Technically ONO began in 1980 - it’s the year the band officially assigns - but anyone can see the band’s miasmic origins roiling and writhing much before. P Michael Grego and travis had met before 1980, sharing a love for written and spoken word, the transcendent, and the genuine. Through continual poking and prodding, P Michael convinced travis to join him in ONO, the name coming from shortening “onomatopoeia,” and underscoring a desire to create “noise not music.” P Michael would handle the audio. travis the words. Since January 5, 1980, they have fiercely defended a singular construct: “The ONO STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: Experimental Performance, NOISE, and Industrial Poetry Performance Band; Exploring Gospel's Darkest Conflicts, Tragedies and Premises.”

In a deeper consideration of ONO’s genesis, the band is rooted in events hundreds of years earlier. ONO tackles military history, religious history, racial history, geopolitical history, artistic history, and that’s only for starters. travis mentions real, often harrowing events, attaching years and dates, as if history were ever present.