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Orange Spotlight: Desert Storm

Orange Spotlight: Desert Storm

Who are Desert Storm?

Matthew Ryan – Vocals
Ryan Cole – Guitar
Elliot Cole – Drums
Matthew Dennett – Bass
Chris White – Guitar (Studio / writing only)

Desert Storm are a five piece progressive heavy metal band that have been dealing crushing riffs and grooves into earholes for the past 17 years.  Hailing from Oxford, the city of screaming spires, the quintet deliver their own unique brand of heavy music. The sound is loud and unforgiving, but also woven with elation and electrical ecstasy. For Fans of – Black Sabbath, Crowbar, Neurosis, Mastodon

Desert Storm formed in 2007 after me (Ryan), Elliot and Matt, who we met at secondary school, decided we wanted to form a band and start jamming. We asked Chris White (guitar – studio) to join, who we’ve known since we were young and rocked with in a school band previously. The only bassist we knew was another old school friend – Chris Benoist. Chris (Benoist) was in the band for almost 15 years, but left due to not having the time to commit anymore, but we’ve remained good friends. We replaced him with Matt Dennett, who we have known from gigging with his other band Battalions, he lives in Hull, so it’s quite a trek for him, but he seems committed!
The name Desert Storm came simply because we didn’t have any other ideas that were as good, it was supposed to be temporary, but we started gigging a lot and eventually everyone knew the band as Desert Storm, so we just stuck with it.

What inspires Desert Storm?

We as a collective have quite an eclectic taste in music. Many things inspire us – the love of other bands we look up to (Black Sabbath, Metallica, Tool, Kyuss, Clutch, Karma To Burn, Mastodon to name a few), hearing great guitar riffs / guitar-based music is an obvious inspiration and reason why myself and Chris (White) learnt the instrument in the first place. Matt (Ryan) will often write lyrics to our music rather than them being pre-written. He lets that dictate his thoughts / moods / feelings before jotting lyrical ideas down. Sometimes other forms of art – film, games or personal life experiences have inspired songs to be written in the band as well.

What Orange gear is important to Desert Storm?

I am currently using an Orange Rockerverb 100 through an PPC-412 speaker cabinet. I’ve had the amp for about 15 years now, and it just rules! It’s loud, and the tone is just perfect for what we do. You see some bands whacking in fuzz pedals etc (which is great in places, don’t get me wrong) but for me the natural sound this amp provides is all I’ve ever needed. This is my first and only Orange amp I have owned, but I am looking at some more!

Future Orange amps?

We are doing more fly in shows these days, so I’d like to get an Orange head that is ideal for transporting. I’d like to try the Dual or Dark Terrors. On recent fly-ins I’ve ended up using mostly Marshall JCM 800’s which are great, but sometimes you don’t know what you will get, and that is why i need my own! When we flew to Oslo I used an Orange TH30 though which was awesome. I recently used a Rockerverb 100 MK III at a festival and that was fantastic, probably one for the future too!

What does Orange mean to you?

Orange is awesome. I’ve always loved the look and design of them as well as the sound. The first time I remember seeing Orange amps was as a teenager in PMT, and I remember thinking how much it stood out and how cool it looked. Then I noticed a wall of Orange amps during a Down show, and more and more bands seemed to be using them. The first amp I owned was a Marshall MG 50DFX which was a cool little combo, but when Chris (White) started using his Mesa Boogie Tremoverb or Diezel, I knew I needed something louder. First I had a Randall RH 100 camo head & cab which was a great solid state amp but eventually I wanted a valve amp…so I went to PMT and tried out a Blackstar and the Orange Rockerverb 100, it was then that I bought the Orange and I’ve been using it ever since – live and in the studio. I have a Sovtek as a back up, but I’ve only used it live a handful of times as the Orange is so reliable.

I think there are quite a lot of doom, stoner and sludge bands using Orange amps these days and I can see why – Killer tones!

What’s the most memorable Desert Storm moment?

