Om

Om
L - R: Cisneros, Amos, Trotter
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, USA
Genres	Stoner Rock, Stoner Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Ambient, Dub, Middle Eastern Folk, Post-Metal, Post-Rock, Experimental
Years active	2003 - present
Labels	Holy Mountain Records, Southern Lord Records, Sub Pop, Neurot, Drag City
Associated acts	Sleep, Grails, Shrinebuilder, The Sabians, Watter, The Children, California Guitar Trio, Holy Sons, Lilacs & Champagne, Lichens, 90 Day Men
Website	Om Vibratory
Current members	Al Cisneros Emil Amos Tyler Trotter
Past members	Chris Hakius Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
Band Logo

Om (sometimes stylized as OM) are a three piece experimental stoner band originally from San Francisco, California, USA. Formed in 2003, they were initially known for being the first project involving Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius since Sleep's dissolution in 1997. Initially the band formed as a power duo, but have been a trio since 2009.

While the nucleus of Om's sound is based on stoner metal (the band's MySpace refers to their sound as simply "(((VIBRATIONS)))), the band draws from a host of other influences such as psychedelic rock, Middle Eastern folk, dub, reggae, post-rock, and other sounds. The band's lyrics are heavily inspired by spirituality and various forms of religion, namely Eastern Orthodox and Middle Eastern variations. Tim Bugbee (Also known by his photographer handle "Tinnitus Photo") has cited them as a "Heavy Eastern Trio".

Since their inception, the band has released five studio albums, three live albums, and has toured all over the world making appearances at different festivals over the years.

History

Om originated from San Francisco, California, but as of recent years the respective members have residence in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Cisneros), Brooklyn, New York (Amos), and Louisville, Kentucky (Trotter). Their sound could loosely be categorized as traditional stoner metal, but also has influences in doom and psychedelic rock, as well as a wider range of influences in more recent years. They were formed in 2003 by original Sleep bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius. In a departure from Sleep's stylistic influences of Black Sabbath and stoner rock, Om's influences are driven from spirituality and the concept of freedom. The name of the band itself is derived from Hindu culture, where the sound 'om' represents the natural vibration of the universe. All of the bands studio albums from Pilgrimage onward, feature Eastern Orthodox iconography.

Original lineup (2003 - 2008)

After Sleep had officially disbanded in 1997, Chris Hakius joined former Sleep guitarist Justin Marler to form The Sabians, which lasted from 1997 to roughly 2004. At the same time, Al Cisneros stopped playing music entirely, at one point becoming a chess teacher. At some point in 2003, Cisneros met up with Hakius about possibly forming a new band, opting to not have a guitarist due to the intrigue of exploring music as a duo. Om officially formed in 2003 with their first official live performance was on Sunday, August 14, 2004. On February 14 of 2005 their debut album Variations on a Theme was released via Holy Mountain Records, billed as the "triumphant return of Cisneros and Hakius", attaining largely positive receptions. The band sporadically played shows around the San Francisco area in 2005, notably the ArthurBall.

Conference of the Birds followed on 17 April 2006 and has since become one of the duo's seminal releases. Two split releases, recorded during the Conference of the Birds sessions, followed that year; the first was a split with Current 93 titled Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun (Blackship Shrinebuilder) released in June, with the second, a split with Six Organs Of Admittance, dropping in July. Sporadic appearances in New York and a mini-tour followed in support of the album (but no information on a full 2006 tour has been found). A live recording of "To The Shrinebuilder" culled from a show in Toronto became available for free on the Om Vibratory website (and later, the Japanese version of Pilgrimage) .

At some point after the release of their second album, Om toured with Grails, where Cisneros would meet and befriend future drummer Emil Amos. After this tour was the band's first full tour of Europe, including a date at the Roadburn Festival. On 13 September another album would follow in the form of Pilgrimage, their only studio release on the Southern Lord Records. Two North American tours, the Pilgrimage Tour, would happen in support of the album. Shortly after, the band performed two nights in what was the Israel Pilgrimage. Their 5 December 2007 show in Jerusalem has become an infamous performance that spanned five hours, a portion of which saw a physical release on the Southern Lord LP Live at Jerusalem in 2008.

