Chicago band oh my god. frontman Billy O’Niell has been described as a genuine freak, hellified singer and powerful magnet of a performer.But listening to O’Niell talk, you’d never know it. “That’s fun and it’s good for a laugh, and I like freaks in a very natural way,” O’Niell says. “I think we’re all kind of freaks, or we’re a lot freakier than we allow anyone to know, that’s for sure.”Sitting contently in his manager’s Chicago home, O’Niell sips from a cup and carefully ponders everything he is about to say into the phone; the lead singer comments on everything from the Nike swoosh on college football uniforms to an old Chicago band that made dolls of itself to gain attention in the music scene.But when talking about music, there is one common theme that O’Niell can’t seem to shake — honesty. Honesty is what O’Niell uses to describe his pop/rock band, along with any other music he enjoys.”The big thing, I think, is honesty,” O’Niell says. “If a band honestly wants to do some serious fucking rip-your-head-off shit, then right on man, go balls out and fucking rip their heads off. Wherever the song is coming from, as long as it’s honest and real focused and energized, I think it’s going to be good no matter what the style is.”oh my god. has been tagged with the label of art-pop, something O’Niell doesn’t mind, as long as he can justify the tag by breaking it down.”I like what those two words mean,” O’Niell admits. “I’ve got no problem with pop music, though I’d say we’re certainly outside of the norm of pop music. The art connotation, I think, is the flip side of it. Hopefully it’s kind of directed music with definite integrity, but fun.”What really sets oh my god. apart from many bands, and where much of their art-pop label comes from, is the fact that it uses an organ for sound. Organist Critics have said that Iguana has legitimized the organ as a punk instrument.oh my god. hasn’t been around a terribly long time, but the experience the band has acquired is enough to place it nicely into a category of respected Chicago bands.Actually, much of the experience comes from Iguana, who has toured with the likes of blues heavyweight Junior Wells, Carey Bell, Koko Taylor and played live with Van Morrison, Jeff Healy, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy.O’Niell knows he has a good partner in Iguana, and admires the way he approaches making music.”I like the fact that he was a guy that had an idea,” O’Niell says. “He approaches it like he is a guitarist and a bassist in a rock band.”At this point, oh my god. is between drummers but is fortunate enough to be touring with some of Chicago’s finest. O’Niell has his eye on a drummer who is presently putting himself through college — making him unavailable — but he says the band would like to have as many people try out as they can.In its short life, oh my god. is already able to claim some national attention. In November of last year, emerge.sonicnet.com, a Web site owned by Viacom (MTV, VH1), listed the band as one of the top 10 emerging rock bands in the United States.O’Niell isn’t too sure how they ended up on that website, but he is just happy to know that people like his music and are able to hear it via the Internet.”I’m not very computer literate, but I’m pleased to see that the people who are are able to dial up the Web site and listen to an mp3 because it’s out there,” he explains.Currently residing in Chicago, O’Niell has remained pretty happy with the state of the music scene, though some say it is suffering in the post-Smashing Pumpkins era.”Relatively, to the rest of the world, [the scene] is still good,” O’Niell says. “You still have the opportunity to see very talented people doing very good things. Generally, there are good and interesting things happening, but I certainly hope to God there is — it’s the third largest city in the United States.”If something not good is happening here, then shit, we are really in trouble.”oh my god.’s debut album, “Well,” was recently released despite the band forming in late 1999. O’Niell is happy with the way the band gained attention without having any music out last year.”[Our success came] through word of mouth,” O’Niell says. “Our crowds kept getting bigger and bigger here in Chicago. So now it’s happening at a nice time with the release of the record and also with increased intensity in pursuing this thing.”At this point, oh my god. isn’t on a major tour. Rather, the twosome (and whatever drummer the band can get its paws on) is doing some small regional touring throughout the Midwest.But O’Niell and company have set a goal for themselves for the year and are willing to play as much as they possibly can.”We plan to keep going more and more out and further and further away,” O’Niell says excitedly. “Our goal this year was to do 100 shows. We’ll see when it’s all said and done at the end of the year how close we come to that. But from there we want to keep going up.”oh my god. has played the Maintenance Shop in the past, but never with an album to back it up.”We’re just hoping that people have their heads and mind open to it and they welcome us back next time we come through,” O’Niell says.