Not to be confused with the Indian rock band, Indian Ocean was the short-lived project of avant-garde cellist and producer Arthur Russell in 1986. Born Charles Arthur Russell, Jr. in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on May 21, 1951, Russell moved to California to study Indian music at the Ali Akbar Khan School in San Francisco, where he met the poet Allen Ginsberg. He then moved to New York, where he collaborated with The Flying Lizards and the no-wave avant-garde. In 1978, he created the Dinosaur L project, which marked his foray into mutant disco, followed by releases under the Loose Joints name and productions under his own name. In 1986, he specially created the alias Indian Ocean for the release of the EP featuring the tracks "School Bell" and "Treehouse", produced with Peter Zummo. After performing with his cello and recording the album World of Echo, Arthur Russell died of AIDS on April 4, 1992, at the age of 40.