We’ve had a lot of memorable moments over the years that it’s hard to pick just one. A few highlights that spring to mind are getting booked for mainstage at this years Bloodstock Open Air & performing on the Sophie Stage at Bloodstock (2016, 2021). Some other great festival slots were at Wasted Open Air (Germany), Langeln Open Air (Germany), Into the void (Netherlands), HRH Ibiza (Spain) and Desertfest (London & Berlin). We’ve had some memorable tours too, including headline UK & European tours, as well as support slot tours with the likes of Skindred, Red Fang, Orange Goblin, Corrosion of Conformity, Karma To Burn, Peter Pan Speedrock, Raging Speedhorn, Crowbar, Honky, American Head Charge, Nashville Pussy and Weedeater to name a few. Hopefully a lot more to come!

What’s on the horizon for Desert Storm?

We finished up a 2-week headline UK / European tour in April, promoting the latest album ‘Death Rattle’ (which came out last year on APF Records). Coming up we have a mainstage slot on the Friday at Bloodstock Open Air with the likes of Opeth, Clutch, Hatebreed & Green Lung. We also visit Leon, Spain later in the year for a fly in show. As well as these shows there are a few other weekenders in the works which should be announced shortly, we will continue writing for the next album as well, and we have 2 new songs in the bag already.
For the future, we’ll keep doing our thing, writing and releasing music and touring hard.

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Interview: Grandma’s Ashes

Grandma’s Ashes, can we get a bit of background on the band?
Myriam: I first met with Eva on the internet and joined her punk-rock/noise band and we played with different drummers before we eventually decided we wanted to play heavier music. We started over and found Edith online. We jammed, and her math-rock influences took us in a more progressive direction. That’s how we ended up mixing heavy riffs, progressive parts and powerful melodies. We’ve been playing together for three years now.

Are most of your songs a result of jamming, or do you work from structured ideas?
Myriam: One of us will usually come up with with a riff or melody that suits a particular emotion, then we’ll jam it around and end up with different parts that we’ll put together.
Eva: I write a lot of voice melodies when I’m at home, and often come to rehearsal with voice lines and simple bass lines, then Myriam will find something to do with it, bring heavy riffs before Edith comes with her complex rhythmics.

Are there any artists in particular that have inspired you two as players, or someone that encouraged you to pick up your instruments to begin with?
Myriam: My dad plays guitar and taught me the basics of blues with Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy when I was 9. However, it wasn’t until discovered Led Zeppelin at the age of 13 I became obsessed with the guitar. I’d say Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Matt Bellamy were my early inspirations as a teenager. I later discovered QOTSA and Frank Zappa, which inspired the tones I use with the band and the modal scales I sometimes use when I improvise.
Eva: My father was my first inspiration, he’s a multi-instrumentalist and was playing in different bands within different genres when I was growing up up, jazz, rock, punk and blues. I was surrounded by instruments as a child and he’d teach me. When I was 11, I discovered The Stranglers and was instantly very interested by the incredible J.J Burnel’s heavy, slamming but fat bass sound! I started playing bass right after that. After that I discovered Flea, and Chris Squier from Yes, both with more complicated bass lines. That paired with my growing love for funk, I started to work on my sound because I wanted to achieve a mix between two iconic styles, the incisive and punk one, and the groovy, melodic tone of my prog rock idols.

You’re releasing your first EP ‘The Fates’ in January, what can you tell us about it?Myriam: We recorded ‘The Fates’ a year ago at “Ferber”, a famous French recording studio where Zappa and Black Sabbath used to come in the 70s. We decided to record everything live with no overdubs in order to try and catch the energy of our live performances. We worked with producer Mario Caladato Jr. (The Mars Volta, Beastie Boys etc) who helped us find a balance between the aerial atmospheres of the vocals and the heavier parts.
Eva: By recording it live we managed to capture the synergy we feel between the three of us while jamming. We wanted it to be as fluid as possible, and highlight the emotional involvement in each song when played live. We named it “The Fates” after the three Moirai in Greek mythology, known as the sisters who determine the origin of the world and human beings. One is giving life, by spinning the wool, one unwinding the thread and the last one cutting it, bringing death. We loved that very symbolical allegory of our roles in the band.

