About the artist

Who does what in Opir?

Spencer Thomas started the project and is the primary creative force behind it. He writes composes, performs, records, mixes, and masters all the music, writes all the lyrics, does the vocals, and writes the blog/Twitter. 

Vivienne Gucwa plays live keyboards, does background vocals, shoots all photos and video, provides creative feedback.

Where are the members of Opir from?

Both members are New Yorkers. Spencer is originally from Brooklyn, and Vivienne from Queens. They both reside in Manhattan.

What are their musical backgrounds?

Both Spencer and Vivienne have had formal music training, and have been playing instruments since they were very young, and both have draw from a wide variety of musical influences.

Who plays what? What sort of equipment is used to make Opir's music?

Spencer plays MIDI guitar (a Brian Moore) and Vivienne currently plays a Roland XP-10 live. Mics are classic Shure SM58s. A gaggle of different software is used.

Wait, what? I don't hear a whole lot of guitar on the album. There are lots of different kinds of sounds.

The guitar is used as a MIDI controller, not for its sound. Spencer has been playing guitar for decades, and is proficient at that, so he uses it to write and perform the parts. Nearly all instrument sounds are produced using software synthesizers and software effects. 

How much of Opir's music is programmed rather than performed?

Other than the drums, not much. Nearly all of it is performed on instruments with the synthesizers as sound output. Even some drum parts are played using MIDI note mapping.

Are there going to be more albums?

There will definitely be more albums. We expect to release one every year to year and a half.

What about press inquiries?

Press inquiries about Opir should be sent to press@opir-music.com

Your music is being downloaded for free. What are you going to do about it?

In today's world, this is an inevitability. We ask that if you enjoy the music you hear, to please buy our albums (available at iTunes, Amazon,), but we're not the RIAA or a member of a PRO, and we have zero interest in litigation or monstrosities like DRM - even if we had the legal resources they do. If these organizations and their associated artists want to tilt at windmills, that's their prerogative. We don't.