Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) is a psychedelic rock band formed in 2010 by Ruban Nielson, an Auckland guitarist of Māori and Hawaiian descent. After the dissolution of his acclaimed band The Mint Chicks, Nielson relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he began recording lo-fi psychedelic pop songs at home using minimal equipment. He anonymously uploaded the track “Ffunny Ffrends” to Bandcamp in May 2010, and within days it had been championed by Pitchfork and swept across the independent music blogosphere. The hunt to identify the mystery artist behind the track became a minor internet sensation before Nielson claimed it as his own.
I did two records with a 58 and my Mbox Mini, a Blues Junior, one guitar, and a bass.
Ruban Nielson, Tape Op
Nielson came to music relatively late, picking up the guitar at 19 while studying at the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. His father, a New Zealand Maori brass player and recovering addict, bought him his first guitar as an act of amends. At Elam, Nielson met his wife Jenny, a sculptor. He and his brother Kody had formed The Mint Chicks in 2001, going on to win five NZ Music Awards and achieving gold album sales before creative tensions between the siblings led to the band’s end in 2010.
The self-titled debut album, released on Fat Possum Records in June 2011, established Nielson’s distinctive approach: layers of hazy, lo-fi psychedelia built from home recordings. He was joined by Portland bassist Jacob Portrait, and the pair became the core of UMO’s live and studio incarnation. The band’s second album II (2013), released on Jagjaguwar, won Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards. Third album Multi-Love (2015) brought wider international attention, with its title track and “Can’t Keep Checking My Phone” both A-listed at BBC Radio 6 Music. The album, inspired in part by Nielson’s polyamorous relationship, accumulated over 100 million streams and won the APRA Silver Scroll, New Zealand’s most prestigious songwriting award.
Some of my favourite bands and best friends in the music industry are not putting out records right now because of drugs. And it’s not romantic. You just crap out. You just stop.
Ruban Nielson, DMY, 2015
Sex & Food (2018) saw the band recording in locations from Hanoi to Mexico City, accompanied by the instrumental companion piece IC-01 Hanoi. The double album V arrived in March 2023 on Jagjaguwar, drawing on classic West Coast AOR, Hawaiian hapa-haole music, and Nielson’s family history, including the song “I Killed Captain Cook” featuring his mother. The album saw Kody Nielson return to a more prominent role alongside Ruban. The 2025 Curse EP, inspired by Italian horror films of the 1970s and 1980s, brought a heavier edge with Black Sabbath-influenced riffs, while IC-02 Bogota continued the instrumental series. Nielson has performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Conan O Brien, and is now based in Palm Springs, California.
Biography
Members
- Julien Ehrlich (drums, Whitney, Smith Westerns)
- Riley Geare (drums)
- Quincy McCrary (keyboards)
- Kody Nielson (drums/keyboards, The Mint Chicks, Opossom)
- Ruban Nielson (guitar/vocals, The Mint Chicks)
- Jacob Portrait (bass, Blouse)
Discography
- Unknown Mortal Orchestra EP (2010, The Sounds Of Sweet Nothing, SWEET1)
- Unknown Mortal Orchestra LP (2011, Fat Possum Records, FP1250-1)
- Blue Record EP (2013, Jagjaguwar, JAG246)
- II LP (2013, Jagjaguwar, JAG232)
- SB-01 EP (2013, Jagjaguwar)
- SB-02 EP (2014, Jagjaguwar)
- Multi-Love LP (2015, Jagjaguwar, JAG262)
- SB-03 EP (2015, Jagjaguwar)
- SB-04 EP (2016, Jagjaguwar)
- SB-05 EP (2017, Jagjaguwar)
- Sex & Food LP (2018, Jagjaguwar, JAG322)
- IC-01 Hanoi LP (2018, Jagjaguwar, JAG330)
- SB-06 EP (2019, Jagjaguwar)
- SB-07 EP (2019, Jagjaguwar)
- V LP (2023, Jagjaguwar, JAG422)
- Curse EP (2025, Jagjaguwar, JAG483)
- IC-02 Bogota LP (2025, Jagjaguwar, JAG453)