What’s your history and experience with Orange?
Myriam: My first ever encounter was whenI was looking for a tube amp that could be aggressive and round at the same time, and a friend of mine let me try their TH30, the sound was both crispy and round. I’m also really into the desert rock scene, and when I saw Sleep live with Matt Pike’s wall of Rockerverbs I thought that it was the deepest guitar sound ever!
Eva: I noticed Orange Amps at festivals and I very intrigued by the colourful design, and when Myriam bought one I immediately loved its power!

Myriam, I know you play the Dual Terror, why did you go for that one and what’s your thoughts on it?
Myriam: It’s the first amp I ever bought with my very first paycheck : I needed a two channel amp because we have some ethereal parts in our music where a nice clean sound is necessary. The tiny channel of the DT has that slamming clean tone. I mainly use the fat channel with the typical Orange crunch sound and add fuzz or overdrive to it. I also went for the Dual Terror because of its practicality. It doesn’t weigh that much and is also switchable from 30w to 15w, which is really useful in the studio or in rehearsal to push the tubes without sounding too loud.

How does your dream Orange riggs / stacks look like?
Myriam: I like to play with a dry/wet setup, so my dream Orange stack would be the Orange Rockerverb 50 MKIII paired with a PPC 412. Because it has an FX loop and two separate channels, it would allow me to have cleaner modulation effects such as phaser, delays etc. than I have currently on the DT. The other amp would be a Tiny terror on a PPC 212. I like it with a crunchy sound and a really light slap delay. It also works well with fuzzs and overdrives because of its narrow frequency response.
Eva: I’d like to split my sound on two cabs, and looking for the best one to fit with my Sunn O))) Concert Bass, so I would say an OBC410, or OBC212 and OBC115 paired with a Terror Bass. I secretly dream of a AD200B, but unfortunately it’s a little heavy to bring home after rehearsal on the Parisian subway…

If you could tour with any band or artist, who would it be, and why?
Monolord! We discovered them with their last album, No Comfort. Their riffs are so heavy, it’s truly a slap in the face listening to them play live. We’d like to tour with them because we are comfortable in the stoner rock scene generally, and people look really psyched at their gigs.

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Interview: Laura Cox

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.

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Jamie runs us through Murph from ‘The Wombats’ guitar rig.

The Wombats have been using Orange amps pretty much since they first started as a band. So before their headline show at Wembley arena Jamie, ‘Murph’s’ guitar tech took some time out to run us through his rig. The three Dual Terrors are the rock of the rig and a Tiny Terror is used as a different flavour

Hi i’m Jamie Matthew Murphy’s guitar tech with the Wombats and this is his rig.

So we have got all these guitars here, we have got ‘Blue Bob’ which is his main guitar, a paisley telecaster from 96′ I believe. It’s the one he uses the most, on most tunes, it is in standard tuning. Then we have a spare which is a brown tele, we have got a strat he uses on three or four tunes as well. A black and a white jazzmaster and a Fender Coronado too.

These are all going through a Sennheiser wireless system which are then combined in a Radial JX44 combiner, I have a remote down here which I can easily switch them when we are doing guitar changes. Then it goes through a G2 gig rig pedal board, now all this is midi automated as I think there is only two or three songs without a click track, so every song with a click track ‘Murph’ doesn’t have to touch his pedal board other than to turn tuner on or off but that’s it really, it’s all pretty automated. We shall move on to the amps.

