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Ikey Owens | |
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 Ikey Owens at Outside Lands 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Randolph Isaiah Owens |
| Born | (1974-12-01)December 1, 1974 |
| Origin | Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 14, 2014(2014-10-14) (aged 39) Cholula, Puebla, Mexico |
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| Years active | 1996–2014 |
Randolph Isaiah "Ikey"Owens (December 1, 1974 – October 14, 2014) was an American keyboardist known for his work withThe Mars Volta,Jack White and an array of bands from theLong Beach music scene.[1][2]
He notably performed as a member ofLong Beach Dub Allstars, but in 1998 it was an encounter withCedric Bixler-Zavala andOmar Rodríguez-López ofAt the Drive-In at a concert inIrvine which proved fateful.[3] In 1999 Owens lost his job at a financial management firm inHuntington Beach that "helped handle billion-dollar accounts for Disney and the Catholic Church",[3] but he eventually received an invitation to join thedubreggae bandDe Facto and found himself touring Europe with Omar, Cedric, andJeremy Ward. Not long after that he was once again invited to join their new project,The Mars Volta. Since then Owens was notable for being the longest tenured member of the Mars Volta outside Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez, having continually recorded and performed with the band since their 2001 inception, although this came to an end in 2011 when he was not asked by Rodriguez-Lopez to accompany The Mars Volta on their summer tour. The reasons for this decision are currently unknown, although on July 2 Mars Volta bassistJuan Alderete claimed that Owens was currently "producing bands these days."[4] Juan later noted, "He had some conflicts in his scheduling, and then it all just naturally evolved into what it is today. Ikey is awesome. I miss dinners with him."[5]
Owens was also very active outside the Mars Volta. Beginning in 2002, Owens wrote and recorded solo material under the monikerFree Moral Agents, releasing avinyl-onlyEP on Pete Records, as well as aGSL split 12-inch with Subtitle. They released their full-length "Everybody's Favorite Weapon" in 2004. He played withPocket Lent,Teen Heroes and did session and work and live shows withEl-P,Dave Sitek fromTV on the Radio,Shuggie Otis,The Aquabats,Blowfly,Barrington Levy,Mastodon,Gravy Train!!!!,Born Jamericans,Wailing Souls,Radioinactive,Heavens,Prefuse 73,Bob Forrest, and poet/spoken word artistSaul Williams. Owens worked with2Mex as hip hop duo theLook Daggers. In 2007, Ikey producedFirst You Live by Orange County progressive-folk bandDusty Rhodes and the River Band.Owens was also seen playing with the Long Beach experimental bandCrystal Antlers. Free Moral Agents released their second full-length albumControl This in the fall of 2010 (9/28), the first album with the band's expanded line-up.
Owens later became part ofJack White's all-male backup bandThe Buzzards, playing keyboards, organ and piano. He took part in the world tour in support of White's albumBlunderbuss, and later also performed on White's second album,Lazaretto, and was in the middle of the supporting tour of the album at the time of his death.
On October 14, 2014, Owens was found dead due to a heart attack[6] in his hotel room inPuebla, Mexico, aged 39.[7] Two remaining concerts in Mexico in support of Jack White's album,Lazaretto, were cancelled. The band had played inMexico City three days earlier, in Puebla one night before the incident, and were scheduled to perform inGuadalajara the day of his death.[6][8]
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