Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Omni only came together in the early part of last year after singer and guitarist Frankie Broyles left the band Deerhunter. However, despite being active for little over eighteen months, they’re already on album number two with this month’s Multi-Task on Trouble in Mind Records set to continue where last year’s debut Deluxe left off. The trio features ex-Deerhunter guitarist Frankie Broyles, former Carnivores member Philip Frobos (on bass and vocals), and Doug Bleichner on drums. The follow up to their 2016 debut album Multi-task is 11 tracks worth of sonic goodness, heavy on thick and fun guitar licks matched by equally complicated but light lyrics.
Multi-task was written and demoed with their friend and engineer Nathaniel Higgins (who also worked on Deluxe) at his home studio in Atlanta. “Writing in there just feels right,” Broyles says of his hometown. “When we sit down to record a demo, songs just sort of appear. Not always but… sometimes. I love that you can escape Atlanta within Atlanta.”
Parts of the record were also recorded in a remote cabin in the woods near Vienna, Georgia (just under three hours drive south), a location Broyles grew up going to with his family. “Moments after arriving at the cabin, the stress of being in Atlanta just disappeared. Everything got a lot easier. We could finally focus… It’s a special place.”
Frobos agreed that that time was vital and calls it the best recording experience he’s ever had. “The scenery—tall pines, old cemetery, and natural spring. Being able to wake up, have a coffee on the porch, take a break from recording to walk through the field at night. The record definitely benefited from our trips to Vienna. We may not have made our deadline had we not gone. It was nice to be immersed.”
The band recorded the album between touring, making time to get in the studio while trying to balance work schedules and everyday personal life shit. “It became a very stressful situation but I think the recorded probably benefited from that,” Broyles says. Indeed, there was some emotional juggling in the creation of Multi-task. “ Multi-task was coined while on tour and we often joked about dealing and not dealing with our situations while being strapped in for the ride,” Frobos addas. “I also got out of a very long relationship, a situation that was difficult to realize.”
The Fat Angel Sings 