12 Rods

American indie rock band January 2008 April 2025 12 Rods 12 Rods - Bliss album cover Ryan'z Bihg Hed (1992) Oxford, Ohio, United States Indie rock 1992–2004 2015 2021–2025 V2 Chigliak American-Dreams Husky Pants www.12Rods.site 12 Rods (also known by the stylistic variants 12RODS and Twelve Rods) was an American indie rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group was formed in Oxford, Ohio in 1992, later relocating to Minneapolis in 1995 where it was based until its initial disbandment in 2004. Aside from a one-off reunion show in 2015, the band remained inactive until 2021, when frontman Ryan Olcott announced on Facebook that he was making a new album under the 12 Rods name. He released If We Stayed Alive and toured with a new line up. In June of 2025, Olcott posted to Instagram announcing the band had disbanded again, stating that the members were fired due to insubordination.Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DK6P6gIsyOU/ 2025-09-22 www.instagram.com History 1992: Formation An early incarnation of 12 Rods was formed in Oxford, Ohio in May 1992, initiated by Talawanda High School student Ryan Olcott. Friends and fellow students Christopher McGuire, Matt Flynn, and Daniel Perlin were members of the band. At this time, the group was known as Ryan'z Bihg Hed,http://www.citypages.com/arts/end-of-the-road-end-of-the-rods-6694927 End of the Road, End of the Rods Thomas Lindsey 11 August 2004 City Pages 21 February 2018 a name coined by Flynn in reference to Olcott's purported behavior during their rehearsals.12 Rods http://www.12rods.com/diary.html https://web.archive.org/web/20051219170035/http://www.12rods.com/diary.html 2005-12-19 2025-06-04 www.12rods.com en The band prepared numerous songs for a performance early in the summer of 1992 at a local high school graduation party named "Field Fest 3". A cassette recording of this performance, titled Helikopter Hundrid Dolurz, was their first release before the group disbanded until July 1992, when Olcott was invited to join a new group formed by McGuire, Flynn, and Daniel Burton-Rose at a performance at the end of the summer. Olcott accepted and they name themselves 12RODS, a title Flynn discovered in a passage from a children's Bible. 1993–1995: Career beginnings and relocation The group independently released Bliss in 1993, their first album as 12 Rods, which was recorded in Minneapolis while the members were still living in Oxford. In 1996, one year after relocating to Minneapolis, the band released the EP gay?, which brought the group publicity following a review by Pitchfork where it received one of the few 10.0 ratings given in the publication's history.http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22719-gay 12 Rods: Gay?: Pitchfork Record Review Josephes Jason Pitchfork 1 May 1996 11 January 2011 https://wayback.archive-it.org/1030/20080406083852/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22719-gay 6 April 2008 Former Pitchfork columnist Jason Josephes spoke of gay? favorably in his "Three Blocks from Groove Street" column after he and Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber saw 12 Rods' first Minneapolis concert and bought the EP.https://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/03/artist-of-the-month-12-rods/ Artist of the Month: 12 Rods Campbell David Minnesota Public Radio 5 March 2015 The Current 21 February 2018 1996–2000: V2 Records era In 1996, 12 Rods became the first American act to sign to V2 Records, then a part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, where gay? was reissued, making it the group's first major label release. The band's next album, Split Personalities, was released in 1998 and named in Pitchforks first list of the best albums of the 1990s (although it was absent in the second version). Minneapolis musician Bill Shaw joined the group around this time, serving as its bassist until the end of the band's career. 