Photo: Andy Watson
How did you get into music in the first place?
I grew up surrounded by music and the people playing it, my grandmother played and my dad played the saxophone. It was something I just naturally gravitated towards from a very young age, and it didn’t go away. I think you either have it in you or you dont, and for me it was just something I stuck with.
Was there any specific bands or artists that led you onto the path of playing the music you do?
My dad listened to a lot of classic rock, which definitely turned me onto guitar based music, and then at 11 I found bands like Nirvana, Slipknot and Smashing Pumpkins, and from that ventured off down a few different paths that led me to where I am today.
What records are you currently listening to?
I’ve kind of been kicking it old school, and I’ve actually been listening to a lot of Marilyn Manson recently, ‘Disposable Teens’, that kind of era. I’m also a die hard Placebo fan, so they’re always on rotation.
Did you always know that this is what you would end up doing?
I never knew, but I always hoped.
Do you feel like you have been faced with certain challenges being a female musician within a genre that is predominantly male dominated?
You definitely get the occasional sexism and mistreatment, or people thinking you dont know your own gear or what you’re talking about because you’re female, if that happens I tend to just hit them back, prove them wrong and shut them down.
How long have you been using Orange?
It hasn’t been too long actually, I’ve only been using it a few months but so far it’s been really great.
What’s your set-up?
I’ve got an OB1-500 head and the new O Bass.
You guys have had a busy year, how is the rest of the year looking?
We were away the first four months of the year and you get so used to this weird lifestyle on the road, so as soon as you come back you dont really know what to do with yourself. We’re heading back out on tour later this year as we’ll be touring Europe with Turnover, we haven’t been to Europe since January so I’m really looking forward to that!
Can you tell me us a bit about how the three of you met and got the band started?
Jeff, Noah and I all grew up in the same scene in Bellingham, Washington, which is a small town so we all kind of knew each other. I was just coming out of another band and we all wanted to do something different, so we got together, gave it a go and we just stuck with it.
Did you have a mutual idea of what kind go music you wanted to make, or was that just a result of the three of you coming together with different ideas?
We did a lot of experimenting, when we first started playing together we would just thrash around and play as fast as we could, without vocals. We were all into Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan and that kind of vibe, but also into 70s prog rock like YES, King Crimson and bands like that, so we were just trying to figure out how we could put it together. We started experimenting with traditional song structure, and that was when it really clicked.
Listening through your album I do find a lot of different genres, which keeps it really interesting.
People who listen to the album seems to have a similar reaction to you, they don’t know how to classify it or call it, which is in the win column for us, we love that kind of stuff.
You released your album ‘Harvest of Darkness’ last year, have you been busy since doing so?
Absolutely, when the album came out we were touring with Red Fang, followed by a big tour with Kvelertak who’s on the same label as us, Roadrunner. Then we had about a month of rehearsing for this, and now we’re back at it. So to answer your question, yeah we’ve been busy.
What’s your relationship with Orange?
I haven’t used it for long, touring in the England I couldn’t not use Orange, so I got a Thunderverb 200, and when I plugged into soundcheck I just knew I wanted an entire Orange set up, I was in love. It actually kind of shook me up a bit.
Do you remember the first time you saw an Orange amp?
Yeah, I went to see The Blood Brothers, which is from my home town, and I remember they’d just gotten signed and were putting on a show, and their guitarist Cody had two Orange half stacks, and it just looked so cool with the bright colour and the vintage logo. They were just the coolest band for me at the time, so I remember thinking, ‘THAT’S cool!’
You say you’ve been touring a lot, how does your day to day schedule look while on tour?
Sometimes we have to get up really early for a long drive and an early load in and soundcheck, if we’re lucky we’ll have a few hours to explore outside the venue, which we always try to do. We don’t really get that much time, but then again we get to see the entire country while driving through it.
What’s the highlight for Wild Throne thus far?
There’s always the one highlight after the next, instead of one definite moment. We never take anything for granted. There’s a few one that sticks out, getting to meet our producer Ross Robinson and make an album with him, traveling to Europe to play our music, that’s a dream for a kid playing guitar in his room.
