Orange Spotlight: WARPSTORMER

Who are WARPSTORMER?

WARPSTORMER is Adam Davies (guitar), Simon Doggett (bass + backing vocals), James Loh (drums) and Richard Morgan (vocals). We’re scattered fairly loosely across London but the band’s nominally headquartered in New Cross.

The name’s a nod to the science-fantasy universe of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame, in which spacefarers unfortunate enough to be beset by “warp-storms” are sucked into a hellish, messed-up realm of chaos where humanity’s worst impulses are given form as demonic creatures that prey on their souls. Very metal, eh?

The band started out as a studio project that Richard put together with a couple of pals – original drummer Matt Folley and Green Lung finger-wizard Scott Black on guitar – lending a hand in a temporary capacity. This resulted in the Here Comes Hell EP, which was self-released in 2022 with the intention of using it to recruit a full band line-up. Upon hearing about the new project, Simon (an old pal of R’s) said he might be interested “if the record doesn’t suck”. Luckily, it didn’t, saving anyone the trouble of singing and playing bass at the same time.

The EP continued to serve its intended purpose as a recruiting tool – by early 2023 Adam and James had come on board – and since then, we’ve been playing in and around London wherever and whenever anyone will let us, and working on new material as a full band.

While we definitely have one foot in the Sabbath-influenced doomy/stony camp, all the members share a love of punk, hardcore and thrash, and it seems we’re chronically incapable of playing slow enough to stick to the template. Tom Templar from Green Lung once referred to us as “Stoner Thrash”, but maybe we’re Speed Doom – take your pick

What inspires WARPSTORMER?

We all have a ton of influences and quite diverse favourites which, while we might not agree on some things, definitely keeps things interesting and varied when we’re putting music together. Some of the stuff we’ve been enjoying and drawing on recently includes High on Fire, mid-era Mastodon, early Baroness, and Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of The Worlds.

As you might expect given the name, we draw pretty heavily, lyrically, on sci-fi and fantasy themes, but in such a way that they serve as a sort of creative vessel for exploring the more psychologically-harrowing aspects of 21st century life. Just the very act of getting in a room and making a dirty great noise through a dirty great amp can be, in itself, an immensely cathartic experience and we’re aiming to harness that in such a way that the form and content of our music complement one another.

The other great aspect of getting out and playing music with your friends is that it’s nice to get away from a screen for a protracted period of time, and do something fulfilling out in the analogue realm.

The London Doom/Stoner Scene is in a really cool place right now, and has been incredibly welcoming to us and supportive of what we’re doing. There are a load of sick bands kicking around and that sense of community and creativity is a really inspiring thing to have swirling around.

What Orange gear is important to WARPSTORMER?

We have a pretty eclectic mix of gear we’ve accumulated over the years. The key Orange components of our current arsenal are Richard’s old Bass Terror, a Bass Butler, and a big old PPC412. The Bass Terror might be the MVP of our backline rig – it’s currently serving as one half of our bi-amped guitar setup and, along with the Butler, was the key element of the bass sound on the Here Comes Hell record, which is something we’ve had a lot of compliments about – almost all the dirt and nastiness in the sound of that record came from the bass; for Scott’s guitars we just went with a pretty straightforward overdriven sound.

When we were tracking bass for our new record, we spent ages fiddling around with all sorts of amp setups, but in the end we ended up going back to the Butler/Terror combo; it just really nailed the clangy, growly attack we wanted. And then just to kick it up a notch even further we chucked a Fuzzrocious Secret C (the limited edition Cave In signature model) in front of that – the results are pretty gnarly.

Future Orange amps?

Since coming into Orange HQ and playing with all those wonderful toys, everyone’s gear shopping list has expanded exponentially. Particular favourites were the OR-30, which really played up to our shared love of classic 80s thrash (which to be honest wasn’t something we associated with Orange amps before then!) and the swirly, psych-y clean sounds we conjured up running the retro Phaser Pedal into a Pedal Baby. Adam also really loved the MK-Ultra – an unforgiving, but very responsive and rewarding amp to play through.

Our theoretical ultimate Orange amp would be a high-gain monster with a foot switchable second channel – something we currently rely on live to make Adam’s lead parts really pop out with a volume and saturation boost – but that was somehow magically small and light enough to cart around as easily as our Bass Terror – or even fit on a pedalboard!

What does Orange mean to you?

Orange has been synonymous with a lot of the bands we grew up watching and listening to – it’s instantly recognisable onstage even from the back of a big room.

We never really set out with a gear shopping list, or an intent to use a particular amp or brand, but in the course of cobbling together our shared pool of gear and carving out the WARPSTORMER sound, we’ve found the bits of Orange gear that have made it into that pool to be a significant contributing factor to that sound.