In 2008 the band performed a short tour of the west coast of the US, and also had a short east coast tour scheduled. On January 20, Om performed at the Echoplex in what would be Chris Hakius' final performance with the band, with a jam including sections from future songs "Thebes" and "Gebel Barkal" being the last song played.. Chris Hakius would retire from music after this show, barring a brief return at the beginning of the Sleep reunion in 2009. In an interview with AVClub, Al spoke of Chris' depature:

OM @ Echoplex - Gebel Barkal (last song Chris Hakius played w OM)-0

“	"He mentioned that his heart wasn’t in it any longer and out of respect for the music he wanted to step down and I respect that. We still talk and are still friends. He’s since basically retired from playing—he’s onto a different phase. For me there is no end to the song. No option.”	”
	— Al Cisneros, Av Club

God Is Good and Advaitic Songs (2008 - 2014)

Shortly after Hakius' departure, Cisneros reconnected with Emil Amos, which ultimately led to Amos becoming the new drummer for the band. The band's sound notably shifted with Amos' style being more based in complexity and fills as compared to Hakius' straightforward style. The first recording with Amos as drummer was the single, Gebel Barkal which was recorded on 8 March 2008 and released on the Sub Pop label on August 15, 2008. The first known performance of this lineup is May 17 2008 at the Victoriaville Festival in Quebec. Tours of Europe, Japan and the United States would follow. Notably, one of these performances on September 20 in Monticello, NY was at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. This set would end up being released as Live Conference (sometimes titled "Conference Live") on Important Records a year later.

Al Cisneros would speak fondly of Emil joining the band in an interview with The Quietus:

“	“I think if you had tried to do it, just on your own, it would have been impossible to find someone that’s that perfect as a rhythm section partner. I feel, and have always thanked the universe, or something higher, for having been on a tour once where OM and Grails [Amos’ other band] were playing and just having the chance to become friends and Emil wanting to try it, once I gave him a call. Having seen him play drums I knew once we’d had some time playing together it would just start to blossom; I couldn’t be happier, it’s so fun to play music with Emil. The drums and the bass, in music, to me they have to have a conversation – the drums being the ground – but there has to be a dialogue between the lyrics of the beats and the melodies and rhythms of the bass – all of those things have to go back and forth so, yeah, I couldn’t be happier.”	”
	— Al Cisneros, The Quietus

Om live. Photo by Tim Bugbee.

God Is Good was recorded in March 2009. This was around the same time Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe would join the band's live lineup, expanding it to a three-piece. Eventually, God Is Good was released on 29 September 2009 via Drag City. Various tours and festival appearances would follow before the following album Advaitic Songs was released on 24 July 2012. This album explored Middle Eastern and experimental influences more heavily; a drastic shift from their prior sound. The band would tour North America to support, albeit delaying the dates when Amos broke his arm in a skateboarding accident.

Om - At Giza live at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, 07-19-13

In 2013, the band performed at the Temple of Dendur, located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, performing a special, site-specific version of "At Giza". Temple of Dendur: Metropolitan Museum of Art 2013 was the billed name for the show. In November 2013, the band played the final holiday camp edition of the world famous All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands, England.

The band did two tours of the United States in 2014 with the band Watter. In December 2014, they released a third live album, titled merely Live

Recent Activities and Sixth Album (2015 - Present)

Om would continue to play sporadic live dates and played another All Tomorrows Parties event at the Electric Ballroom, London, England in November of 2015 along with a full European tour that year.

Om have a follow-up to Advaitic Songs in the works, with initial recording done at Empty House Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The band embarked on a short West Coast tour in 2016, their only dates throughout the entirety of that year. Om's only announced appearance of 2017 will be in late October at Days of Darkness, a spin-off festival from the same people who conceived Maryland Deathfest (Also at the same location). Om were announced as one of the headliners alongside Neurosis. Rumors would be abound for a sixth album as the band performed only a handful of shows once again in 2018, namely headlining appearances at Levitation Festival and Freak Valley Festival along with an appearance at Muddy Roots Music Festival in which they shared the main stage with High on Fire and Neurosis. Though not known to the public at the time this would be the last live performance with Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe on keyboards.

