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Otis

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OTIS, the Roosendaal brothel, got demolished at the end of 2005. At the same time and in the same area rockbands Stockholm Syndrome and The Coffinkids called it quits. Some of the then suddenly unemployed forces were combined, and together with ex-members from earlier deceased local bands Ground Control (nowadays Textures) and Against Time a new band consistent of underground veterans was born and dubbed Otis, after the aforementioned club. Instead of defining this new band with a concept or style Mario van Meer (vocals), Barry Knobel (guitar), Walter Poppelaars (guitar), Michel Sleypen (bass) and Martijn Konings (drums) came together and started blasting out loud music instantly.

This clicked like crazy, and within weeks they recorded their first two songs at Studio 195 in Wernhout and got them released by Black Death as a split 10" vinyl record with Daily Fire. Before the summer Otis returned to 195 to record songs for compilation cd's by the Vatican Analog label and the Ragwear clothing company.

Otis played its first show in January 2006 and its twentieth that following December. This first year they performed in the Netherlands exclusively, together with great bands such as NRA, Rise And Fall, Baroness, Rye Coalition and Clorox Girls in places like the Rotterdam Waterfront, the Bitterzoet club in Amsterdam, Tilburg's main venue 013 (twice!) and the prestigious ZXZW festival.

At the end of 2006 Otis returned to 195 to document a total of thirteen songs, once again under the supervision of Patrick Delabie. The sessions were mixed by Patrick Delabie and Vincent Koreman, the man behind Travoltas and Vatican Analog, who also mastered the album.

Inbetween recording and mixing, Michel decided to quit Otis to focus more on his family. The search for a new bass player was a short one because Onno Pijl was ready to go in a few rehearsels. Michel played his final show with Otis in March, Onno did his first one in February.

The album was released on CD by Black Death in May 2007 bearing the title "Good Cop Bad Mood". Immediately after the release the band did its first shows abroad in France and Spain.

At this moment, Otis is currently busy both booking and playing as many shows as possible, anytime, any place, anywhere. So if you're into stuff like Botch, Hot Snakes, Shellac, At The Drive-In, Hot Water Music, Snapcase and Black Flag you should either go see 'em or go book 'em!

Contact
Website	http://www.hail-otis.com

Latest news

Title (comments)	Date
Otis releases 2nd album (5)	28 June 2009
Otis update (12)	20 February 2007

Reviews

Otis - Storm is Coming

24 August 2009 · First of all: I don't agree with the title 'Storm is Coming' because Otis has showed us the last year they are already a storm when entering the stage. The energetic live feel is now captured on the... »

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Otis - Good Cop Bad Mood

21 June 2007 · Last November I reviewed the two Otis songs on the Daily Fire/Otis split. My biggest complaint was the screaming vocals of Mario that don't fit exactly with the melancholic punkrock. On the full... »

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Otis/Daily Fire - Split 10-inch

29 November 2006 · Never before have I reviewed a split 10”, not even a 10”. Daily Fire and Otis made this record together and this split 10” has the doubtful honour to be the first that’s reviewed by me. Both bands... »

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