PRIMER

CAPSULAR HISTORY
Dallas-based olospo was formed in 1999 by Chris Holt, after the breakup of his previous band Walter Mitty. olospo continued playing the bulk of Mitty's catalog and added a massive amount of new material. Regional play over several years built a solid following before the band toured the country for a year in 2003. 2004 was given over to solo projects. In 2005, it was made clear by the fans that they wanted more, and the focus was shifted back to olospo. They traveled to California for the first time in almost two years to play Xingolati I, which served to reprime the engine. 2006 has seen a lineup change and a resurgence of live shows, as well as a broad amount of new material.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

  • - in 1999, at the first olospo show, there were over 100 people with very little advertising. The band didn't even have a name at that point...it was chosen essentially by write-in votes from the crowd that evening.
  • - in 2001, at the CD-release party for the album 'Herbal Tea', 96 copies were sold to a crowd of less than 250 (club was filled beyond capacity). Therefore, almost 40% of the audience bought the CD.
  • - olospo has made a habit of over-the-top Halloween shows, including Star Wars (2002), The Big Lebowski (2003), and Dead Rock Stars (2004). There are also periodically one-off stunts such as 'The Wall' (2005), which was performed in its entirity along with synched video and a full-sized physical wall prop.
  • - in 2004, the weekend of the ACL Festival, olospo drew 750 people over a two-day solo run at a club in Austin. The show was advertised independently...olospo was not on the ACL lineup that year.
  • - in 2005, even after a year of almost no high-profile playing, olospo and Chris Holt received a combined five nominations for the Dallas Observer Music Awards. Of those, Chris went on to win Musician of the Year.
  • - At Xingolati I, olospo was given two different slots to play, and Chris Holt was included in the All-Star lineup at the launch party. We were pleased the second night to capture the attention of both Wayne Coyne and DJ Logic, who wore a disguise to attend the olospo show anonymously! (It's rude to namedrop, but we have video proof of this statement).
  • - in 2006, Chris Holt received Musician of the Year for the second year in a row, as well as instrumentalist of the year.

    THE NAME
    The word 'olospo' is itself just a meaningless jumble. If anything, it can be correctly interpreted as 'something original derived from a collection of existing things'. This is indicitave of the creative process that any modern musician goes through...combination of influences to create a new, original sound, by breaking down existing things and arranging them in new ways. No one can escape this, but in the end it can be done well or done poorly...the listener must decide. The word is pronounced (at least by us) as 'oh-low-spo' - each 'o' is long. We generally put the accent on the first syllable.