Biography
Primordial Ooze began with the construction of its home, Riff Raft Studios, a musician’s mecca with view to match in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Co-founders Gary Fierer and Saint Ortiz had been flying high with their NYC band Raindance when much to their surprise the band spontaneously combusted. Without missing a beat (including the thump they made when they hit the ground), they began building the studio. Within a year, the studio was ready for play and in the midst of a blitz of auditions, soap operas, rehearsals, coup attempts, recording sessions, scandals and photo shoots, Primordial Ooze released their first cd, established a website and set out to perform on the stages of NYC. When the smoke cleared, Jose Moura, Kalen Lister, Peter Sloan Lewis and Joe Kaufman had joined the band.
Primordial Ooze has appeared at numerous NYC venues including Ace of Clubs, Kenny’s Castaways, Downtime, Continental, Pyramid, and Desmond’s Tavern. Their high energy, infectious mix of blues, rock, funk and reggae dazzles and ignites audiences. Having in essence seized the means of advertising production (well, ok, having bought them really cheap on ebay) and believing that, if you’re willing to get your hands dirty, you can put up a million dollars worth of advertising for fifty grand, they display an unprecedented number of large posters for each gig, and are well on their way to being the most visible independent band in NYC history.
Gary Fierer (vocals, guitar) studied film at UCLA then co-founded an
LA theatre company whose numerous works culminated in an National Endowment of
the Arts grant to develop Vainglorious!, a farce about a supremely
dysfunctional family rock band who moonlight as criminals. Gary moved to New York to write and mount
the play at Soho’s New Artistic Directions.
The cast of the play ultimately morphed, with the addition of Saint,
into Raindance, which transformed into the foundation of Primordial Ooze, as
illustrated above.
Saint Ortiz (percussion) was born to the Red Cliff Chippewa Tribe in Wisconsin and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A percussionist since before birth (or so laments his mother), as a teen he played at various musical events (read parties) on the fledgling Williamsburg art scene. At a summer night jam on the roof of a local loft he met Gary. Soon thereafter they formed Raindance.
Jose Moura (bass) is a
native of Sao Paolo, Brazil. He has
toured and recorded with Guilherme Hermoline and composers Arthur Kampela and
Giovanni Bizotto, as well as the bands Cão sem Dono, Banda Brasil, and
Frisson. He developed now standard
teaching techniques for musical schools in Brazil, including Musiarte in Rio de
Janeiro. He won The Ministry of Culture
of Brazil’s Virtuoso Award, a scholarship to study in New York with the bass
player John Patitucci. He currently performs with many artists and bands, such
as Dante, Derby, and Simaku, as well as his own trio.
Kalen Lister (vocals) grew up singing and playing piano in small
town New Hampshire. She studied fine
arts and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she formed a
prolific and popular student band. Upon
graduation in 2004 she moved to NYC and has since become very active on the
music scene, recording a solo album and doing numerous performances in addition
to her work with Primordial Ooze.
Peter Sloan Lewis (drums) is a New York City native who studied at the Westchester Conservatory and Manhattan College of Music. He has since toured Europe and the U.S. extensively with a wide variety of artists, including Ricky Martin, Wynton Marsalis, Oprah Winfrey and Gil Evans. In addition to his busy recording and performing schedule, he has established his own production and recording studio, and has produced numerous projects.