You've added an item to the cart! ×
Photo by @pancakesandwhiskey

Orange: Can you introduce yourself?
Pickle: Hey! I’m Pickle from Frankie and the Witch Fingers!

Orange: Can you name five songs you can’t get enough of right now?
1 – “Queen of the Underground” by GOAT
2 – “As Above, So Below” Tom Tom Club
3 – “Cave Crawl” Warm Drag
4 – “Love is the Drug” Roxy Music
5 – “There You Are” Nate Mercerau

Orange: How did you end up playing with Frankie & The Witch Fingers?
Pickle: Oh, I wound up playing music with these boys because they asked me to! I originally met Josh the lead guitarist in 2015 when our former bands did a two-week tour together, and I ended up becoming close friends with the whole Frankie gang over the subsequent years. I was busy playing and touring in other bands, but in my spare time I was always doing whatever I could to support Frankie from behind the scenes. Like, designing show posters and album covers, and making merch for them – plus I did live photography and ran their merch booth on a handful of tours for them. I was already deeply embedded in the Frankie family, so it was a pretty organic transition when they parted ways with their original bassist in 2020 and they asked me to step in.

Orange: Can you tell us a bit about your musical background prior to that?
Pickle: Before I joined this band, I had been playing music on-and-off for about 5 years with another LA-based garage band called Death Valley Girls. That was definitely my longest-running musical group and it’s what taught me the most about touring, but I’ve been jumping around between different LA bands since 2010 when I first started playing music.

Orange: How old were you when you got into playing, and what triggered the interest in music beyond listening?
Pickle: Honestly, I never thought I’d ever be a musician! I grew up in a very musical household, my Dad was a touring keyboardist for Steppenwolf and Berlin among other bands, and he and my uncle were always playing live rock music and jamming around me. In typical teenage fashion I considered it kinda lame. I thought “this shit is for old dudes from the 1970’s”. I loved listening to music, especially classic rock and roll, but I really never considered it my thing – I always planned on changing the world with my visual art instead. I went to college for graphic design and illustration and I never even picked up an instrument. Then, in 2010, I was working as a graphic designer in the marketing department for Guitar Center’s corporate office and everyone around me happened to be a musician. They’d walk around the office with an acoustic guitar and just jam out anytime of day, it was so fun. A friend of mine there taught me to play like 3 notes on his electric bass so that we could jam on some Tom Petty and Green Day songs together for fun, and I IMMEDIATELY ran out and got myself my own bass and joined my first band within like a month or two. I was 27 at the time and hadn’t really touched an instrument before that, and it was like some latent thing had been suddenly awakened in me. I’ve never looked back since!

Orange: Was bass your first instrument?
Pickle: Yep! It’s the first instrument I loved. I had some random piano recitals and violin classes when I was a kid, but I never realized I was actually passionate about playing music until I picked up the bass.

Orange: What’s your experience with Orange and current Orange amp?
Pickle: I remember that a bassist friend who I idolized had taken me to the NAMM show in like 2011 or 2012, and we were so excited about visiting the Orange booth together. The reps were so nice, they let us hang around playing all the various amps and cabs on display there, and he ended up buying a Terror Bass 1000w bass head that we were both so giddy about. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan of Orange. Obviously, you see all these long-haired metal dudes shredding through Orange amps on these giant stages, and I’m like… ME FUCKIN’ TOO, DUDES! Now my Terror Bass comes with me almost everywhere. It’s my secret weapon.

Orange: Would you consider yourself a gearhead who loves to get techy, or are you more of a plug and play kinda gal?
Pickle: I consider myself someone who knows HER gear. I like what I like, and I love getting in the weeds talking about my gear with other people who are also passionate about their tone. I can definitely geek out about the stuff that I like. I think all musicians are like that to some degree. We get really precious about all our little toys, and the cool tricks we’ve learned to do with them. Ask anyone about their rig and they’ll get the same gleam in their eye about it that a 7-year-old does with their favorite set of Legos.

Orange: Your latest album “Data Doom” was released last year, how’s life been since? Have you been working on any new material or mostly busy touring?
Pickle: Yeah, we released Data Doom back in September of 2023, and we toured pretty darn hard around that release. It feels good to be home in LA again for a minute even if we are still busy-busy-busy. Right now, we’re back in the studio writing the next album! We’ll be recording that in a couple weeks and then it’s back out on the road again for spring and summer festivals.

Orange: How’s 2024 looking Pickle, and Frankie and the Witch Fingers?
Pickle: I’m super stoked to get back on the road. As much as I like being home and spending time with the guys being creative and making new songs in the studio, my real passion is performing and I actually can’t wait to get back to the tour grind! We’ve got some really exciting things coming up – like, we’re throwing a big 4/20 show in Los Angeles at this secret DIY spot and we’re also releasing a live album for Record Store Day that day. Then, we’re immediately heading to Austin for Austin Psych Fest and zipping right out again to Europe and the UK to play some sick festivals like Desertfest London and Fuzz Club Fest and like a whole month of shows there!

