Lane Shi Otayonii (

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

: 莱恩·施·奥塔约尼; born either 1993 or 1994) is a Chinese

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

er,

film composer A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

, and

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

ist based currently out of both

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She is known for being the lead vocalist of Boston experimental band
Dent
an
Elizabeth Colour Wheel
as well as for her solo-project
Otay:onii

Early life

Otayonii was born in Haining, China. Otayonii has said she was a naughty child, but certain life events silenced her as she was growing up, changing her into a shy, quiet person. In 2010, at age 16, Otayonii moved to the United States from

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Influences

Otayonii's music is influenced by

Queenadreena Queenadreena were an English alternative rock band that formed in London, England in 1998 by vocalist KatieJane Garside and guitarist Crispin Gray, who had previously collaborated in the celebrated but short-lived band Daisy Chainsaw. Garsid ...

. Otayonii credits Chinese and

Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...

singing with influencing her to sing without boundaries.

Dent

In 2014, Dent was formed by drummer Jack Whelan, guitarist Harley Cullen, bassist Tristan Allen, and vocalist Otayonii, who all met while attending

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' described Otayonii's stage presence at Dent shows as "creating a force field around as much of the room as she can reach". ''

Bandcamp Daily Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epi ...

'' stated Dent's "local notoriety grew with each visceral, concrete-shaking basement performance". In 2015, the band played a 14-city tour of China that spanned 5,700 miles. On 12 May 2015, Dent released the album, ''Eyeballs. Boston Hassle'' reviewed the album, stating, "with all the low/quiet shifts and endless details it simply begs for repeated listening". Phoebe Fico said Otayonii sounded like "a lead singer whose voice warbled and waned like Bjork and a

Swedish death metal Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. Unli ...

god had a baby". In 2017, Dent split up after the members graduated from Berklee. On 7 June 2019, Dent released the album, ''Bao Bei'', which the band had recorded in 2016.

Elizabeth Colour Wheel

In 2014, Elizabeth Colour Wheel was formed by guitarist Alice Jackson, bassist Bill Cunningham, drummer Connor DeVito, and vocalist Otayonii. In January 2019, ''Revolver Mag'' listed the band on 5 Artists You Need to Know, writing "their live show is something to behold and, impressively, the album manages to capture the same vital energy that exists in their onstage performances." On 15 March 2019, Elizabeth Colour Wheel released the album, ''Nocebo,'' under the label

The Flenser The Flenser (also known as Flenser Records) is an American record label founded by Jonathan Tuite in 2009 in San Francisco, California. It describes itself as a "dark music" label or a "dark experimental record label". Bands that work with or ha ...

. ''Metal Injection'' described the album as, "a testament to all that is heavy, beautiful, and twisted." ''Nine Circles'' wrote ''Nocebo'', "has that timeless quality that marks a unique and vital voice in the music world." ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...

'' called Otayonii's voice "soaring and unique". In 2022, the band played a 50-show tour of the United States. This was Elizabeth Colour Wheel's first time playing for an audience since 2019 (due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

). A reviewer at ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' commented on Otayonii's physicality during her performance, involving vibrating, exiting the room mid-song, eating the microphone, and making sounds with the microphone lodged in her mouth. ''Ghost Cult Mag'' wrote about ECW’s New York show, “Otayonii disappeared into the crowd: the seemingly disembodied shrieking that begged for exorcism made one forget the vocalist had a corporeal form at all until they reemerged writhing in the center of the floor. This visual, as well as auditory experience, made a great opener for the night.”

Otay:onii

In 2018, Otayonii released her solo debut, ''Nag'', on ShadowTrash Tape Group, under the stagename, Otay:onii. In 2021, Otay:onii released the album, ''MíngMíng 冥冥'', on WV Sorcerer Productions. ''Sputnikmusic'' described the album as "a forward-thinking work that combined industrial,

Chinese folk The music of China consists of many distinct traditions, often specifically originating with one of the country's various ethnic groups. It is produced within and without the country, involving either people of Chinese origin, the use of traditi ...

glitch A glitch is a short-lived technical fault, such as a transient one that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among pl ...

and just the bare minimum of pop sensibilities into a spellbinding fever dream of unease and liminal suspense." The music video for ''MíngMíng 冥冥''’s closing track, "Un deciphered", was an official selection by the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival. In 2023, Otay:onii released the album, ''夢之駭客 Dream Hacker,'' on Bié Records. The project came out after she returned from living in China for three years, at the start of the

''.

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' gave ''夢之駭客 Dream Hacker'' a 7.4 rating. '' WBUR'' called the second track on the album, "W.C.", "crushingly eerie". In March 2023, Otay:onii performed at the high-altitude mountain ranges in

Manigango Manigango () is a small township in Dege County, Garze Prefecture, Sichuan, China. The town is located on the Tro Chu () river on the east side of the Chola Mountains. The area is part of the historical region of Kham in Tibet. Today, Manigan ...

on the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

for

Le Guess Who? Le Guess Who? is a Dutch music festival featuring different music genres: from avant-garde, jazz, hip hop, electronic, experimental, noise rock, indie rock, world music and others. This festival was founded by Bob van Heur and Johan Gijsen. It ...

and in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

for

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. In April 2023, she performed at

Roadburn Festival The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

in Tilburg, North Brabant.

Performance art

* ''Naked Winger,'' Stovefactory Gallery, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 2015 * ''Muted Jiji,'' Whisper 局部振动, Mountain Store, Chengdu, China, 2018 * ''Unwrap! 包裹之外'', at Ming Contemporary Art Museum in Shanghai, China, 2021 * ''A Returning of A One that Must be Loved'', Wonderville, Brooklyn, New York, 2015—2023

Awards and honors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otayonii, Lane Shi Avant-garde singers Body art Chinese contemporary artists Chinese performance artists Experimental pop musicians Feminist artists Feminist musicians Indie pop musicians Indie rock musicians Living people Lo-fi musicians Musicians from Shanghai Chinese political music artists Postmodern artists Women conceptual artists 21st-century Chinese actresses 21st-century Chinese artists 21st-century Chinese women singers 21st-century women artists Chinese film actresses Video game musicians Year of birth missing (living people)