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Last time we spoke was back in 2018, a couple of weeks before you released ‘Peace’, what you’ve been up to since?
Truls: We’ve been incredibly busy, and if I backtrack even just a couple of months there was a couple of dates in Australia, followed by a North American east coast tour with Black Mountain in September, which was actually one of my all time favourite tours as we played a bunch of weird, small cities and towns we’d never played before. After that, we toured Europe and the UK supporting Clutch, and as we speak we’re getting ready to head back out to the states again supporting Opeth.

Damn that’ll be some amazing shows! Between all this touring, have you started working on any new material yet?
Truls: Yeah we’re excited, that’ll be a good tour, and we’ll get to play some amazing venues too. As far as new material goes, we’re always working even if it’s just a little bit here and a little bit there. We did however manage to get in a little session just before Christmas while in Madrid. We did two shows out there there with Clutch and had a day off in between, so we took the opportunity to meet up with a friend of ours who has a studio there and worked on some stuff then. We tend to work best under pressure though, so our plan is to take some time off to actually get going in the studio in March. Everyone’s been sketching and collecting ideas for new songs, so we’re excited to put all our efforts together and create new songs, and hopefully record in the summer and autumn.

Back in 2015 you released a solo album, are you still working on your own stuff?
Truls: I’m constantly writing and always surrounded by instruments and recording equipment making music, but my main focus is Graveyard. Having a solo career isn’t something I’m bothered about. I do tend to make music with friends though, that’s kind of just a way of hanging out. We get together and just fuck around with instruments and jams, and sometimes something comes out of it and you might listen back to it the next day and think ‘Damn, that’s not bad at all!’ I mean, I wouldn’t mind releasing another solo record, but I’m more into collaborating with whoever’s around and down to jam.

You guys are heading back to London in spring for Desertfest, what’s your thoughts on playing the festival again?
Truls: It’ll be great to return to Desertfest, we played Koko last time, and this year we’ll be closing the festival at Electric Ballroom on the Sunday night. Desertfest’s always fun, there’s always a bunch of friends around so it sort of becomes a reunion.

So, Orange – you’ve been playing the AD200 for quite some time now, you still happy with it?
Truls: Absolutely! I’ve tried a few other amps but for me there’s just no comparison; If you wanna play rock ’n’ roll, there’s no amp like the AD200. There’s been times we’ve showed up to festivals and they haven’t been able to get me an Orange amp for whatever reason, and there I’ve been in a jungle of amps trying to find a replacement, then realising the cool looking 70s amps might sound like shit, while some ugly looking 80s amp sounds somewhat alright. I know what I like, and  I’ve never been particularly friendly with either Ampeg or Fender amps as they’re just not for me. I love the AD200, and it’s sort of a clean slate amp, just add a pedal to it for it to really come alive – I use a Tube Screamer just to get that slightly more distorted sound. I’ve got the black AD200, and although the orange coloured ones are obviously great, I dig the really jazzy ones, I’d love a white one!

Sacri Monti at The Jonesing Jams – by Emily Power.

Since we last spoke you’ve released one album with Radio Moscow, 2017’s ‘New Beginnings’, and more recently, 2019’s ‘Waiting Room for the Magic Hour’ with Sacri Monti – can you tell us a bit about them both?
Anthony:
The ‘New Beginnings’ album was recorded in 2017 at an amazing studio by Mike Butler in San Diego that was called Lost Ark, which sadly is no longer there. Parker wrote the majority of the songs and I was able to help co write two of them. We tracked the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar live together in a few days and then took it from there. We toured all over the world on that album, America, Europe a few times, Australia, and South America. A lot of cool festivals and gigs. ‘Twas a good hectic run.

Sacri Monti’s ‘Waiting Room For The Magic Hour’ was recorded in two parts, both by Jordan Andreen at Audio Design in San Diego. 100% analog sessions all the way through. We recorded side one in December 2018, and side two in February 2019 I think. We all came together to write the entire album when needed, and Brenden our vocalist/guitar handled the lyrical duty. It was a lot of fun to work on this one and very special. I did all of the bass stuff and then also played mellotron/synth on the title track and synths along with Evan our keyboard on the improv track ‘Wading in Malcisine’. Was glad to have done that album because it had been 4 whole years since out self titled album. Somewhere in between we had done a 7″. But we went to Europe and played a lot of festivals right when the album came out, also did a USA west coast tour with our buds in Monarch and and east coast tour with Earthless and Maggot Heart afterwards, showcasing most of the new album on all those tours.