We don’t get to use our big cab as much as we’d like outside the rehearsal room, as most shows we play has bands sharing backline, and it’s a bugger to move the thing around, but it’s always cool and reassuring to pitch up somewhere and see you’re going to be plugging into an Orange cab as we know it’s going to be able to handle whatever we’re blasting through it.

What’s the most memorable WARPSTORMER moment?

Following some initial line-up setbacks towards the end of 2022 – just as we thought we had everything in place TWO members of the band ended up moving overseas – we brought Adam and James in at pretty short notice. Our first show with them was in April 2023 and they really hit the ground running after only a couple of rehearsals. The show went great and there was a tremendous sense of relief and excitement at landing on our feet with these two guys, which created a wave of momentum that we’re still currently riding.

What’s on the horizon for WARPSTORMER?

We’re currently in the middle of recording our next release with producer Wayne Adams, the busiest man in UK underground music. It’s the first with the full lineup, and we’re pretty excited with the results so far!

Our other current exciting upcoming thing is that the organisers of Desertfest London have been kind enough to include us on the line up this May – you can catch us at The Dev on the Friday night! Building around that and getting the new record out, we’re aiming to get ourselves out of London as much as possible in the coming year, and make as many new pals as we can in the process. See you in the pit!

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by joegray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Troy The Band

Who are Troy The Band?

We are a London-based four-piece, composed of Sean Durbin on bass, Sean Burn on guitar, Craig Newman on vocals, and Jack Revans on drums. We are best described as a mix between stoner-doom, shoegaze and post rock.

We formed in 2021, after Sean Durbin put an ad out seeking members to form the band. Our original drummer, Dan England, who recorded drums on the EP and our album, stepped down after recording the album. After that we were lucky enough to have our friend Jack, who had already been sitting in on our live shows quite a lot, join on a permanent basis.

We also had a few other guitarists that we jammed with before Sean Burn joined. Sean and Sean actually knew one another from New Zealand, and it was a chance meeting on the street in London at a time when the band was in need of a new guitarist that led to them joining. When you think about it, it was a pretty serendipitous set of circumstances that led to them joining, which in turn had a vital impact on the trajectory of our sound that just wouldn’t have happened with the other guitarists we had initially been playing with.

What inspires Troy The Band?

We’re inspired by a lot of different genres and bands; both consciously and unconsciously. Obviously we fit broadly within the stoner-doom genre so there are bands that will influence us from that end of the spectrum, but all of us tend to enjoy a broad array of musical styles which will inevitably make an impact on the way we approach a specific piece of music. To name a few bands whose names often come up for us: High on Fire, Khruangbin, Operator Generator, Acid King, All Them Witches, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Rush, Melvins, Big Business, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Joy Division, Black Midi, Smashing Pumpkins, Bossk, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Horrors, Deerhunter, Women, My Bloody Valentine, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra among others.

We aim to make music that first and foremost we enjoy and find interesting, and then try and bring others along for the ride.

What Orange gear is important to Troy The Band?

Sean Durbin uses an Orange Terror Bass and also splits his signal into a guitar amp, which is currently an Orange Tiny Terror valve amp. Both work well for our sound, and they are also pretty portable and indestructible. Plus they look cool sitting on top of the stacks next to each other.

This dual setup has evolved over time. Initially, Sean started splitting the signal through a bass and guitar amp because when the band first started we didn’t have a regular guitar player and splitting the signal helped fill out the sound in the rehearsal room more.

When Sean Burn joined, rather than just mirroring the bass, they brought more atmospheric and complementary style of playing to the existing riffs, so we made a conscious choice to keep the bi-amped bass setup, where the bass is doing the work of a bassist and rhythm guitarist that holds down the main riffs of the songs, while Sean B adds harmonic layering over the the top of those riffs.

This might be somewhat surprising, especially within a genre that extols the virtue of monstrous amps, but Sean Burn uses an Orange Terror Stamp which is mounted at the end of the signal chain on a very elaborate pedalboard setup.

They purchased Terror Stamp initially due its affordability, but it has been an incredibly reliable and great sounding piece of equipment. When we went to record our album, even with a wall of mega-powerful tube amps at our disposal, Sean opted to record with the Terror Stamp since it sounded great and all their pedals were already calibrated to it.

It does have its limitations in some live situations, trying to compete with the other Sean’s Terror Bass and Tiny Terror, but these are easily overcome. We either just mic it up, or use it like a preamp and slave the power section of whatever house backline head is available to achieve the necessary volume. But the tone all comes from the terror stamp and accompanying pedals.

