The Story of Universe Narrows 

Being in a band with your dad is not super common. Being in a band with your 81 year old dad is even less common. But, it’s all part of a natural progression that began more than 35 years ago, when JJ and Mark O’Connor first started learning to play the guitar. The year was 1985. Mark was 15 & JJ was 43. Early on, JJ had some pie in the sky ideas of forming a “family band” with Mark, his older son Dan (who already played the drums), & his younger brother Jimmy. Unfortunately, being teenagers, Mark and Dan had no interest in being in a band with their dad. Also, Jimmy didn’t play an instrument and he lived in another state. So, for many years JJ was left to make headway on his own.

Meanwhile, Mark and Dan followed a pretty typical musical path through their teens and 20’s. They were in several different bands, together and separately, and mostly wrote/played the same loudish, “alternative rock” that so many bands were also playing at the time. They had various dumpy/sketchy rehearsal spaces, played in various (and usually mostly empty) bars, and drank too much beer. Although it was a lot of fun, it wasn’t really heading anywhere and at some point Dan decided to stop doing music and try something new. So, he bought an old O’Day sailboat and gave his drums to Mark.

Now in his 30’s, Mark was also looking to try something new. So, he began writing songs with JJ.  Being much older, JJ brought a totally different perspective to the process- and with no band to write in the context of, they were free to pursue any genre they wanted. Mark went back to his pre-alternative rock influences- the things that got heavy rotation on his kid’s model record player back in the 1970’s- The Beatles, Harry Nilsson, the “American Graffiti” soundtrack. And (again because they didn’t have a band to perform with) JJ and Mark began to focus on recording. They used “multitracking” in order to perform all of the parts themselves. Mark learned to play Dan’s drums. With all of the new technology available they were able to add various “virtual” instruments to the songs- Hammond organ, mellotron, accordion. They worked in whatever real instruments they had around- harmonica, banjo, mandolin, lap steel guitar, toy piano, even the musical saw!

The more orchestrated arrangements of these recordings proved difficult to execute live. What worked in recordings became muddled in the difficult to control live environment. So, over time, the “live” incarnation of the band became more basic- with Mark on acoustic guitar (playing drums with his feet), JJ playing a guitar through an octave pedal (an old trick to make a guitar sound like a bass), and Anthony Ginnetto (an old bandmate) on electric guitar. Although this stripped down lineup sounded different from the recordings, it became its own unique thing that brought out different aspects of the songs. Anthony was also a good motivator- helping to keep JJ and Mark at it during some of the slower musical years.

JJ and Mark have now been writing and performing music together for over 20 years & are still going strong! - (Literally. Even at 81, JJ still manages to lift weights with Mark several times a week. In fact, he believes that doing consistent squats is almost as important as doing music!). They hope their story can be an inspiration to anyone who thinks it might be too late to start making their own music. It’s never too late & you’ll never be too old!