We have amp one and amp two which are both Dual Terrors, amp three which is a Tiny Terror. Amp one and amp two both go to 2×12 cabinets, amp one the sounds on both channels are very similar, i’d say it’s a clean sound with a bit of bite and then when he hits his footswitch to change his channels it gets a bit louder and a bit more of a gravely version of the first one. But there is not very much difference with that and amp two, the clean channel is all down so there is no signal passing through it until he hits the switch and then you get a really gainy, driven sound. Amp three goes through a 1×10 and that is a purely uneffected signal, so it bypasses all the pedals straight to the back of the amp and it just gives Pete at the Front of house or monitors something to get some clarity if the other two are raging.

I’ve personally always loved Orange amps because there is not twenty knobs on them, you haven’t got bass, treble and middle control for tone. It’s very, very simple you’ve got six knobs, three for each channel and you get everything you need out of them, you don’t any more. They are perfect for what you do.

If we go to America or fly gig they lugged about in a backpack and can literally hand carry them onto a plane, they can take a knocking about, there is not really any signal you can put through that it doesn’t sing, it doesn’t sound as it should. They are not venue specific, for instance we played Birmingham academy last night and we are doing Wembley arena tonight, you don’t struggle with volume or with control with the amp. They have got more than enough punch for Wembley arena.

You get that classic british sound don’t you, that classic british rock sound from all valve analogue amps. It’s the simplicity that makes them, that’s what makes the tone so good I think. There is very little taken away from it by adding more, there is not much there but what’s there is perfect for a classic British rock sound.

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International Women’s Day: Women in Rock

Once again we’ve made it through to March and this year’s International Women’s Day. Haters might say we don’t need it, and how can we be equal if men don’t men have a day of their own? Well, men don’t tend to get grabbed and get abuse shouted at them when walking down the street, they don’t get paid less because of their gender, and you know, they don’t have to give birth either so, yeah, we kinda deserve this day – we can grow a human inside us but in some eyes not even that makes us good enough, yikes! Anyway – enough politics for our end, let’s chat music.

At Orange we’ve got quite a few women working for the company such as myself, my name is Ella and I do freelance content creation and artist relations, plus a bunch of other ladies in our offices keeping this ship afloat as well as the wonderful female artists we endorse. Now, there might not be a secret that rock and guitar music might be slightly more male dominated but that doesn’t mean that it’s a boys club, there’s a bunch of rad ladies out there, and today we’ll be shining a light on a few of them:

Orianthi

Rockerverb 50 MKIII
PPC412

Orianthi’s got a pretty spectacularly impressive resume, having performed for Steve Vai at the age of 15, and been asked to jam on stage with Carlos Santana at 18. Her big breakthrough came in 2009 when she played lead guitar for Carrie Underwood at the Grammys, which led to Michael Jackson reaching out to her, inviting her to join his band for his “This is it” concert series, which unfortunately fell through due to his death. Since then, she’s played with Alice Cooper, as well as releasing various solo albums as well as winning the award for “Breakthrough Guitarist of the Year” 2010 by Guitar International Magazine.

Hannah Wicklund, Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin’ Stones

Rocker 30

Despite her young age of 21, Hannah Wiklund, the soulful blues guitarist that could probably fit the description of the love child Janis Joplin and Hendrix never had, has got a remarkable 2000 shows behind her. Hannah was gifted a guitar from her dad an an early age, and had her first ever The Steppin’ Stones band practice back in 2005, with the first ever song they played being Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” By the time she finished high school at 16 they had already played over a thousand gigs together. The band released their debut album last year, and are currently touring and gigging, as they’ve always done.

Thao Nguyen, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down

AD30

Thao Nguyen is a guitarist and banjo player and the front woman of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, a San Francisco based alternative folk rock band. She started playing music around the age of 11, and ended up starting a country pop duo with one of her friends. Shortly after she began performing acoustic solo shows, before eventually forming Thao & the Get Down Stay Down with fellow students. Thao’s lyrics are often about relationships and childhood, with some crossing over into politics. She has also been featured in the 2017 documentary “Nobody Dies: A Film about a Musician, Her Mom and Vietnam”, which follows Thao and her mum as they visit Vietnam, Thao for the first time, and her mum for the first time since the Vietnam war, where she is faced with the two conflicting cultures that helped shape her and her music.