Some might only know you from Radio Moscow, can we get get the Sacri Monti lowdown?
Anthony:
Sacri Monti is a band that I started along with Brenden Dellar (vocal/guitar), Thomas DiBennedetto (drums), Dylan Donovan (guitar) and Evan Wenskay (organ/synth), the name means Sacred Mountains. The bands first show was the tail end of Dec 2012 in San Diego. Tee Pee records from New York picked us up and have helped us bring our music to the world. We all spent years hanging out and jamming a bunch before even starting the band so there was always that chemistry there. We were and are all into a bunch of rock from the decades, psychedelic, progressive, krautrock, and other forms of music and had an idea of where we wanted to take the music. Our first record was a bit more loose and jammy, but also structured. The second being a bit more focused on the song writing and structure, with it’s loose moments. Only time and inspiration will tell where the third record will go, but I can imagine a new hybrid of both records. Looking forward to the next one. 

Sacri Monti at The Jonesing Jams – by Emily Power.

On the subjects of records, what’s your current top ten?
Anthony:
I have so many top records, but these are some that I can always listen to no matter where I am or what i’m doing and not get sick of.:

Captain Beyond – S/T
Neil Merryweather – Space Rangers
King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King
Gene Clark – No Other
T2 – It’ll All Work Out In Boomland
Amon Duul II – Wolf City
Dust – Hard Attack & S/T
Masters Apprentices – Choice Cuts
Nektar – Remember The Future 
Love – Forever Changes

Another few honourable mention record compilations:
Iron Claw – Dismorphophobia
Pentagram – First Daze Here (VC/Too)

You’re always busy touring and we’re stoked to see you back in the UK for Desertfest London in May. How do you feel about returning?
Anthony:
I am very excited to be returning to the UK in May. I have played Desertfest twice before with Radio Moscow, so I know what it’s like and the vibe and all that. Looking forward to seeing old friends and partying with some new ones as well. I like London a lot, it’s got a special place in my heart. So many bands I love come from UK. Also curious to see the rest of the line up fill out and to which venue we play and who with. We’ve just announced the rest of the tour which includes European dates and a few other UK dates, including a secret London show on the 6th of June. You can check them out here.

What’s your best story from the road?
Anthony?
So many stories to choose from, but here’s one that sticks out and is funny. So, on our second Europe tour with Sacri Monti we played a show in Milan with Nebula and stayed at the same hotel after. Some were up late and partying, and when we woke up we were all in the lobby in the morning. The hotel clerk called our driver over, and then showed him a naked photo of himself sleeping in the hallway on his back, with a pillow over his crotch. Apparently he got wasted and slept walk his way out of the bedroom and decided to just post up in the hotel hallway. There were people and kids who passed him, and someone eventually took a photo of him. The hotel tried to charge us $200 for it and called the show promoter who got our rooms about it and he just told them to fuck off and we left.

Let’s get technical – slightly. Gear rundown, what’s your set up?
Anthony:
My current Orange setup is on AD200 MK III with OBC 4×10 and 1×15 at home. I play a Rickenbacker 4003 bass and also with an Ibanez ST9 Super Tubescreamer and Ibanez CP-835 Compressor a bit too. 
 
