A Vibrator for the Music Junkie

The relationship between pleasure and music is one that is particularly pronounced, which probably explains the undeniable coolness of OhMiBod, a vibrator that translates musical beats into vibration sequences. The vibe has been around for a few years, and we were curious about its evolution, so we sat down with OhMiBod co-founder Suki Dunham to give us an overview.

“Our designs evolve over time, because, frankly, we listen to our customers,” Dunham told us about the changes in the vibe’s design. “We love receiving feedback. When it is negative we take that criticism constructively and use it to build better products.”

What started with a single vibe is now a full-fledged line: from the wireless Freestyle and the ambient-music vibrating Club Vibe, to the phone call-activated Boditalk Escort and their bath-play Better Than Chocolate Massager, OhMiBod has covered all the bases — at least as far as the clit and g-spot are concerned. No word on anal or p-spot vibes yet.

“We introduced Club Vibe, our ambient sound vibrator in March of 2009 at the WMC (World Music Conference) in Miami, so it is fairly new,” Dunham told us. “We seeded Club Vibes to over 250 club-goers at that event and received a tremendous positive response to the product, so we moved forward and launched it through all of our sales channels.”

An undeniably sexy idea. Naturally, our editrix has asked for a Club Vibe to check out. Where will she wear hers? The opera, of course. There is nothing quite like coming to the brink of release at a place that requires one to be perfectly poised at all times.

“I was at a club for one of our shows in Las Vegas, and I thought about how great the music would feel while I was dancing,” Dunham confessed, referring to how the Club Vibe came into being. She loves to dance but at the time, none of their vibes lent themselves the club experience.

“So we just put a mic into the controller instead of a direct connection to the iPod,” she said. “It’s the same concept, just a different input mechanism.”

But let’s back up for a second and start from the beginning — who came up with the idea of a sex toy that vibrated to music?

The story goes something like this: several years ago Dunham’s husband of 20 years, Brian, gave her what she calls the two best stocking-stuffers of all time: an iPod and a vibrator.

“While he was away I found that I was using the two together,” Dunham told us. “At the time, Brian was traveling a lot for work and we had two small kids at home. After I had made dinner, cleaned up and put the kids to bed, music was the vehicle that helped to transport me to a different place mentally so that I could open myself up to self-pleasure and feeling sexy.”

She shared the idea of bringing music and vibration together with her husband and voilá, the concept for OhMiBod was born.

But while this is, without a doubt, one of the greatest contributions to pleasure of our times, the going hasn’t been easy.

“I was preparing the packaging and manual for a new toy we are going to launch,” said Dunham. “We translate our manuals into seven languages, so I contacted the translation company who I had worked with in the past to translate the new manual, and I was told that they could no longer translate manuals of this nature.”

By “this nature,” they mean manuals that refer to products for self-pleasure. And that’s just a small hold-up. OhMiBod has also been denied loans for bringing pleasure to the masses.

“I was working with a bank to get a business loan and they told me they would fund the loan, but the Small Business Administration would not back the loan, because we were a prurient business,” Dunham told us.

pru·ri·ent: adj. marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire; especially : marked by, arousing, or appealing to sexual desire.

But the founders of OhMiBod don’t let the resistance stop them. They see their business as a way to change society’s views on sexuality and pleasure. Along with the difficulties, they have seen a lot of positive changes as well.

“This year we were accepted to be an exhibitor at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas,” Dunham said. “We were super proud of our participation there and were well-received by the conference’s attendees. Last year, we were part of the Grammy gift bag which is the ‘official’ gift bag for all performers and presenters at the Grammy Awards — our inclusion in the gift bag was approved by the board from the American Recording Academy. We were the first ‘personal massager’ company to be part of this offering.”

It’s a start, and all the more reason to support OhMiBod.

GIVEAWAY!

What is the one song would you try on an OhMiBod and why? The best answer gets a Club Vibe. Don’t just mention the song — tell us why! What sort of feelings does it inspire in you? Does it make you feel sexy? Quote a few lines of the lyrics if you like, to illustrate.

You can leave your answer in the comments, put it up on your blog (just make sure you link our blog or leave a comment with the link so we know it’s there!), dish it out in 140 characters to @sat405 on Twitter, or e-mail it to us directly. Friday at midnight Pacific time is the cut-off, so get them in as soon as you can!

Colleen Nika, a music and style writer for Interview magazine, will be helping us choose the winner.

Worried about giving your address to a bunch of sex writers in L.A.? Don’t stress. OhMiBod will be mailing the vibe directly.

Note: We may publish your submission. We will gladly let you use a pseudonym and remove any identifiable details from your post. But we reserve the right to publish your vibe-winning awesomeness. So keep that in mind.