Future Orange amps?

One of the problems with Orange Amps is that they are so bombproof and consistent that there isn’t much need for constant GASing. However, the Orange fur coat fuzz with octave up is likely to replace the current octave-up/distortion configuration on the guitar side of Sean Durbin’s bass signal, and replacing the Tiny Terror with a Pedal Baby might be on the horizon too.

For Sean Burn, The Orange Pedal Baby or something similar will also likely make its way into their set up to provide the volume we need for our shows.

As much as we’d love to have a wall of big beautiful all-tube heads behind us, it is not always practical for a band that often travels via public transport, so it’s nice to be able to capture the Orange tone that we love in more accommodating packages.

What does Orange mean to you?

For us, Orange Amps are kind of synonymous with the heavy music we play. They mean great tone and reliability.

Orange is also a big supporter of the underground music scene in London, providing the backline for a lot of venues and festivals that we’ve been a part of which is great. And we always see Ade and Joe at shows, not as representatives of Orange per se but as fans of the music, which is always nice to see.

What’s the most memorable Troy The Band moment?

We’ve had a few memorable moments, but perhaps the most memorable was an all-day show we put on to launch a beer we brewed with Old Street Brewery in East London called Troy The Beer. It was an outdoor mini-festival with six bands playing throughout the day, that we held in August. The weather had been great leading up to it, but it’s London so you never really know.

The morning of the event, the sky was blue and the weather report looked good. There was meant to be some light drizzle in the afternoon, but nothing major so we made the call to keep the event outside and set up some tents for the bands to play under just in case there was a bit of rain.

It turned out the weather report wasn’t entirely accurate and we were hit with one of the most intense thunderstorms we had ever experienced. What was particularly surreal was that the thunder storm arrived while one of the bands, Purple Kong, were playing their song “Blood Lightning” which has the repeated refrain “Blood, Lighting, Earthquake and Thunder….” So it was pretty fitting. All that was really missing in that moment were earthquakes and blood, and thankfully it stayed that way. Fortunately the rain ended up dissipating completely for the rest of the bands but for a minute there we were worried we were about to be responsible for organising Fyre Fest Part 2.

What’s on the horizon for Troy The Band?

A lot!

Bonebag Records are putting out our debut full-length album Cataclysm on February 2nd. We are kicking off a tour supporting it on the 9th of February.

We’re also working hard on getting our second album ready and will head back into the studio this summer to record that, among a few one-off dates that we have in the calendar this year.

So there is lot’s to look forward to.

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by joegray

Articles, Technical

Orange does pedals too!

As we’re all well aware Orange is known around the world for making kick-ass amps. But that’s not where their abilities end and in recent years they’ve also produced some mean pedals…and they’re all right here for your pleasure.

TWO STROKE

12DB CLEAN BOOST
ACTIVE DUAL-PARAMETRIC EQ
TRANSPARENT BUFFERED BYPASS

Orange’s version of a ‘clean boost’ pedal combines an active dual-parametric EQ and up to 12dB of output boost. The Two Stroke is ideal for fine-tuning your sound or pushing your amp’s front end; subtle tweaks can add an extra dimension to solos, whilst more aggressive use of the pedal’s EQ can sculpt entirely new sounds. The Two Stroke can add an extra channel to your amplifier or re-voice your guitar’s pickups completely. Crank the high mids to jump through the mix, cut the low end to remove the woolliness that normally occurs with traditional boost pedals, or leave the EQ flat to hear more of what you already like.

The Two Stroke is also great for bass and acoustic guitars as a practical tool to remove unwanted ‘honk’ or feedback, making this pedal a valuable addition to any musician’s setup.

FUR COAT

VINTAGE FUZZ
ADJUSTABLE OCTAVE
GENUINE TRUE BYPASS

Loosely based on the vintage Foxx Tone Machine, the Fur Coat Fuzz takes its inspiration from the great fuzz pedals of the 70’s.
The Fur Coat gives you a fully controllable octave fuzz pedal. Separate switches mean you can choose between Fuzz or Octave Fuzz. The controllable Octave up fuzz means you can bring in the fuzz to whatever level you need and the EQ allows you to boost your Treble or Bass.
The Fur Coat is Orange’s only True Bypass pedal. This is because a fuzz is better at the beginning of the chain where it interacts directly with your guitar. Placing the pedal further into your signal chain will give the fuzz a more distorted tone.