Have you got any other musical projects going?
Anthony:
At the moment no. Well, there was a project I was involved with in Portugal when I was kind of living there on and off. It was a studio session with two drummers and a guitarist that was recorded all live and on the spot, improvised. Carlos the guitar played got the audio and got it recorded onto Tapes. I have a stack of em in a cabinet. The group was called Agadir. Almost set up a gig when I came back through Portugal but it kinda fell through. Also just got word of another studio session that will come to be. It was a two day jam session with a bunch of San Diego friends at Brian Ellis’ studio along with Jonas Munk (Casa Sui/El Paraiso Records) in 2016. Jonas just recently finished mixing the sessions and wants to possibly put some of it out through his label, El Paraiso Records. I’ve somewhat got a mini setup and a bunch of stuff in my room and have been toying with things. Solo stuff is on the horizon and along with working on new record stuff. Always up for collaborating if i’m into it. Would be cool to do some stuff a little outside of the genres of my bands too. We will see…

Isaiah Mitchell, Earthless

Stoked to be chatting again! Since we last spoke we’ve had a pretty decent upgrade in your Orange gear, can you run us through it?
Isaiah:
I just recently got the Custom Shop 50 which I’m really enjoying. It’s my favourite amp of all the new stuff you guys are making. I’m still getting used to it, but I think it’s gonna do the trick! I also got the Tremlord 30 which is a great combo! The reverb and tremolo together is very spacey and beautiful, and it’s very easy to get lost in this amp. I also just got another 4×12 cab and an amazing 2×12 cab that I’m really digging, and think needs to come on tour with the Crowes. I’ve been an Orange cabinet guy since I was a teenager, they’re just the best cabs out there.
 
Yeah, on the subject of that, you’ve joined The Black Crowes which is rad – Congratulations! How did that all come about?
Isaiah:
Thanks! Chris Robinson is a buddy and he asked me to audition. I was surprised when I got the call that I got the gig. They can get anybody, and I’m very grateful that that anybody was me. 
 
So far the only Black Crowes dates out there are across the US, are you hitting Europe and the UK too?
Isaiah:
This is gonna be a full on 30 year anniversary reunion tour. It’s going beyond the US. 
 
Will you be able to fit some Earthless in between the battles?
Isaiah:
We’re working on new material as we speak, and will try to release a new album before I start getting really busy, we’ll fit it in where we can. That’s always been our dynamic. Individually we do different projects from time to time, which keeps things fresh. I can’t ever see not doing Earthless. 

As well as being a recording artist and touring musician, you also teach guitar – how did you get into that?
Isaiah:
I started teaching at a guitar shop called Moonlight Music in Encinitas California when I was 17. I love working with kids, so that’s where it started. I really loved teaching, and that was also another way to make money with a guitar in my hand. I wanted to be a school teacher when I was young, so this was the appropriate marriage of the two different worlds of work. Now I teach online classes, and I have a handful of in person lessons when I’m stationary in the Bay Area. If anyone’s interested email me at [email protected]. I’m always taking new students!

What would be your main advise to aspiring musicians?
Isaiah:
Be yourself. Play from your heart and play your ass off. Keep your ego in check. Stay humble. Ask questions. It’s about music and creating……..at least to me it is.
 
Which albums are you currently listening to?
Isaiah:
Early Johnny Winter, Alice Coltrane’s “Journey in Satchidananda”, J.J. Cale’s “5”, a bunch of Rory Gallagher and Joe Walsh & Barnstorm bootlegs, been pretty guitar heavy lately. 
 
Any final words of wisdom or stories from the road?
Isaiah:
Don’t burn the candle at both end. Give em a good show. Don’t rip your fans off. That’s why you’re doing what you do. Treat it with respect and give them a performance they’ll never forget. 

Jaret, how did it all begin?
I was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the States when I was five. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad and uncles playing me music, those dudes loved Metallica. My dad would also drive me around with Pearl Jam on repeat. All my uncles played guitar, and my grandfather the cuatro, so I had early exposure to those instruments.I didn’t pick up a guitar myself until I was 15 or 16, when my dad finally got an acoustic for Christmas and I got bitten by the bug. Eventually I bought an Epiphone Les Paul for money I’d earned selling candy in high school, and once that was done I stopped doing just about everything else to pursue playing.

I’d recently been turned onto At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta and was like ‘Damn, that dude’s got hair like mine and he shreds, let’s learn that shit!’ My dad also made sure I knew Led Zeppelin was the greatest band of all time, so I guess that shaped a lot of my playing too, Zeppelin>The Beatles

Puerto Rico’s a really musical island, and we like to make noise! 

