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Tag Archive for: Terror Bass

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Orange Spotlight: M(h)aol

Orange Spotlight: M(h)aol

Who are M(h)aol?

M(h)aol is Constance Keane, Jamie Hyland and Seán Nolan. The band was formed in 2014 when Connie wanted to make boys in green rooms uncomfortable. The band name is in Irish and comes from 15th century Pirate Queen, Gráinne Mhaol. The brackets in the name isolate the “h” which changes the “w” sound of the “mh” to an “m” sound so the name is pronounced like “male” because that’s funny… That’s the joke… We’re not men, we are terrifying pirate queens (aside from Seán).  We are based between London, Belfast and Dublin.

What inspires M(h)aol?

We all have very varied and different musical inspirations from anything with an uilleann pipe, to Taylor Swift, to Gershwin, to Gilla Band. Lyrical inspiration comes from all aspects of our daily experiences. Music is a great way to convey messages we feel might be important for people to hear in a fun way that can also serve as a catalyst for catharsis or just.. y’know.. be fun to listen to and have a bop.

What Orange gear is important to M(h)aol?

Our first experiences with Orange amps was a few years ago at the Birkenhead venue Future Yard. They had some Rockerverbs and a huge pile of cabs (which may or may not have been belonging to Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs). That was the best guitar sound of that whole tour and just cool to know we weren’t going to be struggling to hear each other on stage. Since then, while supporting Gilla Band around Europe, we got to use an AD200 every night for bass which was truly transformative in so many ways and finally lead to me not feeling the need to just completely crank a bass amp to properly feel what was going on.

We currently have a Terror Stamp for guitar and a Terror Bass of our own, partially for the portability, but mostly for the sound and reliability. These were first used on the recording sessions for our latest single “Snare”. 

Future Orange amps?

The current Orange gear we have feels very much like a stepping stone and is somewhat limited by our normal touring set up. being spread out across a bunch of different places and not having a set rehearsal space where gear can live and be readily accessed, when we go on tour we generally have to go and meet up somewhere close to the first show and start the tour from there. In the future I would love for us to be able to have a full orange backline somewhere that we can load into a van and just hit the road.. a pair of OBC810s, a PPC212 and a few nice heads to power them.. I’ve always been curious about 4×10 + 1×15 cabinets too.. sounds like it would be fun.

What does Orange mean to you?

As a sound engineer (started as recording in 2012, moved on to mastering in 2018) I came across Orange a long time ago. Initially, and very naively, I was comparing the aesthetic to other brands and judging them all by their covers but once you hear what they can do and start to understand how important reliability is both on the road and in studio, their quality becomes very clear. There’s something about feeling like the design is still done from a musicians perspective that I really appreciate, when it comes down to it, what it’s like to work with and play through is the most important thing.

What’s the most memorable M(h)aols moment?

A couple of things jump to mind immediately. Swimming in a lake in the swiss mountains at Bad Bonn Kilbi is definitely one. Another is being taken out by the organisers of the Basquerial Festival in portugal for Vino Verde and an amazing tapas-style meal before going to play our show there. Getting to tour with Gilla Band was also a very nice.. to be shown the luxury of playing shows around europe and being introduced to Switzerland, not to mention spending time with that lovely bunch of boys was definitely an experience to be remembered.

What’s on the horizon for M(h)aol?

We are about to go on a short tour of the USA, playing shows at TV Eye – NYC (March 9th) , SXSW, Permanent Records –  LA (March 15th) and Vera Project – Seattle (March 17th).

Once we are back We’ll be preparing for an Irish co-headline tour with our pals from Cola (Canada) and Junk Drawer (Northern Ireland).

Those dates are in The Black Box – Belfast (May 28th), Sandino’s – Derry (May 29th), The Roisín Dubh – Galway (May 30th), Dolan’s Kasbah Club – Limerick (May 31st), Coughlans – Cork (June 1st & 2nd), Lucas Records – Waterford (June 3rd) and Whelans – Dublin (June 4th)

We’ve a few more things in the pipeline that will be worth keeping an eye out for in the next while including a fair few festivals over the summer yet to be announced.

