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OXYMORON was called into being in late 1992 actually, although the
roots of the
band go back further to the fall of 1989.
Formed by Sucker and his drumming cousin Bjoern and completed by their
mates
Martin on the guitar and Filzlaus on the bass the original line-up
needed a couple of years
and various efforts to see the light of the day under the name OXYMORON.
The main intention behind it all was to have a laugh and to get the
kind of music across
they were into, and since the early Nineties didn't seem to have a lot
of punk let alone
skinhead bands being around anymore they felt an urge to get out and do
it themselves to keep
it going. Mostly influenced by early Eighties' punk and Oi! stuff it
was
quite obvious what it would sound like in general, but it was a long
way
until they finally made it on stage.

Originally coming from Erlangen / Nuernberg - Germany their first real
appearence was at the
annual punk festival in their home town along with other local bands.
After this show they got
offered some gigs as support for more established acts all over Germany.
Practising in a mouldy former beer cellar which they called the
Oxyfactory the time was right
in the summer of '93 for recording their debut-ep "Beware, poisonous!"
which they produced and
released off their own bat (on the provisional "Oxyfactory Recs."
label, that never put out
any further records). This single finally came out in early '94 and was
subsequently reissued
by Bob Burridge from Helen Of Oi! Records, who had picked it up and
apparently liked it since
he offered the band a record deal for a full-length album as well.
"Fuck the Nineties - Here's our Noize", as it was eventually called,
had to be recorded as a
three-piece because Filzlaus left after one tour and couldn't be
replaced immediately. The
band paid the studio from their own money that they somehow managed to
raise, but it was well
worth it. The response and reviews Oxymoron received for this album
were more than anyone ever
had expected and lots of fanzines and indie music mags became attentive
all over the place.
With their pal Arne joining in a few weeks later and taking over the
bass, they seized the
opportunity and started gigging abroad, too, as well as in Germany,
where they had been touring
twice in the company of Braindance (with whom a split-single was
released at the same time,
named "Mohican Melodies").
Since OXYMORON always were a mixed band and stood for unity between the
tribes both punks and
skins attended their shows from the very beginning. Thus they played a
lot at the Oi! festivals
that were taking place again more and more often in the meantime, with
the likes of Cock Sparrer, Angelic Upstarts, Major Accident, Test Tube
Babies etc. In the spring of 1996 the "Crisis
Identity"
single was released on Arne's and his wife's short-lived label Rough
Beat Records, followed
by the band's first trip to the USA.
This was a chaotic two odd weeks affair along the East Coast
together with Braindance and the Casualties,
which went down very well for them after all.

Mosh from Knock Out Records had become an ever-present companion of
the band, who was running
his label for some years already and had done much good for the
streetpunk scene with his
publications, so they decided to sign to him. Roughly one year later
their second long-player
"The Pack is back" was consequently released by Knock Out, and it
smoothed the way for the band when they hit the road in various
countries of Europe again. The most exciting tour however was
to come in summer of '97, when they had the chance to play in Japan for
almost three weeks (along
with the Discocks), and certainly went for it.
1998 didn't mean it good with the Oxy's and they had to take few blows,
because some tours
planned for a long time were cancelled just weeks before or had be
called off for some reasons.
Besides Sucker had to go to hospital for a
while due to a nervous damage and everything slowed down.
And last but not least Arne left the band just weeks before the
recording sessions for the
"Westworld" mini-album were supposed to be. So without further ado
Chrissy stepped in, who
temporarily had been a second guitarist and used to play bass on the
first US tour already.
As a four-piece again the Oxy's set out in '99 on a full
scale attack on various countries of
Europe, playing more gigs than ever before as well as touring the whole
USA. This seven weeks
coast-to-coast affair in the company of the Dropkick Murphys (with whom
another split-single
had been done) and the Ducky Boys turned out to be a great success and
should become one of the
best things they had done so far. Chrissy left the band after the tour
to have more time for his
own project and fortunately Moretti showed up to play the bass.
In the fall of 2000 the compilation "Best before 2000" was released by
Knock Out Records (and Cyclone Records in the States) because of the
demand for the sold out 7"es and rare material - including all the
singles and stuff from various comps. But the time was also right for
the OXY's to put out a "real" new album as well. So they withdrew for a
couple of months in order to work on it, and recorded what was going to
be called "Feed the Breed" in the summer of 2001
(which is available in Europe since november
already and will be out on GMM Records in the USA this april), just
before returning to the States again. Six weeks on the road from coast
to coast, this "Pure Punk" tour was played side by side with Dead
Empty, The Boils and The Forgotten.
Europe (and especially Germany) was toured as well - with a
different line-up though. Unfortunately Martin, an original member, had
left the band having offspring, and so Chrissy once again stepped in
temporarily.
In the meantime the headquarters had been moved to Berlin,
where everybody lived now. But the guitarist who was finally found
there left again while the "Chaos across the Nation" US-Tour was going on,
leaving the band stranded overseas... Davey - actually the driver - offered to do
the job and saved the day, learning the set in just a few days.
He was playing on the following tour through Europe
("Spirit of the Streets" - with Pistol Grip and the Beltones) as well,
which was to be the last one for Oxymoron to the very day.
That's the story so far - and no one really knows what the future holds...
After all singer and mastermind Sucker has put out an album in winter 2006/2007 with his new
"BAD CO. Project" and kind of carried on the Oxy's legacy where the band left off. Since Rebellion festival '08
this band is back on stage and playing shows again - so BEWARE...!
LINE UP:
1992-1994
Sucker - vocals & guitar
Maddin - guitar
Filzlaus - bass
Bjoern - drums
1995-1997
Sucker - vocals & guitar
Maddin - guitar
Arne - bass
Bjoern - drums
1998
Sucker - vocals
Maddin - guitar
Chrissy - guitar
Arne - bass
Bjoern - drums
1999-2000
Sucker - vocals & guitar
Maddin - guitar
Chrissy - bass
Bjoern - drums
2000-2001
Sucker - vocals & guitar
Maddin - guitar
Moretti - bass
Bjoern - drums
2002
Sucker - vocals & guitar
Davey - guitar
Moretti - bass
Bjoern - drums
BAD CO. PROJECT
(since 2008)
Sucker - vocals
Marti Neurotic - guitar
Billy the Cunt - guitar
Stephan - bass
Andy Laaf- drums
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