Isaiah Ikey Owens

Isaiah Randolph "Ikey" Owens (born December 1, 1975) is an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta and an array of other bands from the Long Beach music scene. As a child Isaiah Owens was raised a Jehovah's Witness by his mother and almost went to college in Indiana to study with renowned tuba player Harvey Phillips. Instead he focused his efforts on his instrument of choice, the keyboard, which led him down the path to succes... more

Isaiah Randolph "Ikey" Owens (born December 1, 1975) is an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta and an array of other bands from the Long Beach music scene. As a child Isaiah Owens was raised a Jehovah's Witness by his mother and almost went to college in Indiana to study with renowned tuba player Harvey Phillips. Instead he focused his efforts on his instrument of choice, the keyboard, which led him down the path to successful musical career. He notably performed as a member of Sublime, Reel Big Fish, and the Long Beach Dub Allstars, but in 1998 it was an encounter with Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of At the Drive-In at a concert in Irvine which proved fateful. In 1999 Owens lost his job at a financial-management firm in Huntington Beach that "handled billion-dollar accounts for Disney and the Catholic Church", but he eventually received an invitation to join the dub reggae band De Facto and found himself touring Europe with Omar, Cedric, and... less