Photo by Keira Anee.
Since the birth of The Wytches in 2011, the Brighton based psych surf rock band has built up a solid following both within and outside the UK. Bassist Dan Rumsey has been an official Orange ambassador just over a year, and was more than happy to sit down with Orange for a chat.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself ?
I live in Brighton right on the sea with my wife and my dog. It’s the best place in the world to live. Well so far anyway.
What got you into music and playing in the first place?
Well, I guess I got into it late, really. I heard bands like the Offspring, Green Day through my older brother. I remember thinking how different and exciting this music sounded to anything I’d heard before. So I slowly got all the Offspring back catalogue then looked into similar bands to them like Dead Kennedys and The Vandals and the list went on. I discovered new bands by looking up those bands influences. I was heavily into that kind of punk rock for a long time and still am. When I found Alkaline Trio and AFI though; I was done, I could have died happy. I wanted to be like these bands so I got my dad to get me a guitar and taught myself, then when my first band came along they needed a bass player so i got one of those instead. The first instrument I learned was the drumkit though but that was when I first started school and had to choose something.
Can you tell us a bit about your history and experience with Orange?
I think the first time I ever saw an Orange amp was onstage at a show, i can’t remember who now though. I remember how striking they looked. Then I first heard one properly when I was in a band where the guitarist had a tiny terror. I always thought they must be special because not many people had them. My first Orange amp was a practice bass amp which I ended up using in some pretty big venues actually. But eventually I had to upgrade so used other makes which I borrowed until I was able to become an ambassador for Orange. They were always the go to amp for me though wherever possible.
What’s your current set up?
I play an American standard Fender Jazz bass in black through an Orange 1000 watt Bass terror head; into an Orange 810 cab also in black.
Can you name five albums you’re currently listening to?
Lucette: Black is the colour
Fairport convention: Unhalfbricking
Bill Ryder Jones: West Kirby County Primary
Nick Cave and the bad seeds: Let Love In
Joanna Newsom: YS
What do you do when you’re not touring and recording, any hobbies?
I run a small illustration business called Oh So Grim. I draw stupid drawings of weird people and animals and basically try to sell it to people. I write my own music too, so I don’t really stop with the creative stuff. If I do I, feel really guilty that I’ve wasted a day, same if I watch TV for too long, then I have to go and even it out with at least some guitar practice.
Monolord’s Mika & Thomas talk Orange at Desertfest 2016
Thomas: Hi my name is Thomas. I play guitar and sing in Monolord.
Mika: Hi my name is Mika and I play the bass in Monolord.
When was your first experience of Orange amps?
Mika: My first memory of Orange amps is from 23 years ago when i was just a small kid learning to play guitars. I was with my best friend. We were learning how to play guitar together. His farther had a huge stack of amps and guitars. Of course he had orange there.
Thomas: I think it must of been at an old beat club concert with black sabbath. They had their classic paranoid video, I think that’s the first time I saw an Orange amp.
Mika: The first time I played an orange amp I was about 20. I was with my friends at a rehearsal.
Thomas: When I was about 25 I bought my first Orange amp for recording an album in my old band.
What is your current set up?
Mika: Right now I have an 8 x 10 speaker cab and an OB1500 amp which I’m very happy about it has a lot of power in that. I had to try the OB1500 because of how good it sounded in previews. Now I am looking at getting another 8 x 10 speaker cabinet and an AD200.
Thomas: I have the OR100H. with a high powered 400W cab. Then I have two old cabs, one is from 79 and the other from around 2006. I have an old modified slave head from 73 that was modified a while back. They had put a Matamp face plate on it but now I have found an old Orange face plate that was from 73 as well. So now it’s back to a normal Orange again. It’s reliable, built like a tank! And if you play a smaller club or a bigger club it doesn’t matter, it still works and sounds great.
Thomas: We have been working really hard to get our sound that we can use together, not only sound great separately but to sound great together
Mika: We have gone through quite a lot of gear
Thomas: Ye but now it seems like we have found our thing. It sounds good on stage but we like that it even sounds good out side the stage.
Mika: I get all excited about it every time I get out the amps!
