Before They Were Famous: Haunting Oboe Music

Unassuming, unnerving and unsigned, Haunting Oboe Music is ready to, as they say, take your face by storm. The Austin indie experimental rock outfit is so obsessed with music making that they released 12 EPs in 2008, one for each month of the year. The band said the experiment sent them in many directions and provided many ups and downs, but turned out to be the best thing Haunting Oboe Music could have possibly done. The project gave them a deep catalog of songs to choose from for live shows. A live listening is the best way to experience the mystic madness, since the recordings don't quite do the Oboes justice.

Why they do it:

Ditching the day job routine isn't the only reason Haunting Oboe Music do what they do. They're romantic about the inner most thoughts that music inspires in people. Enough so that it makes them feel all gooey inside.

"Music still has facets that require the listener to explain things to themselves, to fill in gaps. For that reason I'm crazy about playing music," said guitarist Ian Hunt. "There you go. It makes me crazy. Day jobs make me normal and music makes me crazy. I choose music."

They seek to soothe the itch in all of us that makes the soul want to dance. That's why they add secret ingredients like "horror" and "mojo" to the standard mix of guitar, vocal, drum, keys and bass. It's more than just mechanics, but they leave the bullshit aside.

"I'm not really a talker. I've been involved in collaborative art all my life and this is the only medium of art that I've come across that doesn't require some sort of bullshit talking," Hunt said. "Whether it be the artist's lines or someone else's."

What's in store for the future:

The Haunting Oboes say their future is unclear, but we can only assume their original sound will spread like wildfire through word of mouth. They'll be opening for a stellar lineup at Emos Sept. 4 that includes local favorites Ume, The Eastern Sea and MothFight.

HOM hopes, above all, to reach a diverse crowd. "Above all I think that people are going to take or not take what they want from any type of music. With Haunting Oboe Music, we write with five individual songwriters," Hunt said. "My hope is that this offers the audience member any number of sounds they can identify with."

They won't claim to be fortune tellers, but they do remember a bit about their musical origins.

"I don't really remember a time when I wasn't interested in music," Hunt said. "There's pictures of me in diapers though with headphones on. I used to listen to my parents records all the time as a kid and those are pretty lucid memories."

Best bets:

"The Center" - Twisted, and almost gothic, this track layers echoey vocals and is very magnetic.

Passenger - Trumpet blasts cascade around great rhythm and syncopation, creating a down to earth tune.

Haunting Oboe Music: [myspace] [official]

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