Laura Cox, The Laura Cox Band

Micro Dark
Rockerverb 50 MKIII
Dual Terror
PPC212OB
PPC112

Laura’s career got a kickstart in 2008 after joining Youtube and sharing videos of herself playing guitar, the response was overwhelming and she quickly built up a following which has now reached over 363k followers and 80 million views. Due to her online success, she formed The Laura Cox Band, which is influenced by Southern legends Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top as well as Aussie rockers AC/DC. There was no other musicians in her family when she was growing up, but hearing her dad play Dire Straits and AC/DC records she felt inspired and intrigued to play that music herself, and was shortly after gifted a guitar for Christmas. The rest is, as they say, history.

Becky Blomfield, Milk Teeth

OB1-500
OBC810

MILK TEETH bassist Becky grew up in a music loving household with a musical and saxophone playing dad who regularly  However, it wasn’t until the age of 11 that she found her own taste thanks to bands such as Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, which are two of the bands that led here to where she is today. Influenced by the above, punk band MILK TEETH was born in 2013 and have been playing together ever since, although with a few line up changes along they way. The band’s latest release is the single “Stain” which was out just before Christmas, and brings to mind bands such as Hole and Nirvana.

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Our interview with Shame.

Sean: Hello I’m Sean and I play guitar in the band Shame.

Josh: My name is Josh and I play bass.

Eddie: I’m Eddie from Shame, I play guitar.

Sean: On the amp I pretty much only use the natural channel, if i’m not using in combination with another amp I will probably use the dirty channel, just to give it a bit more drive. But I usually get that from my pedals, I like a clean tone as a base.

Eddie: Live I’m using the Tiny Terror channel but when we have been in our rehearsal studio i’ve been using the Fat channel and I have been experimenting with that. For me it’s a lot more accessible than a lot of other amps because i’m not really into the whole EQ’s on amps thing, I have an EQ pedal. I prefer to work from my pedal board rather than the control settings of my amp and for me Orange really works great for that because it’s quite simple.

Sean: I would say the Rocker 32 is a base for it because you already get a full, round sound from just that one channel.

Sean uses the Rocker 32

Eddie: I think Orange amps are almost built for those guitars in a way, I think it really helps capture every element of it and really pushes the sound well. I am now playing a Telecaster with humbuckers, so I think having two Orange amps with guitars with humbuckers sounds really good. Obviously the differences in our pedal setups, there is a distinction when there needs to be a distinction but also our guitars can blend when they need to, which is a very important part of our sound.

Sean: This amp is perfect for me, as its just got one knob, just the one!

Josh: The controls of this amp are very easy to use, there is just a bass, mid, treble, which I like. I never really mess around with graphic EQ’s and stuff like that, so it’s perfect for me.

Josh uses the Terror Bass

Eddie: The simplicity was a really big, factor for me, they also just look like really iconic amps, it’s the sort of thing you associate with big stage shows. It’s just really iconic british tone.

Sean: One of the best things is its size because its only like this big and its really light. I’ve never been a big believer in needing a massive amp or a massive stack to get a good sound. I think simple is usually best for me. I say it translates really well, we have used it all across this year, like we used it on the main stage at Reading and that’s possibly the biggest stage you can play really, and then to smaller club shows in the UK and it’s just great.

I’d say for me Orange is all about the tone because there was a period when I destroyed my fuel tank on my pedal board when we were rehearsing for this tour. So we were just playing and this amp doesn’t have reverb and i was just playing through the clean channel with absolutely nothing on it and it just sounded brilliant. So I would say the tone, it’s the kind of amp, I mean I put pedals through it but it’s the kind of amp that you wouldn’t need to put anything through it to make it sound amazing.

I think I had always been scared, I kind of stick to what I knew, never really try anything else. But then we came in and played through it, it just sounded so much better, instantaneously. I think it is the simplistic aspect but also Orange does have a legacy, especially from Britpop in the 90’s.

