OHMME

OHMME (formerly known as Homme) is a rock band from Chicago, composed of singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist duo Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart formed in 2014.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Since 2016, Matt Carroll has been OHMME's drummer.[2][8][9]

OHMME
Also known asHomme
OriginChicago, Illinois, United States
Genres
Years active2014–present
LabelsJoyful Noise
Associated actsMarrow, Kids These Days, Tweedy, Marker
Websitewww.ohmmemusic.com
Members
  • Sima Cunningham
  • Macie Stewart

Background

Both Cunningham and Stewart attended Whitney Young Magnet High School on the city's near west side. While Macie Stewart was in high school she played and sang in Kids These Days. She co-founded Marrow with Cunningham's brother, Liam, in 2013 after Kids These Days disbanded.[10] Drummer Matt Carroll also played in Marrow.[10] As of 2020, Stewart also plays violin and keyboards, and sings, in Chicago's avant-garde jazz ("improvised music"/free improvisation) community, including as a member of Marker, led by Ken Vandermark.[11][12][13] Cunningham played in bands, worked on solo projects and curated music festivals since 2008.[14] Since 2017 or 2018, Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, along with Ken Vandermark, Anton Hatwich, Steve Marquette, and Isaiah Spencer, also participate in the annual winter performances in Chicago of the Jeff Albert-led Yes We Can Band, which covers New Orleans rhythm & blues/funk tunes, especially those of Allen Toussaint and the Meters.[15]

History
Sima Cunningham of OHMME in 2018.

According to Cunningham, the band started because, "we knew we could sing well together, and we wanted to make some noise with the guitar".[2] Both artists are trained as classical pianists and were familiar with the scope of sonic spaces keyboards had to offer but, according to Stewart, "since we were interested in experimenting and creating something different from what we had both done in the past, we chose guitar as our outlet for this band. We wanted to create parameters for ourselves that were both new and uncomfortable to force ourselves into a different creative space”.[2]

OHHME have been touring both nationally and internationally since January 2016, including playing Pitchfork Music Festival in 2016.[4][16] They have toured with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Iron & Wine, The Joy Formidable, Tortoise, and The Ophelias. In 2016, OHMME added drummer Matt Carroll, who also worked with Cunningham and Stewart in the band Marrow.[2][4]

OHHME released their first single on November 13, 2015, a self-titled EP in 2017, and two full-length albums: Parts in 2018 and Fantasize Your Ghost in 2020. OHMME have vocal and instrumental credits on projects of other musicians, including Chance the Rapper,[4] Thor Harris,[17] Richard Thompson,[4] Twin Peaks, Ken Vandermark,[13] V.V. Lightbody (Vivian McConnell),[10] and Whitney.

OHMME have been dubbed "the band at the heart of Chicago's music community," by Noisey.[2][10]

Fantasize Your Ghost, OHMME's second full-length album, was released on June 5, 2020 by Joyful Noise Recordings.[1][18][16][10] In October 2020, OHMME released a concert film of the Fantasize Your Ghost material, plus two songs from a new single, with additional musicians Nnamdï Ogbonnaya (drums), Ruby Parker and Quinn Tsan (backing vocals), and V.V. Lightbody (backing vocals and flute), but without Matt Carroll; the film was recorded at and subsequently livestreamed (via YouTube) from Constellation in Chicago.[19]

Equipment

In interviews, Cunningham and Stewart have described some of the musical equipment that they use, especially Stratocaster guitars and various pedals. As of 2019, Stewart often uses a Electro-Harmonix Octave Multiplexer pedal to substitute for a bass guitar.[20][21]

Band members
  • Sima Cunningham – vocals, guitar
  • Macie Stewart – vocals, guitar, violin, bass

Touring musicians

  • Matt Carroll – drums (2016–present, as of 2020)

Discography

[22]

Albums

EPs

Singles
  • "Furniture" (2015)
  • "Wheel" (Overcoat Recordings, 2017); also self-released on split single with Poliça: Crate Diggers in Chicago (2017)
  • "Fingerprints" (2017)
  • "Woman" (2017)
  • "Icon" (2018)
  • "At Night" b/w "Gimme Back My Man" (Joyful Noise Recordings, 2019)[1]
  • "Mine" b/w "Miasma" (Sub Pop, 2020)[23]

Multiple-artist compilations
  • "Homicidal Hamsters" on Safe In Sound (Home Recordings From Quarantine) (Joyful Noise Recordings, 2020)[1]

References
  1. "OHMME". Joyful Noise Recordings. 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  2. "Ohmme Is the Band at the Heart of Chicago's Music Community". Noisey. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  3. "Discovery: OHMME - Interview Magazine". Interview Magazine. 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  4. Kot, Greg (August 18, 2016). "Homme the latest experiment for 2 multifaceted musicians". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  5. Kot, Greg (August 9, 2018). "Ohmme blows up boundaries". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  6. Wilt, Chloe. "Experimental duo Ohmme returns to Columbia". Vox Magazine. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  7. "OHMME - OHMME (Fox Hall Records, 2017) | Review | Earbuddy". Earbuddy. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  8. Editor (2019-05-20). "5 Questions: Musician Matt Carroll". Esthetic Lens. Retrieved 2020-01-04.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  9. "Bio". ohmme. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  10. Roti, Jessi (June 10, 2020). "A room of Ohmme's own: On Fantasize Your Ghost,..." Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  11. Wall, Patrick (February 1, 2018). "With Marker, Ken Vandermark Synthesizes Sounds to Manipulate Memory". Free Times (Columbia, South Carolina). Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  12. Margasak, Peter (February 1, 2018). "Veteran Chicago reedist adapts a mentor role in his visceral new Chicago quintet Marker". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  13. Brown, Hilary (March 26, 2019). "Macie Stewart's Equilibrium". Downbeat Magazine. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  14. Terry, Josh (2017-06-29). "Ohmme Is the Band at the Heart of Chicago's Music Community". Vice. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  15. "Sat. February 22 2020: Yes We Can! The Songs of New Orleans". Hungry Brain. January 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  16. Knopper, Steve (March 12, 2020). "You might think OHMME is a mantra, but it's in fact the place to be to hear remarkable music from a Chicago band in rare form". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  17. "Thor Harris: 2019 Artist in Residence". Joyful Noise Recordings. 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  18. "Ohmme - "3 2 4 3"". Stereogum. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  19. "OHMME Presents: Fantasize Your Ghost". Constellation. October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  20. "Labor of Love: OHMME". Chicago Music Exchange. 2019.
  21. Maine, Sammy (November 11, 2019). "How Chicago duo OHMME harness their classical training for textural experimentation". Guitar.com. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  22. "OHMME". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  23. "OHMME". Sub Pop. October 12, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
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