ON was a solo project of Ken Andrews, which he started after the breakup of his previous band, Failure. The music of ON was not unlike that of Failure in terms of songwriting, but the overall sound was more based on electronics, with less emphasis on guitars and the typical heavy rock sound.
Ken Andrews is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Andrews was born in Seattle, Washington, and attended film school in Los Angeles before his band Failure received a record deal from Slash Records.
Failure is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was active from 1990 to 1997 and from 2014 onwards. They are often compared to other alternative rock bands from that time that were similarly labeled as "alternative", such as Nirvana and Soundgarden, but are distinguished by their meticulous attention to textural sonic detail, inventive use of guitar effects and signal processing, and the overall expansive sound design of their later albums. Failure reunited in 2014.
A songwriter is a professional that writes lyrics or composes musical compositions for songs. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the latter term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre and film scoring, but is also associated with writing and composing the original musical composition or musical bed. A songwriter that writes the lyrics/words are referred to as lyricist. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with the task of creating original melodies. Pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have outside publishers.
ON was signed to Epic Records in 1999, and the first single, "Soluble Words", was released late that year. It contains four versions of the song, including a remix by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, and an exclusive track called "Your Sister Says John" (written by Andrews' friend Jordon Zadorozny of Blinker the Star).
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic Records has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, The Hollies, Celine Dion, ABBA, Culture Club, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.
Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, singer, record producer, remixer, and DJ. He is one of the founding members of the synth-pop band Depeche Mode and is its primary songwriter. Gore is the band's keyboardist and guitar player, contributes backing vocals, and occasionally provides lead vocals.
Depeche Mode are an English electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The group currently consists of a trio of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).
After several months, ON's album Shifting Skin was released in June 2000. Ken then assembled a backing band, which consisted of drummer Tim Dow (ex-Shiner/Season to Risk), bassist Tommy Walter (Abandoned Pools), guitarist Joey Sykes, and keyboardist Kevin Moore, and took ON on tour. Another single, "Slingshot", was serviced to radio, bubbling just under the Alternative Top 50; but the album didn't sell well, and Epic eventually released Andrews from his contract.
Shifting Skin is the debut album by Ken Andrews' first post-Failure project, ON.
Shiner is an American post-hardcore band from Kansas City, Missouri that was active from 1992 to 2003. Since 2012 Shiner has been playing several shows a year.
Season to Risk are a noise rock/alternative rock band hailing from Kansas City, Missouri.
A second ON album, Make Believe, was released in 2002 via CD Baby and the iTunes Store. Also in 2002, he (and Dow) formed a new group called Year of the Rabbit. Currently, Andrews is working as a solo artist, a member of Failure and a member of Digital Noise Academy, as well as being a sought-after producer and session musician.
CD Baby, Inc. is a record label and online music store specializing in the sale of CDs, vinyl records, and music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online music retailers.
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. that opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of January 2017, iTunes offered over 35-40 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,000 TV shows, and 65,000 films. When it opened, it was the only legal digital catalog of music to offer songs from all five major record labels. As of June 2013, iTunes Store possessed 575 million active user accounts, and served over 315 million mobile devices, including Apple Watches, iPods, iPhones, Apple TV and iPads.
Year of the Rabbit is a rock band assembled and fronted by Ken Andrews, formerly of Failure and ON. After the commercial disappointment of ON, Andrews and ON's touring drummer Tim Dow first recruited Dow's friend Jeff Garber, and Solomon Snyder came onboard shortly thereafter. Whereas ON's material had been created mostly by Andrews as a solo project, the harder-rocking sound of Year of the Rabbit is much closer to that of his previous band, Failure.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Related Research Articles
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Ron Blair, Stan Lynch (drums), and Benmont Tench (keyboards). In 1981, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, stayed with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist—mostly on rhythm guitar and second keyboards. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein's death. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. The band is best known for the hit singles "American Girl", "Breakdown", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", "Refugee" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance".
Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up fluctuated over the years, but always held constant with band founder, frontman, vocalist, and guitarist Wayne Static. Founders of the band were Wayne Static and original drummer Ken Jay. The band rose to fame with their 1999 debut album Wisconsin Death Trip where the band's heavy industrial metal sound found attention within the burgeoning nu metal movement of the late 1990s, with the album eventually going platinum in the United States. The band released five more albums over the course of the next decade: Machine in 2001, Shadow Zone in 2003, Start a War in 2005, Cannibal in 2007, and Cult of Static in 2009.
