You've added an item to the cart! ×

Orange Spotlight: Loose Articles

Who are Loose Articles?

We are a band based in Manchester and formed in 2019. In Loose Articles we have Natalie on bass and vocals, Erin on lead guitar and vocals, Abbi on drums and backing vocals and Anna on keys, rhythm guitar and percussion. The band name came from Erin going on a school trip to Alton Towers as she’s a teacher and she saw a sign saying ‘please secure all loose articles before entering the ride’. It immediately stuck unlike another name we were pondering over before. Being in a band is a rollercoaster so you need to strap in and make sure not to lose any loose articles on the way! As for our music we like to say we’re funky punk. You can have a good old dance with your pals but you can also start a mosh pit on the dance floor.

What inspires Loose Articles?

We take inspiration from everyday life. From misogynistic behaviours in the workplace, being talked down to for being a female musician, gender roles in jobs, the struggles of nearly making it in the music industry to our fascination with the underground pinball society. We like to take problems we face in our day to day life and turn it into sarcastic lyrics then put a funky punk beat behind it so you all can dance to it. We take pride in our fun live shows and try to make the music as fun as we can, however when you really listen to the lyrics the topics we talk about are more hard hitting.

What Orange gear is important to Loose Articles?

So I (Natalie) have a Terror Bass head and an OBC-112 cab. Right now as a touring artist at the level we are at, an important thing is getting the right, powerful sound I’m looking for but for it to also be light and easy to transport as possible and this set up is just perfect for me. I can lift my cab with one hand, which makes me look a lot stronger than I am as everyone thinks it’s going to be heavy when really it’s so light! It makes touring at this level very easy and doesn’t hold back at all on the sound as it’s a little power house! 

Erin currently uses a Crush 35RT combo amp which she’s holding back on parting with just yet as it enhances our live shows sound wise when she needs to get the feedback she wants to play the Stella Artois can (yes you heard right) with her guitar when we start the show. Anna has just bought a Micro Terror and a PPC-112 which is already sounding amazing on stage and we can’t wait to start writing the second album with this second guitar sound. 

Future Orange amps?

So the dream would be if the band made it big to upgrade to a OBC-810C cab and a AD200 head, however right now the set up I have is actually perfect for what I need and I recommend it to so many people when they talk about bass amps to me. I do know that Erin is eyeing up a Rocker 15 right now as an upgrade to her crush combo so the future of our sound is still very Orange!

What does Orange mean to you?

I’ve always seen bands I love playing orange amps but started to make note of it more when being in the market for a new amp to enhance my bass tone. I remember clocking at a Turnstile gig that the bassist has an orange amp and made a mental note of it. But it was when I borrowed the set up I have now at a gig we did in Leeds as my amp was broken that I really fell in love with the amp and how it was just what I wanted tone wise. From then I wanted to reach out to orange to get a relationship going as Erin is also a big fan of the brand and it’s honestly been such a nice relationship we have encountered.The Brand itself is so helpful towards artists. We have been sorted out for a massive show when we have been in need of bigger amps for the week, everyone has always been so helpful towards us when we message over its just all round a lovely brand to be associated with regardless of the killer sounds the amps make. 

What’s the most memorable Loose Articles moment?

I guess the most recent one has to be supporting the Foo Fighters. The fact they picked up to support and at the time they picked us we had no backing from a label and no booking agent. I think we had maybe 6 songs on Spotify and they gave us this massive opportunity to support them. It not only gave us the confidence that important people in the industry believe in us but it’s made us hungry to be on these massive stages putting on a fun show to thousands of people. As it was such a massive show we were lent amps by Orange which really enhanced our sound on a big stage which we are all so grateful for as it made us sound massive!  

What’s on the horizon for Loose Articles?

