William Ong is a third generation drummer with 28 years of musical experience. His father Joseph Ong has been a professional musician for 38 years and has taught jazz percussion at The Ohio State University from 1989 – 2006. William’s grandfather, L.B. Ong was a professional tap dancer & drummer during the “Big Band Era”. Drums are so much apart of the Ong family history, that even the family heirlooms are drums. William owns the 1932 Ludwig Black Beauty snare drum, which belonged to his grandfather’s teacher.
William first studied with his father, then with Phil Shipley (Principal percussionist with the Columbus Orchestra) among others. William attended Beechcroft High School where he was a member of all the musical programs. These programs included marching, concert, jazz bands, and orchestra. Here he began concentrating on his rudiments and set skills. He attended Fort Hayes Arts Academy where he learned music history, theory, business, and recording. Ever since he has graduated from high school William has taught private lessons and ventured into the music scene.
Over the years William has toured all over the United States and Canada with SRVVLST and Pizza Spirits. He has played shows with Medeski Martin Wood, Into It Over It, The World is a beautiful place and I am no longer afraid to die, Anthrax, Circle Takes The Square, Man Forever, Tera Melos, Joan of Arc, The Melvins, Modern Baseball, The End of the Ocean, Tiny Moving Parts, Xerxes, Empire Empire, Sport, Dads!, Tim Kinsella, Mike Kinsella, Giraffes,Giraffes!! Maps and Atlases, and Hella. Currently William is playing with the math rock band Vacation Forever, teaching both in store and facetime drum lessons. He has received a cymbal endorsement with Soultone Cymbals and a endorsement with SKB Cases. Currently a Tama, Vic Firth and Zildjian endorsements are in the works.
Factory Streams: Live Vids for Covid is a live-stream concert series featuring experimental, electronic, free jazz, noise, and other genre-bending musicians based in Columbus, OH and elsewhere. All of the performances in the series will be streamed from our official Twitch account: twitch.tv/thefusefactory.