12 Rods released its next album, the Todd Rundgren-produced Separation Anxieties, in 2000. Band members say Rundgren didn't do much during recording: “All he would do was press the ‘record’ button and go back to doing crossword puzzles,” said Ev Olcott, who, like his brother, wound up producing records for other bands. “Some of those songs are good, but Todd Rundgren did the absolute worst job possible with that record,” Ryan Olcott sneered. “I would straight-up re-record that record before I’d reissue it.” Star Tribunehttp://www.startribune.com/10-years-later-12-rods-is-back/287990711/ 10 years later, 12 Rods is back Riemenschneider Chris 1 January 2015 Star Tribune 21 February 2018 February 22, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180222043911/http://www.startribune.com/10-years-later-12-rods-is-back/287990711/ dead The band was dropped by V2 Records following the album's release, which was a disappointment critically and commercially. Local Minneapolis drummer Dave King became the group's drummer for most of the remainder of its career after McGuire's departure following the recording sessions for Separation Anxieties. 2000–2004: Independent era and disbandment Jake Hansen joined the band in the summer of 2002 as an additional guitarist, and in 2003 George Marich took over drums due to King's touring conflicts with The Bad Plus. The group recorded and released one more album, 2002's self-released Lost Time, then broke up in 2004. Post-disbandment Following the band's first break-up, Ryan Olcott performed solo as Foodteam (and later as c.Kostra), with a band as Mystery Palace, and is a record producer in Minneapolis. Ev Olcott played in Halloween, Alaska and The Few Nice Words, and co-founded audio software company Audiofile Engineering. McGuire played with Kid Dakota, John Vanderslice, The Mountain Goats, Quruli and gives drumming lessons. Flynn currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and performs in a group called the Queen City Silver Stars and The Matt Flynn Jazz Trio, where he plays upright bass. Shaw reformed Post Mortem Grinner and also plays in The Few Nice Words and Halloween, Alaska. King plays actively with Happy Apple, The Bad Plus, Halloween, Alaska, and Dave King Trucking Company. 2011–present: Lost Time reissue and first reunion, documentary, and second reunion On September 7, 2011, it was announced on the website for Justin Vernon's record label Chigliak that 12 Rods had an album awaiting release in the label's "first year of vinyl releases",http://chigliak.com/about About Sundquist Josh 7 September 2011 Chigliak 12 March 2015 which began on May 22, 2012, with Amateur Love's It's All Aquatic, produced by Ev Olcott.http://chigliak.com/its-all-aquatic-on-may-22 It's All Aquatic on May 22 Sundquist Josh 22 March 2012 Chigliak 12 March 2015 On October 8, 2014, 12 Rods announced via Facebook that Chigliak would be reissuing Lost Time on January 20, 2015, and the band would be playing a reunion show at First Avenue in Minneapolis on January 16, 2015 with Ryan Olcott, Ev, Christopher McGuire, Matthew Foust, Matt Flynn, Tal Tahir, Bill Shaw, Dave King, and Jake Hanson.http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2014/10/12_rods_announce_january_reunion_show.php 12 Rods Announce January Reunion Show Reed Fischer 8 October 2014 City Pages 12 March 2015 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150301010251/http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2014/10/12_rods_announce_january_reunion_show.php 1 March 2015 James Francis Flynn filmed the reunion show as part of a documentary about 12 Rods. Throughout the summer and fall of 2015 he completed gathering the interviews and additional footage for the documentary titled "Accidents Waiting to Happen". The film, modeled after Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz," was funded by a Kickstarter campaignhttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2080825908/accidents-waiting-to-happen-the-12-rods-story Accidents Waiting to Happen: The 12 Rods Story by James Francis Flynn February 27, 2018 and was shown at the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival in April 2017.http://citypages.com/music/12-rods-documentary-remembers-what-might-have-been/419631543 12 Rods documentary remembers what might have been Gerth Austin 20 April 2017 City Pages 3 March 2018 In September 2021, Ryan Olcott announced via the band’s Facebook page that he was making a new 12 Rods record with “zero help, zero support and zero financing”.Interviews Artist 2023-06-30 The Rise, Fall, and Return of 12 Rods https://reverb.com/news/the-rise-fall-and-return-of-12-rods 2026-02-02 reverb.com en On June 20, 2023, a new 12 Rods lineup was announced on the artist's Facebook page,https://www.facebook.com/12rodsmusik/posts/pfbid0cF9b3Bdu5e5wbGgJ18z3QeZE9BtnSNKrvPCNDXYjHP5BguPHZKTf352AswmVa7M4l The 12 Rods hiatus is over. 12 Rods 20 June 2023 Facebook 21 June 2023 along with a new single, "Twice," the third from new album If We Stayed