The Oi!Strs

[Full Bio]

The Oi!strs (which is the correct spelling) started out in Austin, TX in 1994. Ethan asked a skin buddy, Puddin', if he wanted to start an Oi! band. Puddin' enthusiastically agreed. They immediately knew who had to drum for the band, Bobby. Auditions were held for a bass player and when Brian tried out the three band members new they had their band. The Oi!strs were born.

The idea was simply to support the local scene, nothing more. No aspirations of making albums, touring or the rest of it. As time went on the band gigged steadily for a couple of years. The band always had a venue to play thanks to Austin being the city that it is. In 1997 the band decided to make an album. Too Oi! is the result.

Ethan, with help from his wife Wendy, funded the majority of the recording and made the CD's. At that time the idea was simply to document the band. The guitar sound on both albums is not the true Oi!strs sound. The Oi!strs sound much "tougher" live. For some reason it was difficult to capture that sound on tape (the album was recorded on two inch tape). Consequently two guitar tracks were laid down using two different guitars in order to toughen up the sound, but it didn't work. The guitars were not tuned perfectly to one another so the result is a chorus type effect on the recording. That is not the guitar tone that The Oi!strs play with. While that was a disappointment, the money had run out. Without additional funds there was no way to record guitar solo's or re-record anything. So, they went with what they had. After all, the band saw themselves as a band supporting the scene with no aspirations of fame, selling albums, touring, etc.. The band simply wanted to play for Skinheads!

Too Oi! actually gained some momentum for a time. Friends had been asking for a CD (Compact Disk's were popular at the time) so it made sense to sell them at shows. Since the band had completed the album, they decided to make a few and sell them at shows. The album was self funded entirely so offsetting the cost of that venture was welcome.

No labels were solicited. At that time the band didn't care about the scene outside of Austin. Ethan had other career aspirations and only saw the band as a passing fancy that would eventually disband. Ethan continued to play and write songs for the band but was also pursuing other interests. 1998 had come and gone and The Oi!strs were still gigging regularly so the next step was to make another album. The Oi!strs were never short on material. For some reason, song writing came easy to the band. The simple lyrics, use of the phrase Oi!, bluesy type feel to it all came easy. Admitedly, a little cheesy at times but still good Oi! album. So, they decided to make another album.

After saving up the money required record a band, The Oi!strs were back in the studio. In 2005 Choke On It was released. This time Nate was on drums. Bobby had gone on to form Blunt Force Trauma as the front man. The same guitar sound was used but this time the two guitar tracks were recorded using the same guitar. It came out a little better sounding but not much. Ethan has said that, "if the band ever records again, the guitar sound will be fixed, period". A third album never surfaced.

Following the effort of making two albums and consistently gigging the band decided to try a short tour. Using Brian's Chevy van the band set out on a tour of the southwest U.S.. On their way to the second stop of the 5 stop tour, the transmission on the van went into the afterlife. There the band was, stuck in some small town in Arizona. Luckily the band got home in one piece but never tried touring again.

Ethan soon left the band after that and The Oi!strs appeared to be finished. Sometime later, Bobby reformed The Oi!strs with Houston, from Brewtality Inc., on guitar and Bobby on vocals. The bass player (Eddie) and drummer (Roland) for Razorburn (a good Oi! band out of San Antonio) joined the line up and Oi!str-Burn was born. The band played material from both The Oi!strs and Razorburn. Playing the same venues that the original Oi!strs use to play, the band continued to gig for a few years before calling it quits.

2022. Bobby calls Ethan and says, "Hey man, how would you like to play guitar for Oxblood at Take the Skinheads Tubing (a local thing that is has been held for a few years thanks to one of our good skin friends) and at The Great Skinhead Reunion in Brighton, England. Ethan's jaw hit the floor and immediately said yes. Practice began and Ethan and Bobby were back together.

After returning from England, Ethan decided to get The Oi!strs back together. Only this time it's Bobby-vocals, Ethan-guitar, Houston-guitar, Eddie-bass and Roland on drums. Practice begins soon.