KONGPRESSOR

OPTICAL CLASS A COMPRESSION
12DB CLEAN BOOST
TRANSPARENT BUFFERED BYPASS

The Kongpressor is an analogue Class A compression pedal which adds an organic three dimensional quality to any rig. The pedal takes its inspiration from some of the world’s most iconic vintage optical studio units, employing a re-issue of the famous Vactrol VTL5C3 optocoupler that was responsible for the sound heard on countless hit records.

At lower compression levels the Kongpressor’s transparent but somehow fattening. It adds mojo and a glossy sheen to your core tone that you’ll truly miss when it’s bypassed. Even at extreme settings, the tone always remains musical with great feel under the fingers.
With controls for attack and release time, the Kongpressor can be tweaked to fine tune the transients and the bloom. Orange worked hard to make these parameters as forgiving as possible whilst still allowing players full control over the compression response. The pedal also features an active treble control for adding in extra chime and jangle, making the compression even more transparent.

Of course it’s outstanding for crystal clean country pickin’, but the Kongpressor also maintains the bottom end that seems to get lost in many compression pedals. This means it behaves impeccably with overdrive pedals or the lead channel of your amplifier, adding fullness and sustain.

GETAWAY DRIVER

’70S AMP IN A BOX
CAB SIM OUTPUT
INTERNAL BUTTON

While the pedal adds vintage vibe to all amplifiers, the Getaway Driver really excels when used with an amp’s clean channel…even ones with a bright cap. It also makes a great clean boost, with low Gain and high Volume pushing amps over the edge into classic overdrive. The gain structure is produced using single-ended JFET circuitry running in Class A, just like a valve amp. The input buffer, output buffer and Cab Sim are handled using op-amps.

The Getaway Driver features a second output which is a buffered Cab Sim / headphone amp that also works into a PA (via a DI box) or directly into a recording interface. The first output is transparent when bypassed, however, when using the second output, the Cab Sim remains engaged. This means that the Getaway Driver can be used as just a Cab Sim on its own if needed. The voicing and gain structure of this pedal is based on a cranked modded ’70s valve amp. Running at 9 Volts, the pedal will have the character of EL84 valves, whereas 12 Volts will give an EL34 flavour. Use a regulated 9-12V DC centre-negative power supply.

BAX BANGEETAR

WIDE GAIN RANGE
BAXANDALL EQ WITH
FULL PARAMETRIC
MID CONTROLS
CABSIM OUTPUT

As a traditional stompbox the Bax Bangeetar is in a class of its own, boasting a unique and hugely versatile gain structure with extensive EQ controls. Dial in an enormous range of overdriven and distorted tones, delivered with a feel and responsiveness rarely found in pedals. Beyond that, though, this preamp pedal is an invaluable tool, allowing you to tailor your tone to any setup with absolute precision via its parametric mid controls. Find and eliminate problem frequencies in certain guitars and amps, shape broad mid ‘scoops’ or boost anywhere on the mid spectrum to suit any style. Plug straight into the front of an amp as a standalone drive pedal, or plug into the effects return to make the donor amp ‘disappear’! For even more flexibility, the second output takes your sound and passes it through our Cab Sim circuit, recreating the frequency response of a mic’d Orange 4×12” cab, ideal for direct recording or even connecting to a PA.

THE AMP DETONATOR

BUFFERED ISOLATED OUTPUTS
PHASE CORRECTION
COMPACT DESIGN

Featuring two buffered outputs, one with a custom designed isolating transformer, as far as Orange are aware the Amp Detonator is the smallest active, fully functional, buffered ABY pedal on the market. What’s more, it’s the only active ABY switcher that can be powered by a 9V battery. The transformer output has been meticulously engineered to be as transparent as possible, whilst both outputs are buffered with a low noise, linear circuit. Drive any length of cable to your amps with no loss of clarity and switch silently between them. The Amp Detonator also has a push-button polarity switch to correct common phase issues between amplifiers, keeping the tone fat and full. Finally, the tri-colour LED is a handy feature, especially on dark stages, indicating your current switching setting at a glance.

DID YOU KNOW…
All Orange pedals feature an internal charge pump which doubles the operating voltage of the pedals to 18V. They can be powered by 9V battery or standard DC adapter, or for even more output can also run on 12V DC. Running at a higher voltage has the effect of drastically increasing the headroom for super clean compression by the Kongpressor, incredibly low harmonic distortion from the The Amp Detonator and gives the Bax Bangeetar a wider dynamic range and more output, with even greater definition.

IF WE HAVEN’T TOLD YOU ENOUGH ABOUT ORANGE’S RANGE OF PEDALS YOU CAN FIND MORE IN DEPTH INFO BY VISITING: https://orangeamps.com/products/fx-pedals/

Added by Orange… the OMEC Teleport (click the photo to find out more)