping Pong” from the album "Sleeper" was shot in Berlin by Bauhaus art school graduate Dörte Kubillus – as seen on Rage. They've also shot a video for their new single The Campaign For Real Bread. Ollo's own visuals were shown at a video art exhibition at Bondi Pavilion in 2004. Linda Evangelista has sashayed down the catwalk to their cover version of "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)", and they've performed this song accompanied by a costumed tap dancing troupe and assorted lunatics in political satire mode. They've also been the soundtrack of choice on the European and Australian tours of the Dissociatives. Alex recently played keyboards, flute and and sang backing vocals on the Astronomy Class hit "A Bright Tomorrow" (Elefant Traks). He also appears on keyboards on Neotropic's album "White Rabbits (Mush). Ollo also released a smouldering Bond theme cover version in a duet with Paul Mac collaborator Peta Morris. Lars recently performed his soundscape work at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. And since they began their name has been "stolen" both by a ball with eyes in a kids' video game and an Australian olive oil brand. Which certainly never happened to The Flaming Lips. THE IF IF Ollo's second album, The If If, will be released locally on Groovescooter and internationally on 12 Apostles in 2006. The first single "The Campaign for Real Bread" is available on 7" vinyl . Expect more live dates to promote this album later in the year. The album features guest musicians Peter Hollo (Fourplay), Kevin Purdy (Tooth), Roger Mills (UK), and Dale Harrison (The Herd). It was mixed with Mike Burnham at his Tardis Studios in Sydney (Mo Wax, Output, Def Jux etc). WHAT DO OLLO SOUND LIKE? Ollo don't quite fit any categories. They've been compared to artists as diverse as Matthew Herbert, Four Tet, Air, Belle & Sebastian, and The Triffids among others. Their sound is perhaps currently best described as 'art-pop.' Their music draws on a broad range of influences and can have you dancing one minute, melancholic the next. They have a vast and eclectic music collection so their DJ sets range from house, dub, rock, Gypsy/Klezmer, glitch, experimental electronics, techno, German New Wave, old school funk, disco and jazz. Very occasionally all in the one set. WHO ARE OLLO? An Australian resident for 13 years, Alex Crowfoot grew up in the UK and began writing music at age 8. He is the main force behind Ollo and is responsible for writing, playing and production, plus visuals and graphic design. Lars Chresta was raised in Switzerland. He speaks 6 languages fluently (including Mandarin) which is handy on tour. He DJs, presents the radio show, creates sound collages for FBI radio, and works the laptop when ollo play live. He also acts as as a 'sounding board' for ollo production and sings backing vocals. OTHER INFO TOURS 2002 Australia; 2003 Australia, USA, Europe, UK; 2004 Europe & UK; 2006 London LIVE HIGHLIGHTS Sydney Festival 2005 Cockatoo Island Festival 2005 The Great Escape 2006 OLLO RELEASES 2002 Album “Sleeper” (Creative Vibes) 2004 “The Lunatics [Have Taken Over The Asylum]” (Groovescooter Records) 2005 “Ripe” (Sauna Sessions) 2005 “Some Assault” (Cyclic Defrost) 2005 "Black Elizabeth" (Club Kooky) 2006 "Rok Energi" (Sauna Sessions) 2006 "Moosk" (da dAdA) 2006 "A View to a Kill" (Groovescooter) 2006 "The Campaign for Real Bread" (Groovescooter) OLLO REMIXES 2004 Stewart & Melville: Scenes 2005 The Dodgems: Lord Lucan is Missing 2005 Dsico: Hungover Again 2005 R.O.C : Journey to the Centre of Brixton 2006 Neotropic OLLO HAVE PLAYED ON THE SAME BILL AS... Matthew Herbert (UK), Biosphere (N), Mike Paradinas (UK), Miwon (D), Lawrence English, Tooth, Neotropic (UK), LakeLustre (CH), Planktonman (USA), Qua, Pretty Boy Crossover, Minimum Chips, Velure, Sub Bass Snarl, Sir Robbo, Bec Paton, Purdy, Mochipet (USA), Kid Hops (USA), Love of Diagrams, The Bird, Symbiotic, Curse ov Dialect, ROC (UK), Streaky Jake, Liz Martin, Telemetry Orchestra, and many more... OLLO HAVE ALSO... • Created a set of 4 "Elements" soundscape/audio collages, each an hour long, for FBI • Collaborated with UK artist Neotropic on 6 improvised pieces called "time - place" • Had the visuals they use live shown at a video art exhibition at Bondi Pavilion HIGHLIGHTS • 10 hour DJ set at a party in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Without the aid of drugs, we might add. • Supporting Matthew Herbert • Playing live in Vienna at the greenhouse once used to winter the Emperor's palm trees Read more on Last.fm. 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…shrink me down again