So right now we have just finished touring our debut album ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ yet we are already working on album number 2. We have also just announced our Arts Council England-funded Kick Like A Girl Extra Time! This is a touring project running throughout Jan/Feb/Mar 2025 across grassroots venues in the north of England. The project is aimed at primarily engaging young female identifying and non- binary people from backgrounds and groups who typically aren’t represented in the music industry, and we’ll illuminate the pathways into the often male-dominated music scene with community outreach locally via local community groups in each town.  This is the second Kick Like a Girl tour and from the reaction we had during and following the last one, we feel more than ever the importance as a band to be doing tours like this. We feel passionately about making changes in the music industry to address inequality. We want to create a shift away from the industry we operate in being white male dominated. Across all the job roles that exist from being in a band to being a sound tech, promoter, manager etc.. We want to encourage young female identifying and non- binary people to get involved and feel like they can succeed in this line of work. As a band our song topics touch on gender roles and overcoming the struggles of being a gender minority in a male dominated industry. So why not actually practice what we preach about in our songs and really try to make a difference. We want all of the gigs we play to be a safe space for all regardless of gender identity. Everyone is invited to get involved with the party!

Gear Currently Used

Listen

Photo Credits – Sarah Louise Bowery, Alexis Panidis and Sinead Ferguson 

a:9:{s:8:”location”;a:1:{i:0;a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:5:”param”;s:9:”post_type”;s:8:”operator”;s:2:”==”;s:5:”value”;s:7:”product”;}}}s:8:”position”;s:6:”normal”;s:5:”style”;s:7:”default”;s:15:”label_placement”;s:3:”top”;s:21:”instruction_placement”;s:5:”label”;s:14:”hide_on_screen”;s:0:””;s:11:”description”;s:0:””;s:12:”show_in_rest”;i:0;s:22:”acfml_field_group_mode”;s:8:”advanced”;}

a:9:{s:8:”location”;a:1:{i:0;a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:5:”param”;s:9:”user_form”;s:8:”operator”;s:2:”==”;s:5:”value”;s:3:”all”;}}}s:8:”position”;s:6:”normal”;s:5:”style”;s:8:”seamless”;s:15:”label_placement”;s:3:”top”;s:21:”instruction_placement”;s:5:”label”;s:14:”hide_on_screen”;s:0:””;s:11:”description”;s:0:””;s:12:”show_in_rest”;i:0;s:22:”acfml_field_group_mode”;s:8:”advanced”;}

a:9:{s:8:”location”;a:1:{i:0;a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:5:”param”;s:13:”page_template”;s:8:”operator”;s:2:”==”;s:5:”value”;s:18:”template-learn.php”;}}}s:8:”position”;s:6:”normal”;s:5:”style”;s:7:”default”;s:15:”label_placement”;s:3:”top”;s:21:”instruction_placement”;s:5:”label”;s:14:”hide_on_screen”;s:0:””;s:11:”description”;s:0:””;s:12:”show_in_rest”;i:0;s:22:”acfml_field_group_mode”;s:8:”advanced”;}

a:9:{s:8:”location”;a:1:{i:0;a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:5:”param”;s:12:”options_page”;s:8:”operator”;s:2:”==”;s:5:”value”;s:11:”acf-options”;}}}s:8:”position”;s:6:”normal”;s:5:”style”;s:7:”default”;s:15:”label_placement”;s:3:”top”;s:21:”instruction_placement”;s:5:”label”;s:14:”hide_on_screen”;s:0:””;s:11:”description”;s:0:””;s:12:”show_in_rest”;i:0;s:22:”acfml_field_group_mode”;s:8:”advanced”;}

a:9:{s:8:”location”;a:1:{i:0;a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:5:”param”;s:12:”options_page”;s:8:”operator”;s:2:”==”;s:5:”value”;s:12:”dcp-settings”;}}}s:8:”position”;s:6:”normal”;s:5:”style”;s:7:”default”;s:15:”label_placement”;s:3:”top”;s:21:”instruction_placement”;s:5:”label”;s:14:”hide_on_screen”;s:0:””;s:11:”description”;s:0:””;s:12:”show_in_rest”;i:0;s:22:”acfml_field_group_mode”;s:8:”advanced”;}

Join Nic Blom, bassist for Australian psych-rock band Ocean Alley, as he shares his experience with the legendary Orange AD200 and OBC810 cabinet, both revamped and re-released in 2024. Filmed on stage at London’s iconic Roundhouse before the band’s second of two sold out shows, Nic walks us through his personal setup, dialing in his signature sound, and explains why the AD200 has become a cornerstone of Ocean Alley’s live performances.