On 6 October the band would make their debut appearance in Mexico at Hipnosis. Notably the lineup was different, with Tyler Trotter (Watter) performing synths and keyboards rather than Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. 2019 would see initial show announcements at DesertFest London, DesertFest Berlin and Hostsabbat along with recording sessions happening throughout the year. Ultimately 2019 would prove to be the band's most productive on the live stage in years, with alternating North American and European tours. On 9 October 2019, Drag City surprise released a double 10" of their live performance on Radio 1 BBC that May, their first release to feature the lineup of Cisneros, Amos and Trotter.

Om would play their first shows in 2021 in Australia, as part of Dark Mofo and the band's first performances in the country since 2013. A tour of North America would follow in the Fall of 2022. On 3 November 2022, in an interview with Bass Player magazine, Cisneros confirmed a sixth studio album is in the process of being mixed.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Variations on a Theme (2005, Holy Mountain)
• Conference of the Birds (2006, Holy Mountain)
• Pilgrimage (2007, Southern Lord)
• God Is Good (2009, Drag City)
• Advaitic Songs (2012, Drag City)
• TBA (TBA)

Splits

• Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun (Blackship Shrinebuilder) (2006, Neurot)
  with Current 93
• Om / Six Organs of Admittance (2006, Holy Mountain)
  with Six Organs of Admittance

Live Albums

• Live at Jerusalem (2008, Southern Lord)
• Live Conference (2009, Important Records)
• Live (2014, Outer Battery Records)
• BBC Radio 1 (2019, Drag City Records)
• Live at Amoeba (2022, Holy Mountain)

Singles

• Gebel Barkal (2008, Sub Pop)
• Advaitic Dubplate (2013, Drag City)
• Gethsemene Dubplate (2013, Drag City)

Members

Current Members

• Al Cisneros - Bass, Vocals (2003 - Present)
• Emil Amos - Drums (2008 - Present)
• Tyler Trotter - Synthesizer, Keyboards (2018 - Present)

Former Members

• Chris Hakius - Drums (2003 - 2008)
• Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer, Percussion (2009 - 2018)

Tours

• Om's 2004 Performances (2004)
• Om's 2005 Performances (2005)
• Conference of the Birds Tour (2006)
• 2007 Winter US Tour (2007)
• 2007 European Tour (2007)
• Pilgrimage Tour (2007) (With Daniel Higgs, Grails on select dates)
• Israel Pilgrimage (2007)
• Pilgrimage 2008 (2008)
• 2008 Japan Tour (2008)
• 2008 US Tour (2008)
• 2008 European Tour (2008)
• 2009 US Tour (2009)
• 2009 UK Tour (2009)
• 2010 European Tour (2010)
• 2010 Australian Tour (2010)
• 2011 European Tour (2011)
• 2012 Spring European Tour (2012)
• 2012 Fall European Tour (2012)
• 2012 East Coast USA Tour (2012) (Rescheduled; With Daniel Higgs)
• 2013 West Coast USA Tour (2013)
• 2013 Australian Tour (2013)
• 2013 May/June European Tour (2013)
• Temple of Dendur: Metropolitan Museum of Art 2013 (2013)
• 2013 European Tour (2013)
• 2014 West Coast USA Tour (2014) (With Watter)
• 2014 East Coast USA Tour (2014) (With Watter)
• 2015 East Coast USA Tour (2015)
• 2015 European Tour (2015)
• Late 2010s Performances (2016 - 2019)
• 2020 North American Tour (With Wovenhand; partially canceled) (2020)
• Dark Mofo Performances (2021)
• 2022 European Tour (Canceled) (2022)
• 2022 North American Tour (With Zombi) (2022)

External Links

Official Links

• Official Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

Archival Links

• Archived interview with Al Cisneros circa 2005
• Archived interview with Al and Chris circa 2007.
• Archived announcement.