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Photo Credits – M(h)aol, Cait Fahey and Celeste Burdon Photography 

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Orange Spotlight: The Death Wheelers

Orange Spotlight: The Death Wheelers

Who are The Death Wheelers?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: The Death Wheelers are a Canadian instrumental band who met under the sign of evil on a cold and musty November night ten years ago. I guess our mutual interest for all things smut and perverse is what led us to get together and decompose songs for the last decade or so. Over the years we have fine-tuned –and down-tuned– our sound into what we like to call sleaze ‘n roll, an unhealthy mix of proto-metal, hard rock and surf guitar with a dash of aggression thrown into the mix for good measure. Acid biker doom rock is also a term we have heard thrown around over years to describe what we do.

What inspires The Death Wheelers?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: The band name is taken directly from the 1973 British biker supernatural horror film directed by Don Sharp, a cult Bikesploitation flick. For those who don’t know, Bikesploitation was a short-lived movie genre of the 60s and 70s that was part of the larger exploitation movement. These types of movies drew on the popularity of biker clubs and the counterculture movement of the time, echoing themes of freedom, anti-authoritarianism and rebellion. They also typically had a low-budget, grindhouse style that relied on abundant violence and nudity. Our music is a direct homage to this obscure cinematographic period. Just like the movies, our sound is raw and gritty, each album devised to serve as a soundtrack to a fictional Bikesploitation movie. Each album is set in a different era/setting, which is what our usual starting point is when we write material.

We are also inspired by other musical acts such as Sir Lord Baltimore, The Ghastly Ones, Funkadelic, Link Wray, Motörhead, MC5, The Cramps, Count Five, Celtic Frost, Sabbath, Tank, Entombed, Witchfinder General, Rush, Iron Claw and Canadian slutch lords Dopethrone, just to name a few. In essence, we are just building on what’s been done before, the foundations of heavy rock. We’re not into trying to reinvent the wheel, we’re just trying to make it spin faster.

What Orange gear is important to The Death Wheelers?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: Most of our albums have been recorded using Orange gear actually. I bought an Orange Terror Bass 500 (AKA Burger ONE) thirteen years ago and I have never looked back. I have used this very amplifier on all of our recordings so far. It’s built like a tank and is extremely powerful for its small size. After hundreds of gigs and four albums in, it is still standing strong. It has never been serviced once and has never let me down. What I like about this amp, aside from the fact that it is very reliable, is that it is a great platform for effects. Most bass amplifiers just don’t cut it or don’t have enough headroom when it comes to overdriving an already dirty signal, but I’ve never had this problem with my Orange Terror Bass 500. You see, I have a tendency of stacking multiple overdrives and fuzzes to achieve my obscenely nasty tone, and sometimes most overloaded signals do not bide well with other popular brands. I’ve blown countless fuses using other amps over the years, and this is not something you want to have on your mind when you’re gigging or recording. With my Orange Terror Bass 500 I can just stack as many effects as I want without having to worry about my amplifier being a fire hazard.

Over the years, our guitarists have also used the CR120 and the Orange Rocker 30 Combo extensively to record and gig. Actually, our debut album was recorded solely using ORANGE amplifiers. One of the guitarists plugged right into his CR120 at the time, no pedals, nothing. So to say that Orange has been an integral part of our sound over the last decade is an understatement. 

Future Orange amps?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: When we were invited at the UK ORANGE HQ last year, we got to try out a bunch of different amplifiers and pedals, some of which were not even out at the time, such as the new Orange AD200. Once again, lots of headroom and natural crunch. I just plugged straight into the amp, no pedals or anything, and it blew my mind. The Orange Distortion pedal is also something I’d love to add to my pedalboard. I love the vintage/old school large enclosures. It’s a simple and efficient design too, with two knobs. We also got to test out an Orange Custom Shop 50 which was quite the treat seeing as these are as rare as hen’s teeth in Canada.

I‘d like to see Orange reissue the Orange 2×15 Reflector Cabinets just because they sound so damn good and they are extremely hard to find on the used/vintage market. Also, you should seriously consider making coiled cables because nothing looks more badass than someone on stage who is plugged right into an amp with a coiled cable dangling precariously.

What does Orange mean to you?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: Orange has been my go-to weapon of choice ever since I started gigging. As I said previously, my Orange Terror Bass 500 (BURGER ONE) is the most reliable piece of equipment I have ever owned, hands down. Also, not gonna lie, seeing those videos from the German TV Show Beat-Club where bands like Alice Cooper, MC5, and most famously Sabbath, played in front of a wall of Orange amps definitely had a hand in influencing me over the years.