Watch as Nic discusses the rich, all-tube tone that perfectly complements his playing style and gives him the power to fill any venue. This video also features exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and live performance clips of Ocean Alley on tour, including their latest single, “Tangerine.”

Orange Spotlight: Longheads

Who are Longheads?

Longheads are a five piece psych rock outfit. We all met in our home county, Norfolk but we are now based in South London. We are; Al Bishop (Guitar), Sam Mitchell (Bass, Vocals), Nick Oakes (Drums), Ben Reeve (Guitar), and Mitchell Corrigan (Synthesisers). 

The band started almost ten years ago when myself and Ben attended a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard show in London. After witnessing a life changing live show we knew we had to start a band. Since then the project has gone through many names and a few line-up changes. In 2020 we settled on the name Longheads and began developing our heavy-ish style of psych. Our music is a combination of modern psych and classic rock with a sprinkling of prog, doom, kraut rock and proto-metal. In our last EP, Mars Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore, we explored odd time signatures and long extended jams. With our upcoming album we have continued developing some of those themes but have explored heavier tones, adding some doom and a thrash metal track into the mix.

What inspires Longheads?

Al: When I sit down to write a song, usually inspirations seeps in from whatever I’ve been listening to at that point in time, sometime in less than obvious ways. When we were composing some of the early Longheads tunes I was getting really into the band Death. I was super into there use of tempo and time signature changes. Although we never wrote any death metal tracks I did take huge inspiration from those elements. 

Deathcap Farmer, the lead single from our upcoming album features a riff that is heavily inspired by the intro to ‘Arrival’ by The Alchemist. I basically just took the rhythm, swapped the horns for some new heavy chords and added in an extra beat to give it some trademark Longheads weirdness. Lately I have been getting really into Rush and have been doing a deep dive into all their albums. I would one day love to experiment with going full prog but I don’t think my guitar playing is quite up to scratch yet!

What Orange gear is important to Longheads?

Al: For our upcoming album, Layers of Wax, we recorded two doom inspired songs. For these we used some classic OR120 tones. We were able to use a great selection of amps in the studio to really dial in our perfect heavy fuzz tone. 

Unfortunately we are not yet able to take a selection of 4×12’s with us to gigs. We are often at the mercy of house cabs. I am always happy to see an Orange cab when I arrive at a venue. Orange are my preferred cab of choice especially for live. The bass response and overall tone really gets me going when we are playing our heavier stuff.

Future Orange amps?

Al: I need to try a few out and go from there. I’ve had my eye on a Dual Terror head for a while as well as an OR30, defiantly something I need to check out in the future. I like to keep both small and larger heads on hand and often decide which one to use depending on the venue.

What does Orange mean to you?

Al: I’ve been aware of Orange since my early days of learning the guitar. However my favourite Orange moment has to be Matt Pike of Sleep’s rig rundown. Seeing him blast through some of the heaviest tones I’ve ever heard while standing in front of a huge wall of Orange amps is just the coolest thing. One day I’d love to try playing through a similar rig!

What’s the most memorable Longheads moment?

Al: My favourite Longheads moment is when we supported SLIFT two years back. That was our first big gig. There were around 400-500 people there whereas before we’ve only really played to 100 people at the most. We all went out to Bens place in the sticks to practise for a week to make sure the show was tight. All just for one show! We converted an old caravan into our practise space. It turned out to be a really special night though getting to support one of our favourite bands and the crowd (hopefully) digging our set.

What’s on the horizon for Longheads?

Al: We recently released our new album, Layers of Wax, which came out on the 4th of November. It’s been in the works and under wraps for almost two years at this point and I’m relieved it’s finally out.  After that we are hitting the road for some UK dates in December. Got some exciting things in the works for 2025 as well!

Gear Currently Used

Listen

Stoomfest pictures by Artur Tarczymil

Orange Spotlight: Lowen

Who are Lowen?

Nina: Lowen is Nina Saeidi on vocals, santoor, daf and shruti box, Shem Lucas on guitars and bass and Cal Constantine on Drums. When we play shows we also are joined by a live bassist.

Our music is written to convey the sense of isolation and liminality that forms my experience of being born in exile from Iran. The rich mythology of the region, its history and stories are combined with the high metaphor of science fiction to create a sense of connection and shared narrative to include anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong.

