OXYGEN LAW - About

"Visuals and emotions experienced in the writing process drive the melodies. Playing music is about pushing the creative envelope and knowing your instrument[s]. Oxygen Law uses a vast array of electronic and acoustic instruments to achieve an original, sometimes symphonic, and always dark sound."—Viir Exeter

Oxygen Law's Musical Influences

Modern day influences: Rozz Williams, Gary Numan, Diamanda Galás, Sex Gang Children, Xymox, Sisters of Mercy, Dead Can Dance, In The Nursery, and This Mortal Coil.

Classical influences: anything and everything by Lutoslawski or Rihm, works such as Orff's Carmina Burana and the Hansel and Gretel Suite, to name a few.

Some inspiration also comes from visual and literary stimuli—the art of H.R. Giger, the literature of Poe, Lovecraft, the Brontës, and Baudelaire; and films by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien), and Kubrick (2001, A Clockwork Orange).

Oxygen Law came into being circa 1999 when Viir's first bands, Quietus and Oradour-sur-Glane formally disbanded. The Quietus line up (1996-7) was Viir, lead vocals, keyboards, drum programming, Jennifer Boyd, keyboards and Walker on electric bass. Quietus' influences (much like O2L's) were real Gothic bands like Xymox, Sisters of Mercy, (Rozz's) Christian Death, Joy Division and Bauhaus.

Viir comments, "We were sitting around a table at Helter Skelter one night, and I asked Jen and Walker out of the blue if they'd like to be in a band. Jen had been classically trained in piano, and Walker played electric bass. They said yes, and that was that. Two months later we gained enough notoriety to play a Goth Fest behind the 'Orange Curtain,' and were well received. But even that didn't help the longevity of the band."

Viir on the transition from Quietus: "The main reason Quietus broke up was because we fought." Viir adds half playfully, half reproachfully: "We fought like cats and dogs. People think being in a band is all fun and games. Well, it isn't. There's an enormous amount of sacrifice and hard work that is required to be in a band, and we weren't ready for that. The tension did help in writing the music, though. We worked well that way. At the time we were all rather young. We had a lot of growing up to do.

"Upon Quietus' quietus, as it were, I went totally solo with a project called Oradour-sur-Glane (a bridge entity overlapping Quietus and O2L), which incorporated video, keyboards, drum programming and vox in live performance. Oradour played a benefit concert in West Hollywood's (then) Studio One (when WeHo used to be interesting). Even then I knew I needed to branch out further and push myself in different musical/ideological directions.

"The official birth of Oxygen Law occurred in 2000 upon the release of Arbeit.

"Oxygen Law was still (in the beginning) a one-man band with keyboards, drum machine and vox. But I began something in those early O2L days that I'd never considered before. I started collaborating with a palette of musicians who were not permanent band members (while some became permanent members later on).

"Alex Senicki for instance (of Yes No Maybe notoriety) is classically trained in violin, viola and contra bass. He's become a permanent O2L band member who started out as an honored guest. Alex is a real asset to Oxygen Law. He's also one of the nicest people I've ever met, or had the pleasure of working with. And he's 100% serious about the music.

"I met EJ Emmons (Suburban Lawns, The Plugz, The Pee Wee Herman Show) in 1998 at Paramount Recording Studios Hollywood, California while recording material for Oradour-sur-Glane, a band I was in before Oxygen Law. EJ heard some of the tracks and requested to hear a cassette of all of the Oradour songs. EJ ended up liking the songs enough to produce Oxygen Law.

"Where other producers want their artists to sound like everyone else, EJ encourages musicians to draw upon their individual, unique strengths, and builds upon them. EJ's tremendous producing and engineering experience, and his ability to work with artists is phenomenal. He's a true professional in every sense of the word. And the fact that he produced and recorded the Suburban Lawns is quite exciting.

"Meeting Su Tissue (thru EJ) was a definite honor and high point. She's one of the most intelligent, talented, underrated and misunderstood artists ever. I was raised on New Wave, Punk, Ska and Goth—the original stuff."