What’s the most memorable The Death Wheelers moment?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: I once played through the now discontinued 1000-watt version of the Orange Terror Bass at a gig in Montreal and the cops called the venue/bar to say they we’re going to shut down the concert mid-way through our set because they had received several noise complaints. Of course we ignored this grievance and carried on with our set to completion. To this day, I firmly believe the Orange Terror Bass 1000 was the culprit. Has me wondering why this model has been discontinued!

What’s on the horizon for The Death Wheelers?

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay: This year marks the tenth anniversary of the band, which is a milestone considering most bands don’t even make it past the demo stage. 2025 is going to be a busy year for us. We will be releasing our fourth album via Riding Easy Records, who have been behind us since day one. By the way, this slab of sonic atrocities is coming out in February, so keep your earholes open.

We are also going to be doing a collab with an independent pedal maker called Instruments Laites, which is run by Gueze, the mastermind who recorded and mixed albums one and two!

We are going to be touring Canada to promote the release of our newest offering, dates should be announced shortly. We’d like to tour Europe and the U.S. of A as well in the near future. Bookers get in touch with us, if you dare…

Finally, I am currently converting the shed in my backyard into a studio. Let’s just say my neighbours are thrilled!

Any final words?

LONG LIVE THE LÖUD and stay out of jail

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Photo Credits – Jay Kearney, Jacques Boivin, Dylan Allen and Argume Argrume

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Orange Spotlight: Loose Articles

Orange Spotlight: Loose Articles

Who are Loose Articles?

We are a band based in Manchester and formed in 2019. In Loose Articles we have Natalie on bass and vocals, Erin on lead guitar and vocals, Abbi on drums and backing vocals and Anna on keys, rhythm guitar and percussion. The band name came from Erin going on a school trip to Alton Towers as she’s a teacher and she saw a sign saying ‘please secure all loose articles before entering the ride’. It immediately stuck unlike another name we were pondering over before. Being in a band is a rollercoaster so you need to strap in and make sure not to lose any loose articles on the way! As for our music we like to say we’re funky punk. You can have a good old dance with your pals but you can also start a mosh pit on the dance floor.

What inspires Loose Articles?

We take inspiration from everyday life. From misogynistic behaviours in the workplace, being talked down to for being a female musician, gender roles in jobs, the struggles of nearly making it in the music industry to our fascination with the underground pinball society. We like to take problems we face in our day to day life and turn it into sarcastic lyrics then put a funky punk beat behind it so you all can dance to it. We take pride in our fun live shows and try to make the music as fun as we can, however when you really listen to the lyrics the topics we talk about are more hard hitting.

What Orange gear is important to Loose Articles?

So I (Natalie) have a Terror Bass head and an OBC-112 cab. Right now as a touring artist at the level we are at, an important thing is getting the right, powerful sound I’m looking for but for it to also be light and easy to transport as possible and this set up is just perfect for me. I can lift my cab with one hand, which makes me look a lot stronger than I am as everyone thinks it’s going to be heavy when really it’s so light! It makes touring at this level very easy and doesn’t hold back at all on the sound as it’s a little power house! 

Erin currently uses a Crush 35RT combo amp which she’s holding back on parting with just yet as it enhances our live shows sound wise when she needs to get the feedback she wants to play the Stella Artois can (yes you heard right) with her guitar when we start the show. Anna has just bought a Micro Terror and a PPC-112 which is already sounding amazing on stage and we can’t wait to start writing the second album with this second guitar sound. 

Future Orange amps?

So the dream would be if the band made it big to upgrade to a OBC-810C cab and a AD200 head, however right now the set up I have is actually perfect for what I need and I recommend it to so many people when they talk about bass amps to me. I do know that Erin is eyeing up a Rocker 15 right now as an upgrade to her crush combo so the future of our sound is still very Orange!

What does Orange mean to you?