Photo by @jenziphoto

Poster by Holly Watts

Orange Jams is a series of live sessions hosted by Orange & Jam in the Van which features Orange ambassadors from across the globe. This session features Orange ambassadors Deathchant live at Jam in the Van’s LA headquarters.

Thank you for tuning into our Deathchant Orange Jams session, we hope you loved it just as much as we do. Check out the rest of our Orange Jams sessions here, and visit Jam in the Van’s website and socials for more music and comedy.

Can you name a band or artist that inspired you to get into music in the first place?
Robin: I started rolling around in tin foil and tennis rackets in 1976. Shin guards. Fangs. Whatever it took. That Kiss thing gripped me good from five. I was done for. Eventually at six or seven I opened up to ‘regular groups’ from my Dad’s collection, like Yes and Steely Dan. Blue Cheer. The Jimi Hendrix Experience. But it was the bald guy with the push broom mustache and cigarette breaks at a family wedding that made it all real. Jewel light. Dangerous electric buzz. The pushing and pulling of strings. So that’s what that is. Tuning. Never heard of it. The existence of the celluloid tortoise shell ‘pick’. Felt like I had put a little piece of the spaceship in my pocket when no one was looking. I sat cross legged in front of him all afternoon into evening. He probably thought I was adorbs. I was not. I was flipping the fuck out. 

Can you share a recent musical discovery with us?
Robin: Intergalactic dream journey escape genius. Lisa Bella Donna.

What can you tell us about your playlist?
Robin: I keep a playlist of Sabbath inspired desert dirge doom core close. With outliers. Global and of the ages. I love every track. Thanks be to them. This all hangs out the window to and from Joshua Tree, California. I can get there, and back, in about 50 songs. It’s also what I reach for when I want to stop thinking and just play and play loud. And yes it roars on the Orange Box. Best of its kind!

Orange Jams is a series of live sessions hosted by Orange & Jam in the Van which features Orange ambassadors from across the globe. This session features Orange ambassadors Speed of Light live from Jam in the Van’s LA headquarters.

Thank you for tuning into our Speed of Light Orange Jams session, we hope you loved it just as much as we do. Check out the rest of our Orange Jams sessions here, and visit Jam in the Van’s website and socials for more music and comedy.

When he’s not performing on stage, Scott Holiday has taken on the responsibility of DJ duties on the Rival Sons tour bus, where the Orange Box plays an important part. Here, Scott shares one of his earliest musical heroes as well as a recent musical discovery, as well as a playlist he has created for our listening pleasure.

“The Box has been dubbed the “Lunchable” by everyone on the bus. They know when I break out the Lunchable, shit’s about to get real..”
– Scott Holiday

Was there a band or artist that influenced you as a player or to get into music in the first place?
Scott: David Gilmour / Pink Floyd 

Can you share a new band or artist you have recently discovered?
Scott: Dina Ögon

I make playlists all the time. I come from the era of the “mix tape”…and then “burning cd’s”… And now, it’s “Playlist”.  This particular one was created while touring Europe. Its soul purpose was to use on the bus for something the crew calls “roadie friday”. I think it’s self explanatory.  After playing so much rock n roll, I find it necessary to dive into other genres on days off-or time home. At home, for me it’s a lot of jazz. For Roadie Friday, it’s heavy on the funk and soul. But plenty other stuff snuck into this playlist. These are all mostly artists that have profoundly influenced me as a player and what I consider to be greatness in the genres. Masters. This playlist will absolutely lift your spirits and keeps the party going. Solid hour and 40min of musical love. 

BRENT COBB
ORANGE JAMS WITH JAM IN THE VAN

Orange Jams is a series of live sessions hosted by Orange & Jam in the Van which features Orange ambassadors from across the globe. This session features Orange Brent Cobb & band live from Jam in the Van’s LA headquarters.

Thank you for tuning into our Brent Cobb Orange Jams session, we hope you loved it just as much as we do. Check out the rest of our Orange Jams sessions here, and visit Jam in the Van’s website and socials for more music and comedy.

We’re regularly asked about our endorsements and what we look for in qualifying artists. Although there’s no right answer to this question, we’re going to run through a few key points that are taken into account when looking at applications, as this can be a confusing concept. In a perfect world, being an awesome guitarist/bassist would be enough, but it’s unfortunately more complicated than that when you take the business perspective into consideration. So, before you spend hours crafting your ambassador application, please give the following a read for some Orange A&R inside info:

  1. Are you an established band or artist?
    As much as we’d love to support aspiring musicians on their road to stardom, that is unfortunately not something we can do via endorsements. While we don’t expect you to have a long year career behind you, we need to see evidence that you/your band are serious about what you do and have built something that exists outside your rehearsal space. Ambitions are great, but we can’t consider a band based on their ambitions and plans if there’s little happening in the present.
  1. Have you released any music?
    You have to have released some actual music. If your reaction to that is “hell yeah I just released my debut single last month” or “not a problem I released an entire album in 2013”, the chances are that that’s not enough. We need to see that you’re actively working, writing and creating, and one song or an old album followed by silence isn’t going to cut it.
  1. Are you touring and playing shows?
    Playing to a full house at your local pub on the third Friday of every month is great, but have you ever tried non-local shows, touring overseas and expanding your audience beyond your family and friends? No? Then we recommend you do that for a bit and re-visit this idea at a later date.
  1. Are you signed, working with a manager, PR rep or agent?
    We have so much respect for DIY artists, so kudos to all bands and artists doing everything themselves—and don’t let this one put you off. It’s not a must, but evidence that a label has shown interest and is willing to spend time (and maybe even money) on you, or that you’ve got someone onboard to help out with the admin side of things might also be an indication that this is something you’re serious about taking to the next level, and not just a hobby.
  1. Are you promoting yourself?
    Being an artist in the digital age is hard: you’re expected to master your instrument, kill it at marketing, social media, photography, copy-writing and content creation, and create something of an image or social approach. We totally understand that this isn’t for everyone. Hell, social media can be the devil at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s something we unfortunately have to take into account as it plays a vital role in the modern industry. If you’re not a touring/gigging artist but have a huge social media following or online presence, we still might be able to work together, as at the end of the day, our goal is to have our amps be played in front of as many people as possible. That might be on a festival stage, but it could also be in a viral TikTok video. The industry is changing, along with its requirements.
  1. Can you actually play?
    This one brings us back to point 1—as much as we’d love to offer our support to every Orange-playing artist out there (and would actively encourage aspiring ones to pick up an instrument via Orange Learn), being able to actually play is a must. If you’ve just picked up the bass or guitar and have been playing for a couple of weeks, you’re still a while away from industry endorsement. But, if you keep at it, you might be the pride and joy of our roster in the future. We’d be so lucky! That being said, although technical abilities and virtuoso vibes are definitely our cup of tea, they’re not a necessity. If you can’t play along to Rush’s La Villa Strangiato, we won’t hold that against you; different types of music require different abilities, and you need to play well enough to master your music.
  1. Are you here with a genuine wish to work together and a hope to be a part of our global artist roster, or just hoping for freebies or discounted gear?
    Artist pricing is one of the awesome perks of being an Orange ambassador, even more so in this current financial climate with the ever-increasing cost of living. But if the main selling point in your application is wanting a free Rockerverb, which you “promise to promote the hell out of” to your social following of 112 people, that’s not gonna work—we are looking for artists with whom to build mutually beneficial relationships. So, instead of focusing on all the amps you want to add to your collection and trying to convince us these should be yours for free, focus on working hard, and getting yourself or your band to a place where we’d be proud and honoured to have you representing Orange.

Now that we’ve laid this all out here, you should hopefully have a clearer image of what we’re after, and if you or your band might qualify. If you think you do, then awesome. To send in your application, please visit our ambassador page here.

You might feel tempted to resubmit your application three times a week for the foreseeable future and follow up by phone to make sure we’ve seen it, and as much as we love the excitement, we can assure you that’s not necessary. Ambassador applications are reviewed regularly, and successful applicants are contacted. Due to a high number of applications, we are unfortunately unable to respond to them all, but we sincerely appreciate each and every one, and want to thank you for your support.

While touring their long awaited 2022 album “Chimes at Midnight”, Sivert Høyem, Frode Jacobsen and Cato Salsa of Madrugada sat down with us to talk about the legacy of the band, the experience of recording at LA’s iconic Sunset Sound studio, and their history with Orange.

Cato plays x Custom Shop 50 heads paired with 1 x PPC212 & 1 x PPC212OB.
Sivert plays a TH30 paired with an OBC115.
Frode plays the AD200 paired with an OBC115.

Last month we hosted our first ever Orange Jams event at London’s Black Heart with US band Monarch. Hailing from the San Diego / Encinitas / Ocenaide area, Monarch are one of many bands who have followed in the footsteps of the mighty Earthless and Astra and turned the area into a psychedelic haven for both bands and listeners, contributing to a scene that’s been making waves way blowing minds for nearly two decades. Mixing elements of classic rock, psychedelia, prog, jazz and improv jams, Monarch seemed like the perfect fit for our psychedelic summer extravaganza and we could not be happier with how it turned out.

Support came from HECK / Haggard Cat guitarist Matt Reynolds, Swedish Death Candy drummer Marco Ninni and GNOB bassist Ben Kenobi-Marflar in the form of an improv psych jam. Despite frequenting different circles and having only met and played together once in early 2017, they all accepted the challenge in a heartbeat and blew all our minds when they came together to let their worlds collide.

We’d like to thank: The Black Heart and Matt for working alongside us to make this a night to remember, Mathmos and their lava lamps for adding to the visual experience, The Great Frog for their social support and gifting to the band, Liquid Death and Signature Brew for offering drinks to the band, Yorkshire Burrito for feeding the band and photographer Emily Power for capturing it all on camera.