“The music of The Ostrich Farm…imagines a kind of alien landscape, mashing up funk, hip-hop, space-rock and industrial into a mix that’s entirely in sync with current developments such as post-rock but also harks back to the late ’60’s and early ’70’s when cross-fertilization was the norm.”
The Valley Advocate
Michael Strohl
July, 1996
“A Zappa-fied Soul Coughing without dwelling too much in their own artiness. The rhetorical intrigue of David Byrne meets the rap rants of Ad-rock in this explosive trio’s uncategorizable sound that’s as organic as the Minutemen, yet steeped in effects. Dizzying musicianship plus earnest intensity equals a must see live experience.”
Arts Weekly (New York Area)
Chris Uhl
May 6, 1998
About Ostrich Farm
Formed in the Summer of ’95 on the grounds of an actual ostrich farm, Ostrich Farm featured Tony Jillson on Guitar, Vocals and Drum-Machine; Chris Millner on Bass, Keyboards and Vocals, and JJ O’Connell on Drums.
With their self-described sound, ”Half-machine Mutant Tribal Disco Metallic Space-Dub Meltdown,” they were compared to bands Talking Heads, Devo, P-Funk, Soul Coughing and Tricky; but had an original vibe of their own.
Based in western Massachusetts, they performed often in Northampton at The Bay State Lounge, the Iron Horse, Pearl Street, Club Metro, and The Grotto. In Boston they performed at The Middle East and TT The Bear’s; In New York City at The Knitting Factory and Spiral. Their shows were well regarded as high-energy, eclectic and delivered the goods.
Along with the aforementioned Mark Miller (Stone Coyotes), Ostrich Farm worked with notable Metal producer Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Hatebreed). They also enlisted the talents of other performers along the way, including singer-songwriter Ellen Cross, drummer Dave Noonan (Equalites, Gaslight Tinkers), sax-player Jana Bird, Rusty Williams (Hospital, Doomnation), JD Keating (Stash, Spooky Daily Pride) and rapper Dan Lyons (N.T.T.).
The Ostrich Farm Catalog
The People in the Hills and We Must Rock are available now for download and streaming medei on most major music outlets including Apple iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music Store, and many others.
There are plans to release more albums from the Ostrich Farm vaults later this year, as there are several more albums of material waiting in the wings, including Life on the Ostrich Farm, and It’s the Other Red Meat.
Stay Tuned!