I’ve always seen bands I love playing orange amps but started to make note of it more when being in the market for a new amp to enhance my bass tone. I remember clocking at a Turnstile gig that the bassist has an orange amp and made a mental note of it. But it was when I borrowed the set up I have now at a gig we did in Leeds as my amp was broken that I really fell in love with the amp and how it was just what I wanted tone wise. From then I wanted to reach out to orange to get a relationship going as Erin is also a big fan of the brand and it’s honestly been such a nice relationship we have encountered.The Brand itself is so helpful towards artists. We have been sorted out for a massive show when we have been in need of bigger amps for the week, everyone has always been so helpful towards us when we message over its just all round a lovely brand to be associated with regardless of the killer sounds the amps make. 

What’s the most memorable Loose Articles moment?

I guess the most recent one has to be supporting the Foo Fighters. The fact they picked up to support and at the time they picked us we had no backing from a label and no booking agent. I think we had maybe 6 songs on Spotify and they gave us this massive opportunity to support them. It not only gave us the confidence that important people in the industry believe in us but it’s made us hungry to be on these massive stages putting on a fun show to thousands of people. As it was such a massive show we were lent amps by Orange which really enhanced our sound on a big stage which we are all so grateful for as it made us sound massive!  

What’s on the horizon for Loose Articles?

So right now we have just finished touring our debut album ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ yet we are already working on album number 2. We have also just announced our Arts Council England-funded Kick Like A Girl Extra Time! This is a touring project running throughout Jan/Feb/Mar 2025 across grassroots venues in the north of England. The project is aimed at primarily engaging young female identifying and non- binary people from backgrounds and groups who typically aren’t represented in the music industry, and we’ll illuminate the pathways into the often male-dominated music scene with community outreach locally via local community groups in each town.  This is the second Kick Like a Girl tour and from the reaction we had during and following the last one, we feel more than ever the importance as a band to be doing tours like this. We feel passionately about making changes in the music industry to address inequality. We want to create a shift away from the industry we operate in being white male dominated. Across all the job roles that exist from being in a band to being a sound tech, promoter, manager etc.. We want to encourage young female identifying and non- binary people to get involved and feel like they can succeed in this line of work. As a band our song topics touch on gender roles and overcoming the struggles of being a gender minority in a male dominated industry. So why not actually practice what we preach about in our songs and really try to make a difference. We want all of the gigs we play to be a safe space for all regardless of gender identity. Everyone is invited to get involved with the party!

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Photo Credits – Sarah Louise Bowery, Alexis Panidis and Sinead Ferguson 

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Orange Spotlight: Godless Suns

Orange Spotlight: Godless Suns

Who are Godless Suns?

Pete – Guitars

Sarah – Bass/Vox

Dan – Drums

Sarah & I (Pete) are married (23 years at the time of writing) and have been in bands together for 21 years, 15 years as ZOCALO and the last 6 as GODLESS SUNS, we put out feelers for a drummer in the area, had a few cool auditions, including our good pal David Himbury of Gevauden and a few others, but Dan’s enthusiasm/talent/top blokeish-ness won out in the end.

Turns out Dan used to watch us play in Zocalo back in the day, we had no idea.

When ZOCALO called it a day, I didn’t want to stop playing and writing and Sarah wanted to change musical styles and do some low end carnage, so whilst watching Blues Brothers 2000 we both started signing the song that’s playing as they drive up to Queen Musettes(?) battle of the bands, which happened to be the Blues Brothers cover of Season of the Witch and that was our original name.

However, every band is Witch this, Bong that or Wizard something in our genre, so we embraced our inner sci-fi/gamer nerds and imagined what worlds without a deity would be like and came up with a story and put it to music.  A bit like Marvels ‘Watcher’ from the ‘What if….’ series, we tell stories of societies from planets of GODLESS SUNS.

Godless Suns started in 2016 after ZOCALO ended and we are based in South London/Southampton

Our music has been described as Desert-Doom, a cross between DOWN, C.O.C., Clutch and the standard sprinkling of Black Sabbath.

What inspires Godless Suns?

Ah, the never ending question, sooooo many to choose from. As a whole band….. most likely CLUTCH, we all 100% love them.

We also take inspiration from books, especially The Black Library, movies and the motivation I get from watching my friends succeed

What is life without music? I don’t even want to imagine what hell-scape that would be.

What Orange gear is important to Godless Suns?

Home practice is my Super Crush 100, epic tones at controllable levels without wearing out my main gigging amp the Rockerverb 100 MKIII.  Live it’s all about he Rockerverb, not that the Super Crush can’t do it, far from it in fact, it’s a perfectly capable amp, but there’s a little gear snob in us all, so it’s punishing glass for live for me.

