Villains Company is a five piece rock group from Chicago, IL, that blends the slick tones of classic and modern rock with interstellar grooves and harmonious vocals to create a collage of new and eclectic music.

Oginalii, (meaning “my friend” in Cherokee) was conceived between two friends in Nashville, Tenn. as a fruition of successful songwriting endeavors. Oginalii is now a full band of collaborative and unique musical talents and styles, playing together to create what others call an indie, psychedelic and native rock sound. Powerhouse vocals, tasty tasty guitar, a goddess of a drummer (who wrote this?) and a sound that can’t be compared. Just come to a show, and hang.

The Z Chord is a Chicago based rock band, formed in August of 2013 by brothers Pete, Frank and Dan Manzella. The aim of the band is to be the yin to the yang of the death metal genre they’ve been best known for in the Chicagoland area over the last 16 years. Being the polar opposite of a genre that explores dark subjects such as gore, violence, perversion, murder and other demonic ideals. The Z Chord explores universal ideals of meditation, peace, awakening to higher consciousness and the exploration of the spiritual path. Lyrically we are unbiased toward any religion. Our songs are written about the journey towards awakening to the higher self, and reaching for the union with all of creation, the creator, God, or whatever you would like to call it. Whatever path you may be on, may our music serve as a small spark that will eventually ignite a fire within you.
Going back to our roots, the influences of The Z Chord include such classic bands as Alice in Chains, Pink Floyd, Rush, The Beatles, U2, The Doors and so on… But also infusing melodies and imagery from different world religions and traditions such as christian medieval chant, American Indian music and classical sitar stylings of India. In short, The Z Chord is high octane modern rock with ethereal overtones. Truly a haunting sound. If Ravi Shankar had a jam session with A Perfect Circle and Pink Floyd in a 14th century monastary somewhere in the mountains of Europe, the end result could very well sound something like The Z Chord. Currently the band is in the studio working on a full length album to be released in the fall of 2014. A music video for the single “The Z chord” is in the making and is set be released in the spring of 2014.
What is The Z Chord? One night Pete was playing the video game Rocksmith at a buddies house. Someone was trying to tune the guitar and jokingly Pete suggested to play a Z chord. Ding! A light bulb turned on. Sounds like that might make a great band name. So after googling the phrase, it turns out the z chord is a term used by Ukulele players when they mute the strings and just strum the instrument rhythmically without any tone or notes being played. But we prefer to define it as a sound, or musical experience that does not exist. Until now.