Eddie: To be honest i’d always associated it for some reason with heavy bands and it might be just a visual thing with the amps being mostly really big cabs. I think the connotations of the name like Tiny Terror stuff conjures images of really heavy, hard rock bands. Since trying them, the versatility of the Orange equipment was definitely opened up more to me a lot more. I wasn’t expecting them to be able to offer a really nice warm clean tone but also handle gain really well, so it was a pleasant surprise.

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Interview: Ducking Punches

Thanks so much for taking the time to this interview, and congratulations on your latest record ‘Alamort’ which is out today!
Dan: Yeah thanks! It’s out today, and it’s really exciting. This is album number four, as well as having released two EPs. I initially started it as a solo project seven years ago, then after awhile it kind of just went out of hand, and here we are now!
Ryan: Myself and Marcus have been in the band for about a year, and we have both been apart of this album and writing process. This is the first album with this line up.

Dan: It’s a real departure from what the band has done before, as it used to have quite a lot of folky elements. We’re now playing more melodic punk taking inspiration from the 90s emo genre. It’s kind of more of the music I’ve always wanted to be making, so when these guys joined that just all fell into place and happened naturally.
Marcus: like Dan says, we’ve gone more full electric, with more pedals and force and all that, more noise.

Now, Norwich might not be the centre of the universe, and most people might not be that familiar with the Norwich music scene. Can you guys give us the lay of the land?
Dan: The Norwich music scene is really healthy, one of the reasons I move to Norwich was actually due to the booming Punk scene. All the bands kind of support each other, and that is how we all met, on that scene. That is how Ryan and I met about four years ago.
Ryan: I do sound engineering as well and made a fair bit of people through that, that is also how I met Dan, as I did a few shows for him.

So Marcus, how did you end up in the band?
Marcus: I am kind of the outsider of the group as I initially joined the band as a fan. I was already aware of what they were doing and knew the band quite well. So when I saw there was an opening I just thought to myself ‘fuck it, I’m going to give it ago’. It’s been nice since the lineup had already changed and the band was changing, I got to come in and bring my own opinions and put my own sound on it, I also got to add my personality and stamp on some of the older songs. No one is precious about anything so if any of us comes up with a new idea and it doesn’t go down well with the whole band we won’t do it. Everything we do, we do together.

Now, the reason were all here – Orange amps. Can you tell us a bit about your history and experience with the brand?
Dan: I used to guitar tech a lot for various bands, some of which would use Orange, and I was just baffled by the fact that you could get such clarity and crunch at the same time, you can’t seem to do that with many other amps. I was playing Marshalls for years, but it wasn’t until I first plugged it into an Orange I finally found my sound.
Marcus: I play a Dual Terror, and I was first introduced to Orange by a friend who had a Tiny Terror, and I just loved how you could get that big sound something so small, it’s had this amazing huge sound and it would just really fill a room. Before I started playing guitar in this band, I originally played bass, and I didn’t have any money to buy any pedals, so I had to learn to compensate for that by using my hands and away I would use the settings on my amp. I got that overdriven sound without having to use any pedals, and if they wanted to make it even more overdriven I could just play harder, mechanically. I like how transparent the sound is, and the amps are incredibly responsive to what you’re doing. So yeah, I guess it is just the evolution of not being able to buy any pedals and learning how to work around it and using my amp to compensate. Even today, I still only use three pedals when we play live, as the amp pretty much sorts me out with the sound I want and require, with most of my sound coming strictly from the amp itself. Gain, volume, tone – nothing fancy, just plug and play!
Ryan: My first encounter with Orange was similar to Dan’s, doing shows, working as a sound engineer and seeing bands coming in with different gear all the time. I played bass for years, but had never managed to find that had that was quite right. One day, I was working with a band who’s bassist was using a Bass Terror, he played a 68’ Fender Precision bass through it, and the tone was just unbelievable. Straight after that, I went out and bought to my own which lasted me five years, until this Christmas I decided to put my big boy pants on and get the OB1-500. All I want from my amp when playing the bass its power and clarity, and it is true what everyone is saying, you really can just plug and play.

