EPK - 2018

ABOUT MONTY O'BLIVION

A politically-driven multi-instrumentalist and producer hailing from the conservative desert wastelands of Arizona. Desperate to break out of the suffocating environment that only a state that prides itself on being anti-union, anti-immigrant and anti-progress can provide, Monty O'Blivion was drawn to music as a means of resistance and escape from the land of exploitative call centers and data-entry facilities. Beginning as a lone teenager learning how to produce electronic music in his bedroom, and having since collaborated with many talents spanning many different musical backgrounds, the sound is ever-evolving. Monty O'Blivion has dabbled in industrial, punk, blues, goth, synthpop, and dance music. The constant is angst-ridden, politically-charged, and often melancholy songwriting.

LISTEN TO 2 UNRELEASED TRACKS FROM MONTY O'BLIVION'S UPCOMING ALBUM "AUTONOMOUSLY YOURS" (RELEASE DATE: WINTER, 2018)

MONTY O'BLIVION FULL BIO

MONTY O'BLIVION began playing alto saxophone in the school band at age 10. In his teenage years, he discovered punk rock, which shaped the person he would become. He picked up a guitar, learned a few chords and started a grungy punk outfit called Vined Eyes. During these years, O’Blivion became politically aware, recognizing the white supremacist patriarchy built into the school system in Arizona. He wrote angry editorial rants in the school newspaper, participated in student protests, and his songwriting began to shift towards topical protest music. He also began composing and recording at home under the name, Manual Sex Drive. What began as a strange mix of Nine Inch Nails & Sonic Youth soon evolved into a unique sound as he discovered his own voice.

In 2007, O’Blivion co-founded rockabilly punk band, The Video Nasties, in which he played guitar and sang backing vocals. Referred to as "The Cramps on speed", they had several anti-police anthems, such as “Sheriff Joe”, aimed at their own Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

While writing and performing with the Nasties, O'Blivion continued to compose and record his own music. His passion for animal and human rights only grew and he started reading the works of Emma Goldman, Joe Hill, Howard Zinn, and adopted anarcho-syndicalist beliefs. All had a profound impact on his songwriting as the music took on a more “light and dark” sound, highly influenced by goth rock & post punk bands like Bauhaus and Public Image Ltd., but with the frantic satirical comedy of Jello Biafra.

In 2010, having recorded hundreds of songs on his own, he revived Manual Sex Drive as an ensemble, with the promise that MSD will be about freedom, first and foremost - freedom for all, or freedom for none. A year later, Monty produced the third album for psychobilly band, The Limit Club, before joining the band full-time. Both MSD and The Limit Club performed locally and toured throughout the US and Europe and had several releases, respectively. In 2016, Monty left The Limit Club and, after a brief hiatus, restructured MSD as a fluid collaborative project playing shows with experimental electronic artists like J of Recycling Lost Cities, Kameron of Careless and the Coyotes and MSD veteran Jhef Rehak on trombone.

O'Blivion, and partner Katey Bright, formed KBOR Records in 2017 and with a desire to re-envision his solo act, released the EP "So Much for the Tolerant Left". Since that release, Monty has retired the MSD title, now performing under his own name. In 2018, Monty O'Blivion relocated to the Los Angeles area and now splits his time between LA and Phoenix, as well as performing in surrounding states.

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "WESTERN WORLD" - 2018

EXCERPT FROM KBOR'S COLLABORATIVE MANIFESTO:

"While one of our objectives is to invoke an emotional response from our listeners, an equally important objective is to be a vehicle for radical change. We are true to our values and shall not knowingly participate in any form of oppression. We aim to make our shows and events a safe space for all, except those who seek to infringe on the rights or autonomy of others.

We are pro-anarchism, we aim to dismantle the social hierarchies that exploit the labors of the poor while serving the rich. We support the socialist ideal of restoring control of the means of production to the people.

These are some of the values that describe the message behind the music of KBOR. Should KBOR gain monetary success, it shall never derail us from our mission, we shall use the success that comes to us to uplift the people, to spread our message, and for the GREATER GOOD."

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