The name OMENOPUS is a compound of
two older words:-
Omen:
a portent, indication or forewarning of something that is going to happen no
matter what.
Opus: literally “a work” most often referring to the
creation or composition of music.
It's something we all feel; something
that some of us just can't live without...
Music will carry us through
any struggle, music will be our Omenopus...
Omenopus, started
completely by chance; a matter of being in the right place at the right
time.
Now we're in the 21st Century, communication across the world has
become so easy and fast, with online community sites such as Myspace and
Facebook becoming the meeting places of the world. Myspace was where Bridget
and Lee first bumped into each other in 2008...
Bridget Wishart:
once part of probably the universe's most famous space-rock band ever,
Hawkwind... now singer with the space collective Spirits Burning.
Lee Potts: a solo artist who had recorded a planetary catalogue of
ambient material over a span of many years, using almost anything that could
generate audio to be recorded experimentally and produce musical tunes.
A big
fan of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop - Lee decided it was time to start a
Myspace site and have an outlet for some of his work. Earlier that same
year, Lee had started collaborating with John.
John Pierpoint: formerly bassist with The Earthmovers, Randolph Flagg
and others.
This
began when Lee found one of John's guitar demo tunes nestled amongst the
downloads on the web site of John's current project “1912”. Lee recognised a
diamond in the rough and re-worked the demo into a full piece of music. John
was delighted with the result and began sending Lee shedloads of other demos
for the same treatment.
One of the fruits of this was an ambitious 20-minute tone-poem initially
called “Inferno Desire”. The music was complete, but lacked the focus that a
vocal line would bring; so while Lee was in contact with Bridget, he asked
her if she would be interested in adding her own vocals.
Bridget was
happy to contribute and write lyrics. She also suggested adding the voice of
friend and fellow musician Louise Bialik. Thus “Snapshot” was created.
Louise Bialik: was the
singer and songwriter of bands such as Savage Republic and 17 Pygmies.
All this was done virtually, with individual parts recorded by band members
at their own studios spread around the UK and US, submitted electronically,
composited and mixed by Lee.
All parties were so pleased with the
result that they decided to formalise the project under the name “Omenopus”
and produce even more music.
Before long, an
album's worth of material was complete. The renowned drummer David
Speight also came to help out shortly after.
David Speight: drummer, playing with bands, Whimwise, Yak, and Pete
Banks (founder member of Yes).
Louise
sadly left the band soon after the original album "OPEN" was completed...
and so... it was decided to re-record the album again. Thanks to the
burgeoning following on the web, the group was inundated with offers from
musicians all over the globe wanting to get involved, and so the extra voice
of UK-based singer Sarah Panton was drafted aboard.
Sarah Panton: singer with the experimental federation SOKI2U.
In addition, the
Omenants have been
working with
other artists,
Spirits Burning,
Sebastian Grande
and
Sheridan Starr
(AKA "Bangtheory").
There are likely to
be several more
side-projects as the
process gains
momentum: check back
often for more news
of these!
The first fruit of
all this was the FREE
EP "Portents" which
features two Omenopus songs,
alongside the
Omenopus treatments
of Bangtheory's "One
By One" and Spirits
Burning's "Always".
Followed a
few months later by Omenopus's highly
appraised album
“Time Flies”.
Louise Bialik:
hergart.soundawesome.com
Spirits Burning:
www.spiritsburning.com