Sarah has a headphone amp she uses for home practice, then makes our trousers flap with the Terror Bass both live and at practice.

Both of us started using Orange 7 years ago, and it’s a habit we have no intention of stopping.

Future Orange amps?

Definitely some thought going into a Pedal Baby 100 and a Fur Coat fuzz for a travel/flight rig.

The OR30 is a tasty piece of kit, and the Dual Dark tickles the pickle somewhat, but I’m out of kidneys to sell for the moment.

We would love to see a separate attenuator for the amps that don’t come with one built in so folk can enjoy their ear busting tones at more social levels.

What does Orange mean to you?

As stated earlier, Orange is the bedrock of the Godless Suns tone, and we have no intention of changing anytime soon.  All other amps can lead to outbreaks of scurvy

The very first time we saw Orange amps being used live was at a Corrosion of Conformity gig. We got that warm and fuzzy feeling.

We always associate Orange with musicians with taste, quality British design, and that I’m most likely at the right gig.

What really made us want to go with Orange, of all the amps I tried out and already owned (previously a dyed in the wool PEAVEY guy), Orange just did it for me.  The tone, the back shattering weight, the legacy, Orange has it all.

Having gotten to know a few of the guys at the HQ and seen their involvement and support for our genre and scene here in London, I can only say that all other brands are sorely lacking by your example.

What’s the most memorable Godless Suns moment?

It’s a toss up between our 4th gig ever being invited to play the BLOODSTOCK V.I.P. Stage and returning in ’21 for a Jager stage appearance and this years Masters of the Riff where we got to play with many of our friends and bands we admire.

What’s on the horizon for Godless Suns?

Writing, writing, writing, writing.  A short south coast tour with Famyne in September. Writing, writing, writing, demos, writing, demos, record album #2 (fingers crossed)

It’s hard to see the future of a band, at the moment we’re really comfortable in our lane, playing awesome shows with awesome bands, making friends and writing tunes. It’s not stressful and it’s still fun, and for now, that’s what’s important for us. But if someone wants to take a million pound punt on us then we’re good with that to.

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For photo credit please contact us at [email protected]

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Orange Spotlight: Elephant Tree

Orange Spotlight: Elephant Tree

Who are Elephant Tree?

[Sam] We are Elephant Tree, currently consisting of Jack Townley, Peter Holland, Sam Hart and John Slattery. The band initially was just Jack and Sam when working as runners at a London post-production studio in 2014. We met Pete out at the pub one night and invited him for a jam. Amazingly, he showed up! John came along later to the same studio and initially was more tasked with taking photos and video on tours and in the studio. In 2018, he joined and came on tour around the EU. We used to be all London-based but in the last few years Jack has moved to Kent and Sam has moved up north to Yorkshire. The name came from looking for random names online and just wanting something as a placeholder to label audio files. Sam Googled “messed up books” and found some random list that mentioned The Elephant Tree. We dropped the ‘The’ and then the name just stuck. The book is pretty good actually so that’s a bonus.

What Orange gear is important to Elephant Tree?

John has a Rockerverb 50 MK2

Pete has a Terror Bass, and also an Orange Crush Pro 120 which he uses sometimes in his other band Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight.

Jack has a Rockerverb 50 MK3

Future Orange amps?

[Johnnie Two Thumbs] I like the attenuation features of the Rockerverb Mk3 which might be of use when home playing, but I am also really happy with my Mk2 50 watt. 

[Pete] I would like to get my hands on some of the Orange effects pedals to give them a go. The Acoustic Pre or the Phaser would probably be the ones I would be most interested in. Or the Bass Butler bass preamp pedal.

[Jack] It’s probably quite a boring answer but I’ve been meaning to get my hands on an Orange 412 to match the head I have – I’ve been borrowing Pete’s 412 for several years now so it’s probably long overdue. I have seen that you offer a version that is a bit lighter than the regular one which is always of interest!

What does Orange mean to you?

