Singer, Songwriter, and Guitarist Michael Oliva teamed up with Bassist Alex Stenard and drummer Rob Stamler to form the band The Harlequins. Since early 2007, The Harlequins have been expanding their fan base playing shows all around greater Cincinnati with occasional jaunts to Atlanta, Louisville, Columbus, and Chicago.
Always evolving yet always the same, The Harlequins are a three-piece rock n roll band who believe in carefully crafting songs that can take the listener on an inward journey if they listen hard enough and if they don't they can still tap their feet to them.
Using the power of simplicity, high energy, pop sensibilities, psychedelics, and a dark quirky sense of humor The Harlequins have been able to capture the attention of punks, hippies, nerds, hardcore kids, hipsters, young, old and everything in between at their live shows.
Playing anything from house parties to art shows, gigs on Fountain Square to small bars, they've shared the stage and played festivals with national/international touring acts such as Bob Pollard's Boston Spaceships, Mates of State, Why!?, Gringo Star, How I Became the Bomb, and Wild Moccasins. The Harlequins have also supported the arts and their local community by playing multiple fundraisers & benefits for all sorts of different causes, including opening a tribute show to legendary Midwest indie band Guided by Voices in front of Bob Pollard himself!
They appeared at Cincinnati's 2008 Midpoint Music Festival and will make an encore appearance this year.
Without releasing a single EP or LP, The Harlequins were also nominated for the 2008 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Best New Artist
From October, 2008 through the summer of 2009, they have been working on their first collaboration, Baron von Headless.
"Baron von Headless" was released on July 31, 2009.