Thomas: ye like ooooo (excited expression)
Mika: Like a giggling small boy
Thomas: Like Mr Burns eeeexcellent (strums fingers together)
Mika: For my main sound I just use one fuzz pedal but of course I combine it with some effects here and there. But basically the main sound is one fuzz pedal straight to the amp and its perfect with the OB1500, you can really turn up the gain there!
Thomas: Ye the sound is more or less the guitar, a fuzz pedal and the amp. It’s nothing more really, I have some delay and flange and phaser just to broaden the sound a little more.
Of course we were really really happy when we talked to Alex in Atlanta and we also visited the office outside London. When we became ambassadors I felt … well it was like a dream!
To be able to use Orange I’m really thrilled about it!
Mika: Ye I’m stoked about it!
The Rock legend and the god father of Chinese Rock music, Cuijian led the event of the worlds biggest band and created a new Guinness World Record. Orange Amps was honoured to be part of it and witnessed the great moment of this special day.
In the afternoon of June 16th, 1050 students of Beijing Contemporary Music Academy (BJCMA) gathered at BJCMA’s sister school, Art & Culture College of Tianjin University of Sport, and played and sang two rock songs with Cuijian. The event Successfully created the newest Guinness world record for the worlds biggest band. Tina, the official Guinness World Record officer witnessed this feat and issued the certification award to the representative of participants. The old record was created and held by 520 French rock music players in 2006.
The Songs which were chosen were two famous songs from Cuijian: the Rock of the New Long March and never turn back till the end. These two songs truly showed the meaning of the Event, there will always be long way to get to the top of the Rock & Roll world and we will keep on Rock & Roll till the end.
The Event was supported by a charitable organisation, the LIONS CLUB International. The Beijing Branch of LION Club International organised 40 autistic children and their parents to join and sing in this event with 1000 musicians, together to witness this historical moment. The holder of the event, BJCMA aimed to demonstrate that music is the key to building a closer community and music is key to help all the autistic children develop a closer relationship with the world and remind them that they are loved and cared for by others who want them to know they will never be lonely by the name of music.
This event was a historical Rock music party. It showed to the world that Chinese Rock is part of the of the world. Parsons Combo, distributor of Orange amps were honoured to witness this moment.
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Can you please tell us about your history with Orange?
I always wanted an Orange amp because Black Sabbath was playing them, and they were pretty hard to find in the States back in the day. We also played that NAMM show in Anaheim for Orange’s, I think it was their 40th anniversary, and we met all of the Orange people, and obviously the backline was all Orange, and I told them “I’d like to take this home with me.” and they said “Ok”, and I was like “Oh, that’s very, very nice of you!”, and I’ve been using Orange ever since.
What’s your set up then?
I had an old 15inch cabinet and a 4×10, and the MK3 200 watt head, which I love – it’s never given me any problems. After a while I needed something bigger, so I asked for the 1000 watt Tiny Terror head and an 8×10 cabinet and I’ve been playing them all over the US.
A lot of people that normally wouldn’t listen to country or southern rock still listen to Blackberry Smoke, why do you think that is?
We all come from different backgrounds, back in the day Brit and I were in a metal band called Nihilist, so we’re a band that can play a wide spectrum of music, and it boils down to good versus bad. When people say Blackberry Smoke is a country rock band that turns a lot of people off. I wouldn’t call The Eagles or The Rolling Stones country rock bands, but they both definitely did country rock-ish music at one point or another, outstanding country rock music. They also both did dance and pop music as well, and that’s why they’re both so good and still in business, they just appeal to such a wide variety of people as they instead of sticking a specific genre they stick to playing good music, whether that’s country, rock or something else. Another band like that is Motörhead. It’s a shame that so many bands get tossed around the genre machine and never manages to come out of it.
How is it being in a band that’s known to “always be on tour”?
We played less shows in 2015 than we did in 2014 and the year before that. In 2013 we played 255 shows, and when you tour like that over many years it does become a lot. We’ve started to cut back a bit because everyone’s got small children, except for Brandon. Which we know of, he might be making some children as we speak…