[Jack] When I was growing up I received a combo amp from my parents, and it was the best. It was really exciting to play loud and sounded good! I’m not sure what happened to that amp but I’ll always remember the excitement I had back then as I turned it on. We started Elephant Tree ten years ago after seeing a show at the Underworld in Camden that was full of Orange amps, they sounded (and looked) amazing! I was pretty blown away. We started playing shows and I didn’t have my own amp. I used venue amps or people lent me amps, some of which were Orange. Fast forward some years later and I was put in hospital by an unfortunately placed lamppost. After a while I returned to playing. I was then lucky enough to get an Orange amp of my own. When I switched it on I got that same excitement that I had all those years ago. Orange to me is very much freedom and sound.

What’s the most memorable Elephant Tree moment?

[Sam] There are almost too many moments to choose from, whether it’s memorable performances like opening up DesertFest in The Roundhouse or playing that one time to a lone dog in a cafe in northern France (the dog proceeded to fall asleep) just as we were starting out. Then there’s the people and hijinx you get up to on tours, seeing the world, drinking questionable concoctions, eating even more questionable ‘food’. The thing that sticks out the most though is the first practice back after Jack’s accident. All of us getting back into the room together and having that harsh reset, not knowing how things were going to go and then absolutely smashing it again as if we’d never paused. It really brings it back down to earth and made us realise why we are in the band in the first place and that’s to hang out and make loud cool music together as brothers.

What’s on the horizon for Elephant Tree?

We have a 10 year anniversary album of B-sides and rarities called “Handful of Ten” out in September celebrating the anniversary of the band through Magnetic Eye Records, as well as featuring on their Jethro Tull covers record. There’s also a split record “The Long Forever” with the excellent Lowrider which will be coming out through Post Wax. There’s a few shows we have booked at the end of 2024 with a little stint around the UK over a few weekends in September, before heading to do a double bill at The Black Heart in Camden as a little pre-Christmas treat. 2025 is slowly starting to be filled with some further afield dates but you’ll have to wait a little longer and keep your eyes and ears open for those.

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Orange Spotlight: Son Of Boar

Orange Spotlight: Son Of Boar

Who are Son Of Boar?

We are Son of Boar, a 5 piece Doom outfit from Bradford, we play heavy Boarbaric wool laden Doom, the band started late in 2017, Adam (guitar), Lyndon (guitar), Luke D (Drums) were in the makings of a band. Shortly after they started Gaz joined the band on bass and Luke O joined on vocals. We had all known each other from around the local scene, playing in bands on the same line ups around the city. The music we play would be best described as Fuzzed out Groovy Doom, it’s dirty and loud but gets your head moving.

What inspires Son Of Boar?

We all have a different favourite band, but bands that are prominent amongst all band members would be Pantera, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Misfits, Orange Goblin. Anything with a groove or sounds filthy! We don’t just listen to Metal and Doom, there is a strong punk and hip hop influence on different members of the band.

What Orange gear is important to Son Of Boar?

Across the band we have a few amps, Gaz has a Terror Bass and  Little Bass Thing! Adam has a Dual Dark 50, he does the main bulk of distortion between the 2 guitars, which the Dual Dark does in spades. If we are travelling Adam uses his Brent Hinds Terror, a whole lotta amp crammed into 15 watts of Orangey goodness. On the other side of the stage is Lyndon, He rocks a TH30 and a CR120, both bring a different sound to the table, and a growing number of cabs. We all kind of fell into Orange, a lot of bands we know use them and the are just really versatile, with our new stuff we are wanting dirty dark tones but we also want some nice ambient clean tones, Orange seem to really give us the best of both.

Future Orange amps?

Gaz – I’m happy with my Terror Bass and Little Bass Thing, I like to keep my rig light and save my back and both give enough power for what I need! Though if you want to make me a signature amp I won’t say no!
Adam – Probably a Dark Terror for my travelling rig, and a Rockerverb, I’m a big Slipknot fan and I heard Jim Root playing one and fell in love with that amp instantly. 
Lyndon – An OR30 would be my next choice to add to my arsenal followed by a Rockerverb, but really I would like them all, when I’m going through the Orange Social Media groups I see the old Orange PA systems and it would be ace to get my hands on one of them.

What does Orange mean to you?

Tough question, we associate Orange with a lot of our favourite bands, seeing them on stage, seeing the stacks and the pilot lights, waiting for bands like Monolord, Sleep or Boris to come on and blow our tiny little mind. The scene we are part of shows a huge love to Orange, we have all used other amps and they just don’t cut it for us, the sound Orange gives us can be really clear and bright or really dark and dirty. It adds to our song writing. We see it as family, as cheesy as that sounds, we can turn up to a show and take our amps out and that will strike up conversations with other bands that use Orange, discussion groups online and forums that are out there just add to the community vibe we get.

