Marykate O'Neil
Marykate O'Neil (born 1968) is an American indiepop singer-songwriter, currently based in New York City. She is known for her quirky, literate pop sensibilities. She released her fourth solo effort, "Underground" (Nettwerk/71 Recordings), on February 3, 2009, following 2002's self-titled album (which made it onto CMJ's 'Best of 2002' list), 2006’s "1-800-Bankrupt", and 2008’s "mkULTRA" EP. Her work has previously been hailed by critics as "witty, angsty goodness", and "pure magic". Biography. O'Neil's music is melodic timeless pop, while her semi-satirical personal narratives land right in modern times . While attending Boston University, O'Neil ended up singing and playing guitar in the indie-pop outfit piewackit. Though the band had a deal with I.R.S. Records and was pulling off shows with Ida, Mary Lou Lord, Juliana Hatfield, Lois, and Elliott Smith, things fell apart, and O'Neil moved to New York City. In 2002, she recorded her self-titled debut album, financing the project with pre-approved credit cards. The record caught on among fans of literate pop, and reached the top 10 of the CMJ charts, which monitors airplay of music on college and independent radio stations. Three songs  from "Marykate O'Neil" were covered by Japanese film and television star Tomoyo Harada. The Nettwerk music group picked up "1-800-Bankrupt" and re-released the album, broadening O'Neil's exposure. In 2006 O'Neil's song "Mundane Dream" was featured in the Sundance award-winning film Stephanie Daley starring Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, and Timothy Hutton. Along the way, O'Neil has befriended like-minded musicians and writers forming a community of players who reappear on all of her records and are her own 'wrecking crew' of sorts. Members include Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Lianne Smith, Ken Maiuri (Pedro the Lion , The Soft Drugs), Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, David Mead), Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Sleater Kinney) and Jill Sobule. Jill Sobule has also co-written a number of songs as well as produced O'Neil's records. O'Neil and Sobule met in the 90's when O'Neil was a member of piewackit playing at a festival in LA with Jill Sobule, Frente!, and The Murmurs. O'Neil is also known for her DIY ethic and typically records song tracks in her home, as well as doing her own album artwork.