Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Putting faces to the Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Web-hit psychedelic rock trio sells out Casbah

Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Unknown Mortal Orchestra

In 2010 a singer/songwriter and guitarist named Ruban Nielson posted an original track to his Bandcamp site. Pop music bloggers got their hands on it, reposted it all over the internet, and due to the strength of the song and the utter poverty of information about Nielson, put some effort into tracking him down and finding out who he was and what he was all about. In the technical sense of the word, Nielson probably didn’t have a band at that time, but he supplied a persistent reviewer with a name anyway: he called it the Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Video:

"Multi-Love"

From Unknown Mortal Orchestra's album of the same name.

From Unknown Mortal Orchestra's album of the same name.

UMO is at present three guys — Nielson, along with Jake Portrait and Riley Geare. What they present is a body of music that is rich in the psychedelic tradition, but not fake psych or the usual junk made with a bunch of retail effects. UMO is psychedelic rock that is overwhelming and slightly terrifying in the way of the true head trip. Nielson, an Oregonian by way of New Zealand, should know. He is said to be a user of a broad range of exotic substances, and the authenticity makes for an interesting dynamic. A fan would like to think that if the Beatles had ever followed any one thread, Sgt. Pepper’s, for example, that they would have eventually made records like the ones that Nielson’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra records.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

  • Wednesday, August 5, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego
  • 21+

The band’s third studio release came out in the spring of this year, and according to the rock press, this is a band that can do no wrong. Still, UMO is one of those stories of no publicity and no major press campaign, but with product that somehow landed on the right (virtual) desks. Why all the secrecy around Nielsen and the band? Are we looking at an annoying campaign designed to go viral? If so, mission accomplished. But really, who cares? The songcraft is brilliant, and UMO records approach a kind of perfection.

Vinyl Williams also performs.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Coyote tracks in frail San Diego avocado grove

Second place winner in Reader neighborhood writing contest
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Unknown Mortal Orchestra

In 2010 a singer/songwriter and guitarist named Ruban Nielson posted an original track to his Bandcamp site. Pop music bloggers got their hands on it, reposted it all over the internet, and due to the strength of the song and the utter poverty of information about Nielson, put some effort into tracking him down and finding out who he was and what he was all about. In the technical sense of the word, Nielson probably didn’t have a band at that time, but he supplied a persistent reviewer with a name anyway: he called it the Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Video:

"Multi-Love"

From Unknown Mortal Orchestra's album of the same name.

From Unknown Mortal Orchestra's album of the same name.

UMO is at present three guys — Nielson, along with Jake Portrait and Riley Geare. What they present is a body of music that is rich in the psychedelic tradition, but not fake psych or the usual junk made with a bunch of retail effects. UMO is psychedelic rock that is overwhelming and slightly terrifying in the way of the true head trip. Nielson, an Oregonian by way of New Zealand, should know. He is said to be a user of a broad range of exotic substances, and the authenticity makes for an interesting dynamic. A fan would like to think that if the Beatles had ever followed any one thread, Sgt. Pepper’s, for example, that they would have eventually made records like the ones that Nielson’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra records.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

  • Wednesday, August 5, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego
  • 21+

The band’s third studio release came out in the spring of this year, and according to the rock press, this is a band that can do no wrong. Still, UMO is one of those stories of no publicity and no major press campaign, but with product that somehow landed on the right (virtual) desks. Why all the secrecy around Nielsen and the band? Are we looking at an annoying campaign designed to go viral? If so, mission accomplished. But really, who cares? The songcraft is brilliant, and UMO records approach a kind of perfection.

Vinyl Williams also performs.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Coyote tracks in frail San Diego avocado grove

Second place winner in Reader neighborhood writing contest
Next Article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.