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Interview: Shaman Elephant’s Eirik Sejersted Vognstølen

Norwegian band Shaman Elephant recently released their debut album ‘Crystals’, which the critics and music know-it-alls have been all over. Based in Bergen, one of the rainiest cities in Europe and the black metal capital of the world, I was intrigued to find out more about their trippy, feelgood psych-rock, so I decided to pin down guitarist Eirik before their release gig at Bergen’s legendary music venue Garage.

So, Eirik, fellow Norwegian viking, new record – tell us about it!
We started recording it about a year ago and did almost all of it at Bergen Kjøtt (Translates to ‘Bergen Meat’, and old factory converted into music studios and rehearsal spaces), except for vocals and overdubs which we did at Solslottet. It’s been out just over a month now and people seem to really like it! Niché magazines and music blogs have been giving it pretty good reviews, and BT (Norwegian newspaper) gave us 5/6 which we’re pretty damned pleased with. The only one who didn’t like it was Gaffa, but they can go fuck themselves.

Fair dos – clearly Gaffa knows fuck all.

How long have you guys been playing together?
The three other guys, Ole, Jard and Jonas have been in various bands together for years, but I’d say Shaman Elephant’s been going for about three.

You’ve got a big night tonight with the record release show – how’s the next couple of months looking? 
We’re heading overseas to London in April, where we’ll be playing a headline show at The Unicorn with GNOB 18th of April, followed by a set at The Jonesing Jams at 93 Feet East two days later. Besides that, I reckon most of our gigs will be in Norway, possibly some German dates.

…damn, I’m really fucking hungover. Went to a gig last night and was only meant to have one beer, but when’s one beer ever actually been ‘just one beer’? Before you know it it’s 6am and you’re still going strong. It’s all good though, I’ll get another few beers in me and then chill out for a while before I go on stage. I’m really stoked about tonight, our bassist’s got this old Orange guitar amp which he’s running his bass through, it sounds sick!

Speaking of Orange, you’re an Orange man yourself?
Sure am! I’ve got a Rockerverb.  I work in a guitar shop so I’ve tried pretty much all there is, and the Rockerverb’s just brilliant, same with Dual Terror and Tiny Terror, massive fan!

 

What got you into Orange in the first place?
I was looking for a new amp but didn’t quite know what I wanted, all I knew was that I didn’t want Marshall because I think they can get too complicated, and I wasn’t too keen on getting a Fender. There I was watching a Prince show and he was using Orange, which kind of just settled it for me. I decided on a Rockerverb – I’d never tried one, but I knew I needed one. It’s been six years now, and I couldn’t be happier with it, you get that filthy and fuzzy tone that you can only find in an Orange. A lot of sustain, and simply just a great sound. Plus, they’re Orange so they look fucking cool. I’d love to get two 4×12 cabs, it’d be pricey but worth it. Build my own wall of sound, like Sleep’s Matt Pike and his rigs of doom.

Growing up in rainy Bergen, what music would you be listening to?
I’m very much raised on my dad’s music. I went through a hip hop phase, which I still can appreciate today, but when my dad told me to check out Hendrix that changed everything. I remember finding ‘Purple Haze’ live from Woodstock, and it completely knocked me out. After that he’d just feed me whatever he’d be listening to, whether it was Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple or AC/DC, it was all thanks to my dad.

Bergen’s been mostly known for it’s black metal, how is the music scene when it comes to other genres? Is there room for variety?
Absolutely! There’s been a fair bit of this prog-jazz as well as a wave of retro noise/psych. I dont think there’s too many other bands like ours in Bergen though, so there’s always room for more. That said, Bergen was either black metal or pop music for a long time, but the last couple of years I’ve seen that new genres have been popping up between the two, filling the gaps out a bit more. Norway has a lot of trap and hip hop, so it’s cool when people break the norm and do their own thing, we need more of that.

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