On, stylized as ON, was a solo project of American musician,

Ken Andrews Ken Andrews (born Kenneth Andrew Doty; June 18, 1967) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter. He was born in Seattle and attended film school in Los Angeles before his band Failure received a record deal from Slash Records. Ca ...

, which he started after the breakup of his previous band,

Failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

in 1997. The music of On was not unlike that of Failure in terms of

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, but the overall sound was more based on

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, with less emphasis on

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s and the typical heavy rock sound. On was signed to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in 1999, and the first single, "Soluble Words", was released late that year. The EP contains four versions of the song, including a remix by

Martin Gore Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English musician and songwriter. He is one of the founding members of the electronic music band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist and keyboardist, and occasiona ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

, and an exclusive track called "Your Sister Says John" (written by Andrews' friend Jordon Zadorozny of

Blinker the Star Blinker the Star is the recording and performance name of Jordon Zadorozny, a Canadian solo artist who has worked with various musicians to create eleven albums. Notable musicians who have appeared on Blinker the Star albums include Leland Skla ...

). After several months, On's album ''

Shifting Skin ''Shifting Skin'' is the debut album by Ken Andrews' first post-Failure project, ON. Track listing All songs written by Ken Andrews; except "Avalanche" written by Andrews and Jeff Trott. #"C'mon Collapse" – 3:11 #"Slingshot" – 2:53 #"Solubl ...

'' was released in June 2000. The album peaked at No. 16 on the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

Top 200, in March 2000. Andrews then assembled a backing band, which consisted of drummer Tim Dow (ex- Shiner/

Season to Risk Season to Risk are an American noise rock/indie rock band hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Early History Season to Risk formed in late 1989 from Kansas City, Missouri punk bands Nine Lives and Curious George, who played togeth ...

), bassist Tommy Walter (

Abandoned Pools Thomas Edward Walter (born October 30, 1970) is an American musician, best known for his alternative rock band Abandoned Pools and as the former bassist and one of the founding members of Eels. Early years and Eels Tommy Walter was raised in ...

), guitarist Joey Sykes, and keyboardist

Kevin Moore Kevin Moore (born May 26, 1967) is an American former keyboardist, composer and the founder of the Chroma Key music project. He was also a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, co-founder of the progressive rock supergroup O.S. ...

, and took the band on tour. Another single, "Slingshot", was released to radio, bubbling just under the Alternative Top 50; but the album didn't sell well, and Epic eventually released Andrews from his contract. A second On album, ''Make Believe'', was released in 2002 via

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. It was established in 1998 and offered distribution fo ...

and the iTunes Store. Also in 2002, Andrews and Dow formed a new group called Year of the Rabbit. Currently, Andrews is working as a solo artist, a member of Failure and a member of Digital Noise Academy, as well as a producer and

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' -

EK 69672 (June 6, 2000) * ''Make Believe'' - self-released (December 6, 2002)

EPs/singles

* "Soluble Words" - Epic Records ESK 47433 (1999) * "Slingshot" - Epic Records ESK 49249 (2000)

External links

References

American electronic music groups {{US-band-stub