The word “Lowen” comes from the root “lion”, which is a shared symbol in the east and west. It represents power, chaos and a meeting of two cultures within our band and music.

Shem: Nina and I met at the front row of an Akercocke show in our home town of London and Nina expressed interest in forming a metal band that drew on Middle Eastern rhythms and musicality. Originally Nina wanted to be the bass player in the band and had no experience as a vocalist. I wrote a demo, which would later become the song Krenko’s Command from our first album, and sent it to her. When she sent it back with some vocal ideas recorded over the top it became very evident that she should be the singer for the band, and quite quickly the focal point of the band shifted to being based on Nina’s experiences, culture, ideas and knowledge. 

I think a lot of great bands have fallen by the wayside due to bickering and different people vying to be the centre of attention. I really enjoy playing a supporting role within the band and helping Nina realise her vision. The joy I derive from being part of a collective is far greater than any I would get on a personal level, I don’t really like attention that much.

Me and Nina have always been the core of the band. I actually used to see myself more as a bass player than a guitarist, so I tend to write all the guitar and bass parts in the band in conjunction with Nina and then we have a live bass player, and Cal Constantine on drums. Cal’s incredible drumming really helped to elevate the different eastern rhythms in the band and that’s something that really helps us stand out.

What inspires Lowen?

Nina: My inspiration comes from my experiences as someone who never felt a sense of belonging or acceptance for most of my life. I found refuge in art, history and literature from a young age and have found that somewhere between the flight of imagination and the crushing weight of ancient history there is occasionally a fleeting sense of home. From an early age I hungrily read any fantasy or science fiction I could get my hands on and have constantly consumed literature of all types since. William Blake, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin, Tamora Pierce, Victor Hugo and Robert Jordan are among many authors who have directly inspired my lyrical style and content as well as the curation of our merch and album art. Artists like Francis Bacon, John Martin, Blake and Albrecht Dürer, led me to appreciate the incredible oeuvre of Hervé Scott Flament, who’s work we are very grateful to have on the covers of all our releases.

Musically I draw inspiration from many genres, from 70s prog like Atomic Rooster, Wishbone Ash and Rare Bird to death metal bands like Death, Bolt Thrower and Akercocke. Iranian artists such as Fereydoon Foroughi, Googoosh and the Shajarians are core influences that must be mentioned when answering this question.

The poetry and history of ancient Mesopotamia and Iran deeply informs the music and lyrics of Lowen. I have spent years studying various transliterations and treatises on cuneiform tablets to form a basic but enthusiastic understanding of the stunning literary history of the region. There is something powerful and meaningful about connecting with ancient voices and stories that are stored in languages no longer spoken and barely understood.

Our new album “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran” is directly influenced by an eponymous chapter of the Shahnameh, also known as the Persian Book of Kings. It contains a collected mythology, history and folk narrative of Iran in the form of an epic poem consisting of more than 50,000 couplets. The story of this chapter concerns the folly of King Kay Kavus and his ill fated expedition to conquer the wild and enchanted region of Mazandaran.

Shem: We all have an eclectic taste in music and Nina is inspired by a variety of Iranian folk artists, ancient history, inscriptions from ruins, mythical beasts, science fiction, aliens and more. The Shahnameh, also known as the Persian Book of Kings is the main inspiration of our new album “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran.”

I myself am inspired by a lot of mostly Doom and Death Metal such as: Disembowelment, Lykathea Aflame, Pestilence, Death, Bolt Thrower, Akercocke, Artificial Brain, Depeche Mode, Admiral Angry, Immolation, Asphyx, Rush, Morbid Angel, Afterbirth, Confessor, Creepmime, Tears for Fears, Dying Fetus, Immortal Bird, Cathedral, Solitude Aeternus and many more, I’m also quite into fusion music and really inspired particularly by Chick Correa and Return to Forever, and I’m a huge fan of Allan Holdsworth as well.

Musically, we fuse a Middle-eastern inspired approach to Maqam and Iranian folk music to western death and doom metal instrumentation, but also bring in more interesting influences alongside that, especially when it comes to mixed meter rhythms and a variety of time signatures that stray from being in standard 4/4. We incorporate a lot of traditional middle eastern rhythms, as well as some North African ones.  

