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"Los Angeles is a beautiful place aesthetically, but there's a lot of darkness in this city," says Gabrial McNair, guitarist for Southern California trio Oslo. "People move out here, and they have these huge hopes and dreams that get shattered by another person's dishonesty. There are a lot of tragedies."
Reflecting on life and love with the rose-colored glasses off is what McNair, vocalist/guitarist Mattia Borrani and bassist Kerry Wayne James do on the trio's new self-titled CD. It blends the biting guitars of early U2, the off-kilter vocals of Joy Division and the atmospherics of Pink Floyd -- not at all what you'd expect from founder McNair, who spent the better part of a decade touring as a multi-instrumentalist for ska-popsters No Doubt.
"We didn't know exactly what we were going to sound like, which is a beautiful thing," he says of his own combo's formation, which occurred during his No Doubt down time in 2001. "It's like trying to find the right lover: You know what kind of person you like, but it's not until you meet that person that it all becomes clear."
The record started out with McNair making drum loops for the trio to play over in his home studio. Early sessions yielded keepers such as "All Terrain," "Minute Gun," "Systemic" and "One Last Fling" -- but because of McNair's hectic road schedule Oslo remained a studio project. But with No Doubt issuing a greatest-hits album, and singer Gwen Stefani taking a solo leap in 2004, the time was finally right to take Oslo onstage. Still in need of a drummer, in stepped No Doubt's own Adrian Young.
"We asked Adrian if he would come up as a guest for a song if he was ever at a show," McNair explains. "He was like, 'I'd love to play one song with you guys, but I'd much rather play a whole set.'"
Young toured with Oslo last year, and now the group has their own man behind the kit: Joey Barnes. Barnes is currently touring with Oslo, whose current trek continues tonight in Berkeley, California.
But, according to McNair, don't rule out future guest appearances by Young, who often does the unexpected. "We were on tour [with No Doubt] in Indonesia, and we went to an after-party where this cover band was playing," McNair recounts. "Adrian walked up to them and said, 'I'll play a song with you if you want.' They had a girl singer, so they asked, 'Do you want to do a No Doubt song?' He'd had a few beers, so he said, 'Sure, fuck it. Why not?' And they got all giddy."
Oslo tour dates:
4/12: Berkeley, CA, Blakers on Telegraph
4/13: Concord, CA, Bourbon Street Bar
4/15: Eugene, OR, Diablos Downtown Lounge
4/16: Seattle, Catwalk Club
4/18: Portland, OR, Ash Street Saloon
4/21: Sacramento, Harlows
4/22: Crystal Bay, NV, Breeze Nightclub