Unknown Mortal Orchestra

About the Artist

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the brainchild of Ruban Nielson, delivers live performances that straddle the line between psychedelic soul and lo-fi rock reverie—equal parts fuzzy nostalgia and laser-focused craftsmanship. Known for layering hypnotic grooves beneath falsetto vocals that seem to hover just above the mix like a daydream half-remembered, the band transforms the studio’s intimate haze into something unexpectedly raw and immediate on stage. Nielson, a former punk guitarist from New Zealand who once accidentally stumbled into indie fame after anonymously uploading a single track to Bandcamp (spoiler: it went viral), has a knack for turning emotional detachment into an aesthetic. Fans often point to his childhood spent touring with his musician father as the unlikely foundation for UMO’s genre-defying sound—equal parts Prince, Can, and “what if a cassette tape got feelings.” At shows, it’s not unusual for a slow jam to unravel into a ten-minute instrumental spiral, with Nielson gripping his guitar like it just told him a secret. And while his voice rarely rises above a murmur, the energy in the room often suggests otherwise. One particularly infamous gig saw him leap into the crowd mid-solo, landing somewhere between a spiritual reckoning and a well-timed trust fall. It’s that unpredictability—equal parts vulnerability and chaos—that makes an Unknown Mortal Orchestra show less of a performance and more of an oddly cathartic séance with someone who once read your diary and turned it into a groove.