Alive announced for release on July 7.https://www.stereogum.com/2227510/12-rods-twice/music/ 12 Rods – "Twice" Rettig 20 June 2023 James Stereogum 21 June 2023 The album was released on the distribution platform Bandcamp.https://12rods.bandcamp.com/album/if-we-stayed-alive If We Stayed Alive – 12RODS Bandcamp 8 September 2023 On July 14, 2023, 12 Rods performed their first show with the new lineup, consisting of Lars Oslund (guitar), Adri Mehra (bass), Alec Tonjes (drums), and Efren Maldonado (keyboards). The show took place at First Avenue and marked the announcement of a U.S. tour.12 Rods ★ First Avenue https://first-avenue.com/event/2023-07-12-rods/ 2026-02-02 First Avenue en-US On October 31, 2023, it was announced Ryan would be livestreaming solo on Ursa Live. The first stream took place on November 7, 2023, which he would continue to host on a semi-regular basis up until July 2024.Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1006007564867030&set=pb.100063733862739.-2207520000 2026-02-02 www.facebook.com On June 7th 2024, keyboardist Efren Maldonado died unexpectedly at the age of 49.Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Hmm0_OhZv/ 2026-02-02 www.instagram.com His position in the band had not been replaced by the time of their disbandment. In April 2025, Ryan Olcott announced the launch of a Patreon page to host exclusive 12 Rods content. Ryan also spoke on his Patreon about writing new music.Get more from Ryan Olcott / Music on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/u96261716 2026-02-02 Patreon en-US On June 14, 2025, a statement on 12 Rods' social media accounts stated that all the members were fired for "insubordination" and 12 Rods would be disbanded until further notice.Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DK6P6gIsyOU/ 2026-02-02 www.instagram.com On November 13 that same year, it was announced on the band's social media that Ryan would be performing a solo set January 7th, 2026 at First Avenue. The post was captioned "further notice", implying that 12 Rods as a project has not been officially retired. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DRARfrDE52N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== 2026-02-02 www.instagram.com On December 8th, 2025, it was revealed that Ryan would be touring the US and Canada solo under the 12 Rods name.Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DSBzvY0jVY3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== 2026-02-02 www.instagram.com Members Current members Ryan Olcott – lead vocals, guitar (1992–2004, 2021–present) Former members David King – drums (2000–2004) William Shaw – bass guitar (1998–2004) Matthew Foust – bass guitar (1994–1996) Ev Olcott – synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals (1992–2004) Matt Flynn – bass guitar (1992–1994) Christopher McGuire – drums (1992–1999) Daniel Burton-Rose – guitar (1992) Former touring members Alec Tonjes – Drums (2023–2025) Lars Oslund – Guitar (2023–2025) Adri Mehra – Bass (2023–2024) Efren Maldonado – Keyboards (2023–2024) George Marich – drums (2003–2004) Jacob Hansen – guitar (2002–2004) Alejandro Urzagaste – bass guitar (1998) Tal Tahir – bass guitar (1997) Timeline Discography Studio albums Bliss (1993) Split Personalities (1998) Separation Anxieties (2000) Lost Time (2002) If We Stayed Alive (2023) EPs A Very Special Christmas (1995) Gay? (1996) Compilations Unreleased Vol. 1–6 (2004) December 1994 4-Track Demos (2023) Spring 1997 4-Track Demos (2024) December 1992 4-Track Demos (2024) Bliss Era 4-Tracks (2024) Block Rockin' Demos (2025) Live albums Helikopter Hundrid Dolurz (1992) Last Show: First Avenue (2004) Reunion Show: First Avenue (2015) 2004-05-29 Big Wu Family Reunion (2025)2004-05-29 Big Wu Family Reunion, by 12RODS https://12rods.bandcamp.com/album/2004-05-29-big-wu-family-reunion 2025-07-31 12RODS en References Pitchfork https://web.archive.org/web/20080328031314/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/ 2008-03-28 [artist p276442 yes 12 Rods.] Allmusic. Notes External links 12 Rods official site Citypages Interview (2004) expanded Category:Rock music groups from Minnesota Category:Musical groups from Minneapolis Category:V2 Records artists Category:Butler County, Ohio Category:Rock music groups from Ohio Category:Musical groups established in 1992 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Category:American musical quintets Category:American musical quartets Category:American musical trios