THE OXYGEN PONIES

The Oxygen Ponies is the brainchild of Rhode Island transplant Paul Megna, who taught himself guitar after being shot from a 52nd street window on the way to rehearse for an Off-Broadway play. The bullet still resides in his neck, centimeters from the jugular - a constant reminder of how unexpectedly life can change. This world weary view manifests itself in much of the bands material, but the overall sense of impending doom is often rife with wistful melodies, melancholy lyrics and carefully woven, inexplicably uplifting aspects. Band membership changes from album to album, with Megna – who writes, arranges and sings all of the bands material, being the only constant member. They Oxygen Ponies have performed on both sides of the Atlantic with such artists as the Jayhawks, Mercury Rev, Here We Go Magic, White Rabbits, Danny and the Champs, Goldrush, Electric Soft Parade, et al. [*photo by Bernie DeChant]

Press Quotes

With a weary voice as dusty as the attic in a condemned house, a unique guitar style and an organically intuitive sense of songcraft, Paul Megna and the Oxygen Ponies have appointed their acidic indictment of contemporary America with sounds that captivate and howl, putting them in a class with some of music's most creative purveyors.
Brian Baker - Amplifier Magazine

This is a truly remarkable album... Really, really outstanding stuff... I think this music is amazing.
Bob Harris Live on Air BBC Radio 2

Minor chord folk/pop for the end credits. A dozen songs delivered in a raspy voice that sounds broken beyond repair.
Magnet Magazine #74

It's still quite early on in Paul Megna's career, but even this early, it seems clear that he will soon take his place among the most influential of this generation's musicians.
Stereo Subversion

Full of cynicism and hope… Well worth your time.        Americana UK

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Exit Wounds

The Oxygen Ponies world weary view has never been more prevalent than in the aptly titled Exit Wounds, a gritty, tempestuous, folk-pop opus regarding those we leave behind and the baggage we carry with us on the road less traveled by. Written, recorded, produced and engineered by Paul Megna at Ponyland (part of the Saltmines Collective) Exit Wounds is not a sunny pop record recorded in a cavernous studio overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It’s music for the middle children - recorded in a dark, dusty basement, (often by candlelight) in the wee hours of late nights and early mornings as to avoid bleed from noisy metal bands rehearsing across the hall. During the cold winter months there was very little heat except for the warmth emanating from the tubes of Megna's '64 Ampeg Jet. Everything else was borrowed - the old pro-tools rig, microphones, and guitars… and on lucky days, an occasional pre-amp. Sometimes the gear would all be there ready to go and on others it was gone, without a moments notice. That's how the whole thing went down. With that immediacy. Record while you can, cause tomorrow you might not have the gear, or the silence or in Megna’s psyche - the opportunity.

Most exit wounds are external, you can see the scar tissue where the healing begins. But in the case of Paul Megna, those scars never heal. They are internal, emotional… and the driving force behind the Oxygen Ponies latest album. From the resounding whip-crack snare of 'Hollywood' to the crescendo of electric guitars, horns and strings in 'I Don't Want Yr Love’ to the plaintive acoustic guitar and vocal of ‘Jellybean’, Exit Wounds is the sound of an artist alone with his demons - trying to capture the perfect song to express feelings that cannot be described in ordinary words. It was written and recorded because it had to be. Because at the end of the day when everything else had fallen away, making this record was the only thing left to hold on to.

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Harmony Handgrenade

Harmony Handgrenade sees Paul Megna treading into new territory, giving up the lo-fi autobiographical melancholy of his debut for a richer, multi-textured soundscape. Strings, horns and backing vocals abound as Megna sardonically attacks corporate America on this politically charged and ironic follow-up. Sexy and immediate, lyrically intoxicating and musically loose, Harmony Handgrenade is post-apocalyptic without being melodramatic or self-indulgent. It’s matter of fact, chastened, jaded but hopeful. Just like Megna himself.

Produced by Megna and Don Piper and recorded live at Between the Trains studios in the fall of 2007 with Piper engineering, Harmony Handgrenade nearly became the record you were never going to hear. H.H. was recorded quickly with a live rhythm section in a single week. Nothing was rehearsed. The sessions ended a month later when overdubs were handled in the same celebratory way. The original mixes were completed by Thanksgiving, but Megna wasn't satisfied with the overall 'feel' so he turned to Dave McNair at Sterling Sound. McNair remixed and mastered the album in its entirety and handed Paul the completed project in April 2008. There was still plenty of time to prepare for a fall release to coincide with the upcoming election - only the Oxygen Ponies had been dealt an ugly hand. While McNair was finishing the record, Megna unexpectedly lost his day job and remained unemployed for the next nine months. No income meant no record release and no touring as there wasn’t any money to pay the band. So he tucked the masters under his bed and started producing Randi Russo's ‘Fragile Animal’. As the months passed, Paul struggled with the idea of throwing the whole project away or leaving it hidden under his bed as the 'lost' Oxygen Ponies record. Then in December of 2008 he listened to it again and decided it was still a great record and deserved a wider audience regardless of whether he was employed or could afford to have the whole band perform it with him or not.

Harmony Handgrenade was released on Hidden Target Recordings on May 19th, 2009 to more critical acclaim and eventually landed on three bloggers best albums of 2009 lists with the XX, Conor Oberst, Willie Nelson and the Animal Collective et al. It was championed on the air by Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2 who exclaimed “This is a really quite wonderful album… I think this music is amazing…” and the accolades snowballed. Brian Baker of Amplifier Magazine claimed “Harmony Hangrenade places Paul Megna into a class with some of music’s most creative purveyors.” Stereo Subversion claimed “[Megna] will soon take his place among the most influential of this generation’s musicians.” The Oxygen Ponies were personally invited by Bob Harris to play on his curated stage at the Truck Festival with member of the Jayhawks, Incredible String Band, Pete Molinari and Danny and the Champions of the World et al.

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