You’re currently keeping busy with two bands, Grave Bathers and Heavy Temple, what can you tell us about them?
Grave Bathers formed about a year ago, bassist Davis and I had been in a surfy psychedelic porto-punk band together for a few years called The Bad Larrys, when our musical tastes started outgrowing what we were doing. So, we decided to get a heavier outlet to create music that resonated more with us. We met Drew, the singer, at a show, and the original drummer in Bathers, Barret, was an old band mate of Davis’. Our other guitarist, Steve, was the last piece of the puzzle, and we had our first show in NY within a month of forming. 2019 was a wild ride with lots of obstacles to overcome as a new band, but 2020 is looking promising with our new drummer Cliff having joined us

Grave Bathers set up

Heavy Temple’s been a band for about 7 years, and Elyse played with five different lineups before I joined on guitar and Will on drums. My buddy Zach from High Reeper gave me a heads up one morning that she was thinking of hitting me up to join, and I was sold before she even asked. Some of our bands had crossed paths in the past, so we were familiar. Before joining Heavy Temple, I’d never been on tour or played anything besides bar venues – all that changed this year.

As a guitarist, who would you say is your main influence?
That’s like trying to play FMK with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Jimi Hendrix, and Jimmy Page.

When it comes to music in general, what bands are on repeat?
As for recent bands, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Monolord, and Thee Oh Sees. Oldies but goodies; Hendrix, Zeppelin, Dust, Sabbath, Captain Beyond and Sir Lord Baltimore.

What would you say has been your musical career highlight so far?
2019, from start to finish. Joining Heavy Temple and hitting the road to play in states I’ve never been in has been amazing. We got to play Union Transfer for Tired Hands Brewing’s (where I work as a brewer) anniversary party with Weedeater and Pallbearer, and I’d say that’s my favorite gig I’ve ever played, thanks Jean! Grave Bathers playing Johnny Brenda’s in Philly for our last show of the year, a year into being a band, let us know that we’re on the right track. THEN I got to join the Orange family! I definitely had to pinch myself a few times in 2019.

What’s your history and experiences with Orange?
My buddy had an Orange in high school, and one night we ate a bunch of shrooms and plugged his SG Custom into his AD30HTC half stack, and my mind was blown in the most perfect way. There was a lot of pedals to make noise with and everything sounded like.. Pink Floyd? Ha. I eventually bought an AD30R combo, before trading it for the twin channel head and cab on the day of my new psych band Tail’s first show. 

Vintage 1972 GRO100 & 1973 OR120 & PPC412’s

What do you look for in an amp?
It should sound perfect turned all the way up, and then allow me to destroy that with a fuzz pedal. Beefy bass and low mids, with wooly top end that doesn’t sparkle too much. Everything Orange sounds like to me.

What’s your current set up?
I run either a Tokai Flying V or a Black Beauty Les Paul Custom into my vintage 1972 GRO100, with one or two PPC412’s. I’d play someone else’s guitar before playing a different amp. It reminds me of everything I loved about my OR50, just with more headroom and that crusty mojo. I drove 15 hours on a Sunday to pick that head up and when I found it, or it found me, the new backplate that was made for it had my birthday written on the back. 

So, let’s take this back to the beginning – how did you first get into playing?
I picked up the guitar when I was 14, and I think my dad’s very much to thank for that. He wasn’t a musician himself, but he was very interested in music, and it was something that was a part of my life from a very young age; him playing various country and classic rock records around the house. I first started playing acoustic, but it only lasted for about a year as I realised electric was more my thing. I was just playing around at home, and signed up to Youtube where I started sharing videos of covers songs I was playing. I didn’t really think much of it besides wanting to share my passion with the world, so the response was pretty overwhelming as I ended up getting millions of views! Back then, it wasn’t many females my age doing that sort of thing, posting classic rock covers, so there seemed to be a market for it and it definitely helped me get where I am today!

Have you always been into writing lyrics or was that something that came naturally once you started making your own music?
That was something that came at a later stage, as I was only interested in the musical aspect of it all to begin with. I was actually playing on my own for about seven or eight years, and it wasn’t until 2011 I finally made it out of my bedroom and into the real world, something I have my other guitarist Mathieu to thank for as he was the one that told me to get in front of some real people instead of just playing in front of my webcam, as music is meant to be shared. We ended up starting the band together and have been writing together ever since. Doing it this way worked for me, but I’d advise other beginners to start a band and play with other people earlier on, as it was definitely a weak point for me for quite some time, as it took me a while to get used to it after doing it on my own for nearly a decade. 