The first album was a lot simpler musically, and more traditionally doom metal, the long gap between albums has allowed us to really study different forms and incorporate them into our sound.

What Orange gear is important to Lowen?

Shem: For our first album “A Crypt In the Stars”, all the guitar is recorded with a Pignose Detonator boost pedal going into a cranked Orange CR120 head dirty channel.  I tried all kinds of different combinations in the run up to recording and that combo really stood out to me.

The new album features a wide variety of amps including the CR120. When playing live I use an amp modeller to access all these different tones. I tried a variety of power amps that I didn’t get on with to power my cabinet onstage until I saw a post online where someone had seen Conjurer support Carcass using an Orange Pedal Baby. This was my first encounter with them, and after doing a bit of research I realised that the Pedal Baby would be a perfect fit for me.

Sometimes a situation will arise where you have to use house cabinets and you don’t know what their ohm resistance will be until the day. The fact that the wattage of the Pedal Baby only drops to 75 watts in a 16 ohm cab instead of 25 is a big draw for me. In different styles of music it wouldn’t be a big deal but if you’re trying to create oppressively thick atmospheres having extra volume on tap is crucial.

I also love that it doesn’t sound sterile, it adds its own little something extra to the sound and it also really helps me make use of controlled feedback as part of our sound, that’s something I wasn’t able to do with any other similar device. I like the flexibility of modelling software, but this way I also get to have the best of both worlds. I’m a huge fan of the Pedal Baby and I swear by it and really appreciate the design philosophy Orange used when making it with a travelling musician’s needs in mind.

Future Orange amps?

Shem: I think for the next album I’d like to experiment more with edge of breakup tones as that’s not something we’ve really done yet, and I like the idea of giving Nina new textures to explore and work with. I’d like to get an Orange 2×10 as I’m using a 4×12 at the moment and now that we’re playing larger venues we’re starting to have to incorporate more complex backline and I think I’d be happy to switch to a smaller stage cab and let the PA do more of the work. The newer material is more technical and less reliant on bludgeoning walls of sound, though there’s still plenty of that in there.

We also would like to get one of the Orange Isobaric Bass cabs for onstage as we’ve tried one before and it sounded fantastic.

What does Orange mean to you?

Shem: I can’t remember the first time I saw an Orange amp, but I’ve always been drawn to them and have really enjoyed a lot of music made with them and by artists that play through them, I love their unique look, my first practice amp was an Orange 35 crush and I still have it, I played my first gigs with it and have fond memories of opening it and playing it for the first time.

What’s the most memorable Lowen moment?

Shem: As I type this we’re still on the road with Green Lung for our first UK/Ireland Tour and it has been an incredible experience,  they have shown us tremendous kindness and we have learned a lot from all of them, We’re very grateful for the opportunity and have been absolutely blown away by the response from the audiences across the tour.  Sharing a tour bus with them has been wild and a lot of fun! We’ve made a lot of memories and I really hope that we can do for another band one day what Green Lung have done for us. A rising tide raises all ships and musicians and bands have to support each other and help pull each other up, as we all benefit from each other’s success.  

Nina: The Green Lung tour has been by far one of the most memorable moments for us as a band. We were so lucky to have this experience be our first tour and to do be able to do it with the incredibly kind and supportive people that are Green Lung and their team. The crowds and friends that we shared the many highs of the tour with will always be part of my most treasured memories.

What’s on the horizon for Lowen?

Shem: Our new album “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran” will usher in a new era for us. We have a whole bunch of great shows and festivals booked currently and some things coming further down the line that we can’t talk about yet. Musically I am going to keep studying and trying to improve myself both as a person and as a guitar player and composer. Nina has a lot of excellent ideas when we’re writing songs together and our musical language has become more advanced over time and I look forward to seeing where we can take that and what the reception to the album will be like.

Nina: We will continue to make art and hone our craft as musicians. We have many plans within plans and hope that they come to fruition.

Gear Currently Used

Listen

Live pictures by Lee Lewis

Main picture by Aija Miranda

Orange Spotlight: Godless Suns

Who are Godless Suns?