What’s the most memorable Son Of Boar moment?

There are so many stories from when we have travelled, whether it be having a cool photo taken outside of Edinburgh castle, in our Denim battle jackets, putting our mean faces on and trying to look as cool as possible, for us to look back (When we got home) and see Adam was holding a bottle of Orange Fanta which ruined the whole picture. We have and NEVER will let him forget that. Other memories make us laugh, like Mooning our Tour Mates, Deadeyes, as we passed them on the motorway, or the pagan baptism in Fellfoot Woods at ‘In A Nutshell’ Festival.

What’s on the horizon for Son Of Boar?

Currently we are not touring, we have a few shows lined up throughout the year but we have mainly been focusing on album number 2. We locked ourselves away and spent a lot of time writing and have more or less finished recording it. Once that is done we would like to get it out and tour then. We have spoken about going over to Europe for the last few years but Covid knocked us back, we are back on it now though and will hopefully be making our way out there next year!

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Interview: Pickle from Frankie and the Witch Fingers

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
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Orange Spotlight: WARPSTORMER

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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Orange Spotlight: Troy The Band

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. 

Gear Currently Used

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Interview: The Dead Daisies’ Glenn Hughes

Photo by: Pedro Hernandéz / @picfromthepit

Our followers and fans will already be familiar with you through your previous work in Deep Purple, Trapeze, California Breed (the list goes on and on…) and solo career, but they might not all know The Dead Daisies, can we get a bit of an introduction of the band?
Glenn: The Dead Daisies are a musical collective, a family if you will. I’ve been aware of the band for a long time, we had been on a similar circuit around Europe. I was contacted by their management in 2019 in regard to getting together with the guys in NYC to have a little “jam session”. We clicked right away. Of course, I had toured with Doug Aldrich (guitarist in The Dead Daisies) previously as he was a member of my touring band in 2016 – so that was already set it stone. David Lowy is a solid guitarist and Deen Castronovo is a fantastic drummer with lots of flare. It was a natural progression to write together and go into the studio to record.

You just released your single “Bustle and Flow”, what can you tell us about it?
Glenn: We were recording at La Fabrique studios in the south of France, Dec 2019. The studio is an old Chateau set in a beautiful part of the countryside. We had recorded the music and I had most of the lyrics written. The setting of the studio was very inspiring, I could not fail to be influenced whilst living and working there. Find it here.

This year has been quite a bumpy road for most people, how have you adjusted to the ‘new normal’, and how do you stay creative and inspired during tough times?
Glenn: I have tried to maintain my own daily routines and rituals as much as possible. I meditate when I wake up, I like to walk, drink lots of water and read a lot. So personally, I have been able to stay creative within my own inner sanctuary.

Of course, in an Orange interview we gotta do some gear talk! You’ve been using Orange for quite some time, what’s your history and experience with our amps?
Glenn: I was using the AD200 heads live and, in the studio, but for the last 18 months I’ve been using the Terror Bass heads. They really sound amazing. I run 2 at the same time via the Orange ‘Amp Detonator’ pedal. I don’t use any distortion pedals, I use the gain structure of the amps, this allows me to get a far more natural crunch..

You’ve been in the game for a long time, and you’ve influenced a lot of people and musicians along the way. Was there anyone in specific who’s style of playing, way of writing or performing that inspired, of keeps inspiring you as an artist?
Glenn: I think like many people of my generation, The Beatles were a big influence in my youth. Their song writing is still hard to beat all these years later. As for bass playing, my roots are very much set in the early Motown recordings, James Jameson really was the benchmark for groove playing. Of course, more local to home we had guys like Andy Fraser who was an incredibly soulful bassist, he knew when to leave a space or two. I also read a lot of books and one of my favourite authors at the moment is Eckhart Tolle. I always have 1 or 2 of his books with me when travelling.

What would your advice be to aspiring musicians who’s just getting into playing?
Glenn: My advice would be to love what you’re doing, enjoy every moment and don’t take anything for granted. You need to dedicate your time to learning your craft and being the best, you can be. Walk through the fear.

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