You released your second album ‘Burning Bright’ early November, what can you tell us about it?
First of all, it’s definitely a lot darker than my first record ‘Hard Blues Shot’. We recorded it in January after a two year long writing process. We’ve actually been playing some of the songs live for almost a year and a half despite the record being just recently released. As far as the writing and recording process goes, it’s normally myself and Mathieu coming up with a riff, followed by writing the lyrics to go along with it. Once that’s done, we get the other guys, our bassist François and drummer Antonin in and we arrange the rest of it together. Bass, drums and rhythm guitar was all recorded live, before adding lead guitar and vocals.

So, let’s get down to business – what’s your history and experiences with Orange?
My first ever Orange amp was the Dual Terror, simply because of it’s size and it being small enough for me to carry myself. I’ve changed it up a bit throughout the years, but I’ve stuck with Orange as that sorta became my sound.

Can you run us through your rig updates and upgrades?
After a while I ended up wanting a bigger head, and went for a Rockerverb 50. I stuck with this for years, before I recently upgraded to the Rockerverb 100 instead, which I love. My set up depends slightly on the size venue I play, my go-to is four 4×12 cabs and two Rockerverb 100 heads – however, if I’m playing a smaller venue I tend to just cut this in half and go for the two cabs and one head. Regardless of the size of the set up, I love the look of the Oranges on stage, and I can’t get enough of that grain! My other guitarist plays Marshall, and I dig that we have such different tones, as I find the two really compliments each other.

In the light of their recent endorsement and wanting to get to know them a little bit better, we had a chat to High Reeper to find out more about this holy union of heavy riffs, what they look for in an amp, and why they love Orange so much – not honking our own horns, but they really really do, *blush*.

How did you guys all meet and get together playing, had any of you played in bands together prior to High Reeper?
Shane:
Andrew (who used to be in the band) and Pat grew up together and they have been friends with Zach (our singer) since they were in their early teens. I have known Justin (our drummer) forever. I met Pat through a mutual friend, and Andrew and Zach through work, and we’ve been playing together in various projects for more than ten years.

You were originally only meant to recording band and not really play shows – what changed?
Shane:
Our original idea was to make a “sabbath” sounding record for fun, and maybe do a couple of local gigs just for kicks. When the record was done and we started passing it around, the response was really positive so we decided to take gigging seriously. Now, 1.5 years later we’ve played over 80 shows in Europe, including Desertfest London, Berlin and Belgium as well as a bunch of other cool stuff. we’re due to play around 100 shows in 2020 alone across the US and Europe.

Besides the Sabbath worship, did you all have mutual musical influences?
Shane:
We’re all inspired by all of the classic stuff, early Deep Purple, Zeppelin, James Gang, Blue Oyster Cult and all that kinda stuff. Andrew and Zach were in a really cool riff rock band about 10 years ago, and Pat sometimes played with them. Justin’s been a touring death metal drummer for the last 15-20 years, and I was a guitar player in a metal band in the 90s.

So, let’s get down to business – what’s your history and experience with Orange, and what do you look for in an amp?
Pat: The first time I saw an Orange amp was around 2002 when I saw a band from Massachusetts called ‘Orange Island’. The guitar player had a 70’s OR120 half stack and it sounded massive. Soon after that I found myself an Orange 4×12, and I bought my first vintage OR120 when I was 16. When I turned 18, I bought a 1974 “pics only” OR120 that I used with a Gibson Les Paul Custom. That pair used to shake paintings off the walls. Brutal! When buying an amp, I look for something that is loud and powerful, and with enough gain on tap to get dirty but without sounding thin and buzzy. The Rockerverb has everything I need in one amp. The clean channel has the loud, beautiful cleans of the old OR120’s and the dirty channel screams with gain and midrange. It sounds three dimensional and makes my guitar sound alive. 