Pete – Guitars

Sarah – Bass/Vox

Dan – Drums

Sarah & I (Pete) are married (23 years at the time of writing) and have been in bands together for 21 years, 15 years as ZOCALO and the last 6 as GODLESS SUNS, we put out feelers for a drummer in the area, had a few cool auditions, including our good pal David Himbury of Gevauden and a few others, but Dan’s enthusiasm/talent/top blokeish-ness won out in the end.

Turns out Dan used to watch us play in Zocalo back in the day, we had no idea.

When ZOCALO called it a day, I didn’t want to stop playing and writing and Sarah wanted to change musical styles and do some low end carnage, so whilst watching Blues Brothers 2000 we both started signing the song that’s playing as they drive up to Queen Musettes(?) battle of the bands, which happened to be the Blues Brothers cover of Season of the Witch and that was our original name.

However, every band is Witch this, Bong that or Wizard something in our genre, so we embraced our inner sci-fi/gamer nerds and imagined what worlds without a deity would be like and came up with a story and put it to music.  A bit like Marvels ‘Watcher’ from the ‘What if….’ series, we tell stories of societies from planets of GODLESS SUNS.

Godless Suns started in 2016 after ZOCALO ended and we are based in South London/Southampton

Our music has been described as Desert-Doom, a cross between DOWN, C.O.C., Clutch and the standard sprinkling of Black Sabbath.

What inspires Godless Suns?

Ah, the never ending question, sooooo many to choose from. As a whole band….. most likely CLUTCH, we all 100% love them.

We also take inspiration from books, especially The Black Library, movies and the motivation I get from watching my friends succeed

What is life without music? I don’t even want to imagine what hell-scape that would be.

What Orange gear is important to Godless Suns?

Home practice is my Super Crush 100, epic tones at controllable levels without wearing out my main gigging amp the Rockerverb 100 MKIII.  Live it’s all about he Rockerverb, not that the Super Crush can’t do it, far from it in fact, it’s a perfectly capable amp, but there’s a little gear snob in us all, so it’s punishing glass for live for me.

Sarah has a headphone amp she uses for home practice, then makes our trousers flap with the Terror Bass both live and at practice.

Both of us started using Orange 7 years ago, and it’s a habit we have no intention of stopping.

Future Orange amps?

Definitely some thought going into a Pedal Baby 100 and a Fur Coat fuzz for a travel/flight rig.

The OR30 is a tasty piece of kit, and the Dual Dark tickles the pickle somewhat, but I’m out of kidneys to sell for the moment.

We would love to see a separate attenuator for the amps that don’t come with one built in so folk can enjoy their ear busting tones at more social levels.

What does Orange mean to you?

As stated earlier, Orange is the bedrock of the Godless Suns tone, and we have no intention of changing anytime soon.  All other amps can lead to outbreaks of scurvy

The very first time we saw Orange amps being used live was at a Corrosion of Conformity gig. We got that warm and fuzzy feeling.

We always associate Orange with musicians with taste, quality British design, and that I’m most likely at the right gig.

What really made us want to go with Orange, of all the amps I tried out and already owned (previously a dyed in the wool PEAVEY guy), Orange just did it for me.  The tone, the back shattering weight, the legacy, Orange has it all.

Having gotten to know a few of the guys at the HQ and seen their involvement and support for our genre and scene here in London, I can only say that all other brands are sorely lacking by your example.

What’s the most memorable Godless Suns moment?

It’s a toss up between our 4th gig ever being invited to play the BLOODSTOCK V.I.P. Stage and returning in ’21 for a Jager stage appearance and this years Masters of the Riff where we got to play with many of our friends and bands we admire.

What’s on the horizon for Godless Suns?

Writing, writing, writing, writing.  A short south coast tour with Famyne in September. Writing, writing, writing, demos, writing, demos, record album #2 (fingers crossed)

It’s hard to see the future of a band, at the moment we’re really comfortable in our lane, playing awesome shows with awesome bands, making friends and writing tunes. It’s not stressful and it’s still fun, and for now, that’s what’s important for us. But if someone wants to take a million pound punt on us then we’re good with that to.

Gear Currently Used

Listen

For photo credit please contact us at [email protected]