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. It has had the same lineup since 2013: lead and rhythm guitarist Mick Box, keyboardist Phil Lanzon, lead vocalist Bernie Shaw, drummer Russell Gilbrook and bassist Davey Rimmer. Of the current lineup, Box is the only remaining original member. Throughout many lineup changes, the band has included many notable musicians, such as vocalists David Byron, John Lawton, John Sloman, Peter Goalby and Steff Fontaine, bassists Gary Thain, Trevor Bolder, John Wetton, Bob Daisley and John Jowitt, drummers Nigel Olsson, Lee Kerslake and Chris Slade, and keyboardists Ken Hensley and John Sinclair.
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, John Illsley, and Pick Withers. They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995. The band became one of the world's best-selling music artists, with album sales of over 100 million.
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band, founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way ", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Boogie Shoes", "Please Don't Go" and "Give It Up". The band took its name from lead vocalist Harry Wayne Casey's last name ("KC") and the "Sunshine Band" from KC's home state of Florida, the Sunshine State. The group had six top 10 singles, five number one singles and one number two single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Barry Andrews is a vocalist and keyboardist. He is a former member of the bands XTC and League of Gentlemen with Robert Fripp, and was co-founder of Shriekback. He has collaborated with Brian Eno on several projects, most recently guesting on keyboards for the 2005 album Another Day on Earth. Andrews also played on the 1980 Iggy Pop album Soldier with David Bowie, Ivan Kral, Glen Matlock and Klaus Kruger.
Pizzicato Five was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrumentalists Yasuharu Konishi and Keitarō Takanami. After some personnel changes in the late 1980s, the band gained international fame as a duo consisting of Konishi and vocalist Maki Nomiya. The group, widely credited for spearheading the Shibuya-kei movement of Tokyo in the 1990s, is known for electric and energetic compositions that often pay homage to late 1960s English-language pop music. The catchphrase "A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular" captured the group's ironic stance and eager attitude.
Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in southern California in 1970. Ambrosia had five Top 40 hit singles released between 1975 and 1980, including the Top 5 hits "How Much I Feel" and "Biggest Part of Me". Most of the original band members have been active with the group continuously for well over 25 years to the present day.
Fantastic Planet is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Failure, released on August 13, 1996. It was the last album released on Slash Records as distributed by Warner Bros. Records.
The Posies are an American power pop group. The band was formed in 1987 in Bellingham, Washington by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. They are best known for their radio hits "Golden Blunders", as well as "Dream All Day", "Solar Sister" and "Flavor of the Month".
"Tribute" is the first single of Tenacious D's self-titled debut album. It was released July 16, 2002. The song is a tribute to what Gass and Black refer to as "The Greatest Song in the World", which Tenacious D themselves came up with, but have since forgotten. It was released as a downloadable track for Rock Band in addition to appearing as a playable track for Guitar Hero Live.
Rize is a Japanese alternative metal band formed in 1997, debuting in 2000 and currently signed with Warner Music Japan. The band currently consists of Jesse McFaddin, KenKen (bass), and Kaneko Nobuaki (drums). Their music style is a mix of nu metal, alternative rock, punk rock, hard rock and even some reggae flavor. Their song "ZERO" from Experience album has been featured on Coca-Cola commercial in Japan and Asian countries.
Mark Laff is a retired English rock drummer, and former member of several rock bands, including Generation X.
Tilt is the fifth studio album from British alternative rock band The Lightning Seeds. It was released in 1999.
Army of Anyone is the only studio album by Army of Anyone, an American rock band featuring Richard Patrick of Filter, Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots, and Ray Luzier, prior drummer of David Lee Roth's band and current drummer of the nu metal band Korn. The album was released on November 14, 2006 in America, December 4, 2006 in the UK. It was produced by Bob Ezrin and mixed by Ken Andrews. Despite largely positive reviews from critics, the album sold well below the expectations set from Filter and Stone Temple Pilots past multi-platinum albums, stalling around 88,000 copies sold. The album produced two singles, "Goodbye" and "Father Figure", the former peaking at no. 3 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart.
Zurdok is a Mexican rock band based in Monterrey. It was formed in 1993 under the name Zurdok Movimento, changing it several years later to simply Zurdok. It was one of the most important bands in the Mexican rock band scene at the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s.
Kaura is an American, progressive, alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California.