Shane: I walked into Black Market music in San Francisco in 1993 and it was filled with vintage, impossible to find at the time, British amps and I snagged an Orange 4×12 on the spot. About three months later at a guitar show in DC I got an Orange/Matamp OR50 (serial number 199!) and cab. Following that, I snagged a graphic full stack in Ohio and an 80w overdrive in Virginia. The Ormat full stack was my rig for the 90s. I was using a complicated multi amp bass set up that was really annoying to gig with, and one night we played w a band who was using an OB1-500. I used their bass rig and loved it and ditched my complicated rig and ordered an OB1-500 the next day. My fascination with Orange of course began with the Beat Club videos! The OB1-500 covers everything I look for in an amp, high power and the ability to get dirty. The OB1-500 really is like two amps in one and it’s made my life a lot better.

You’ve had a busy year this year, and you mention tons of touring in 2020 – what else is next?
Shane:
2019 has been insane for us. We released our second record and toured Europe twice and securing an Orange endorsement was the perfect ending to our year. We are beyond stoked! Our 2020 is gonna be even busier than 2019. We’ll be touring the US in March and Europe in June and that’s just for starters. We are super grateful to have Orange with us the whole way!

Michael Ciro knows a thing or two about tone, about session work and music life in general…

We first met four years ago during top-selling artist Alejandro Sanz´s Sirope tour in Málaga, Spain. After some promising emails about technology, my work as a product designer, and his session work, we immediately felt a kinship, like old friends that just hadn’t met yet.

Mike was (and still is) the Musical Director and Guitar player for Alejandro Sanz. Aside from that he has recorded with Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross, Notorious, B.I.G., Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson. He’s also performed with Stevie Wonder, Sting, Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, Missy Elliot, Corey Glover, Chaka Khan, Alicia Keys, and many more.

With such a background it is my real pleasure to bring him on board to the Orange Artists family, where we can support him on tour and in the studio, as well as learn from his input while testing our amps and pedals worldwide.

Ladies and gents, our friend Mike…

“Hello my name is Mike Ciro and  I’m the musical director and guitarist for Alejandro Sanz on the tour “La Gira”.

I’m a new member of the Orange family I’m very happy and using this this gear is perfect for this tour that I’m doing now because the Pedal Baby is perfect for the way I’m using the Fractal and the cabinet is projecting the sound that I need so I’m very happy with this situation right now and I’m happy to be in the family.

My favourite setup to use the Celestions and the 412 cabinet. We have a mic on this and I also use another situation direct to the PA if you want to… come over we’ll take a look at this here !!

I’m using the brand new Pedal Baby 100 this is a straight power amp just with volume and tone,  that’s very simple but it’s perfect because I use it I paired up with the Axe FX too so all my modelling and everything comes through here into the power amp out to the cabinet we also come out direct to the PA from here along with mic in the cabinet so I have a lot of variations and sound and this thing has been great so far it’s really stable and and I love it

I’m really happy with orange and the support they’ve given me. Danny Gomez is the best and the whole team there and I´m excited about this tonight we have 60,000 people sold out in Madrid so we’re gonna have some fun so stay tuned…  we’ll talk again !!”

Those of you who read last week’s ‘Voice of Heritage‘ article (A little bit of shameless self promotion’s never killed anyone, has it…?) might recall Wishbone Ash and Andy Powell’s significance to Orange as they were one of the first major British bands to take Orange to the States (alongside Fleetwood Mac), with Wishbone Ash’s relationship to Orange dating all the way back to our humble days in Soho. So, needless to say, I was over the moon with excitement and filled to the brim with joy when I was asked to interview guitarist Andy Powell, an inspiration to so many musicians to follow, with the likes of Thin Lizzy and iron Maiden both citing Andy and the band’s twin guitar sound as a major influence to their own music.

They say you should never meet your heroes, but if your hero’s Andy I beg to differ, as he’s humble, kind, extremely charismatic and of course, incredibly talented. The interview turned into an hour long or so chat (for which I must apologise for to my fellow viking Marthe who had the tough job of editing it all together), and I reckon I could sit and listen to Andy’s stories for another three days without getting sick of them. However, I’m sure Andy’s got better things to do than self-indulging for my listening pleasure for days on end. In our hour or so of chatting, Andy shared some amazing stories from his life on the road, and I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

Photo by Keira Anee.

