On the One plays jazzy, gritty, sax-fiend funk. Drummer John Staten (of Karl Denson's Tiny Universe) and saxophonist Jesse Molloy (Pink Floyd Experience) were both born on the same day (4-29-79). As a teen, Molloy was a student at Britt's Jazz Camp, an music educational program for teenagers. After graduating from an Ashland, Oregon high school in 1997, he played with an array of bands, including Giant People, with future On the One drummer John Staten.
Joining the duo are Aaron Bleiweiss and Pete Lombardo on guitar, and Andy Irvine on bass. Irvine is from Granby Colorado, the town once nearly destroyed by an angry resident driving a custom made tank built from a bulldozer, dubbed Killdozer.
Molloy told mailtribune.com that the band got its name pretty much by accident.
"Me and John were driving to our first show in San Diego," Molloy says. "We had this vision of a funky, four-piece thing. We'd just got Prince's 'Musicology,' and on the CD he's like, 'On the one,' and they'd break it down to the first beat of the measure. So the promoter comes out and asks our name, and we didn't have one, and On the One popped out of my mouth."
Their band's album Love Addiction earned them a 2007 San Diego Music award for "Best Jazz Album." In summer 2008, the album was picked up for overseas distribution by the Japanese label P-Vine.