It’s been quiet from The Wytches for quite some time now, what have you been up to?
We’ve been working on a new album. It’s been a long process but we were so conscious of not
just rushing into another one, which we did with All Your Happy Life. We are also excited to get out playing again because it will be almost a year since our last show. 

Last time we spoke you mentioned running an illustration business called ‘Oh So Grim’, is that still going?
Yes it’s still going and I’ve a few new shirt designs that will be ready to go into my store soon. I’ve also just finished illustrating a children’s book for a friend. She is publishing it very soon so I’m excited to see it in print. 

Are you behind The Wytches’ artwork? If not, who is, and does the person work closely with the band to do so?
No, I don’t do the art, it’s an artist and friend called Samuel Gull. Sam did all the artwork for The Wytches’ previous records and I think our music and his art go perfectly together. But no, we don’t work that closely with him on it, He’ll listen to the music and come up with his own interpretation of it. He’s never come back with anything we have thought was wrong for the record. 

You mentioned a new album, what can you tell us about it?
Well all I can say is it’s written and demoed, so we haven’t been in to record it just yet. We are still looking at studios and deciding who we want to work with but it will most likely be self produced. The aim is to record it before the year is out and release next spring. 

What do you look for in an amp?
It needs to be able to work with my bass in a way that feels right to me. I’m not that tech minded so I just go by feel most of the time. The head I’ve used since 2014 from Orange feels like it was made to work with my bass and I can get the tone I need really easily from it. 

You’ve been using Orange for quite some time now, can you tell us about
your current set up and why you’ve picked it, as well as any other Orange amps you’ve
used?

I currently use an Orange Bass Terror through a black Orange 810 cab. I originally chose the
terror head because I loved how simple it was and how easy to use it is, and I chose the black 810 cab because I’d used a 410 cab previously when we toured in the States. I loved the tone, but I found I was always leaning down to hear it onstage so it just made sense to get the bigger one.

What would your dream rig be, and why?
Not sure about dream rig but I’ve always been interested in the idea on running my bass through my current setup as well as a guitar rig and blend the two together. 

Hailing from the Black Country, Wolf Jaw are very much flying the flag for, as they describe it “thunderous rock and roll.” Listening to their huge songs and riffs, you can’t help but imagine their live shows are a force to reckoned with. Bass player Dale came in to try our amps and the O Bass and was blown away. In this interview he chats BMX accidents, Orange stacks and amp reliability.

Hi i’m Dale Tonks and i’m the bass player from Wolf Jaw.

I used to ride BMX with the guitarist and I actually broke my leg and I was six weeks off school. I ended up in a cast and my dad went out and bought me a bass and gave me a Black Sabbath album. So I listened to that and since then it’s been all that I have wanted to do, is play like Geezer Butler, the tones he gets and just the whole Black Sabbath thing is incredible.

I’m using the OBC810, that thing is a monster, it really lets loose, it pulls all the clarity and mids out, you get that bottom end that drives straight through you, its incredible. Playing the AD200 it just brings so much clarity to the sound and it has been something we have been able to work with Custom Shop 50 and the AD200 together, it is something we have been able to craft together. The tones they just work, you can’t describe it having a full valve bass amp is completely different to anything else. You get the feel when you try to drop down and play something a little quieter, you get the clarity. And when you want to go balls out, that is where the drive is.

When you have got the reliability and the clarity behind you that Orange gives you, I have had amps fail on me before but I have never had an Orange fail on me! Just to have that reliability behind you, plus they cool as f#ck on stage! I’m not going to lie when you have got a stack one side and the AD200 and 810 on the other side, it looks incredible.

Last week I was doing Sweden Rock and to fly into there and know you have that sound behind you, that tone doesn’t change, that is the way it is and it always will be. You get there and it is so simple, you don’t have to set it up, to change your tone is a turn of four or five knobs and that is all it will ever need to be. That is what got me into the amp, the simplicity, I don’t need to be able to EQ every stage of my sound. I just want to get there, crank it and know that sound is going to be there, balls to wall, all the way through. That is the most enjoyable part of owning an Orange to be honest.