Tired of getting no-where, Californian soft rockers Orson were a band on the verge of splitting up last year. But thanks to an industry insider hearing a track on the internet, the band were invited to play the new music seminar ‘In the City’ in Manchester and were promptly snapped up by Mercury Records. With a strong internet following the bands debut single ‘No Tomorrow’ climbed to number one and the band are now going from strength to strength. Fused tilts its hat to one side and has a chat with them.
How did the band form?
It was Jason and I back in late 1999. We tried to put a band together and through trial and error we got to what we have now.
Who are your musical influences?
We have quite a lot. From our drummer to our singer it’s a wide palette of influences, ranging from Neil Diamond to Bloc Party. But for me, I’d have to say The Jackson Five. I would’ve liked to have been Tito….no, no, no, Jermaine.
How did you get to support Duran Duran?
John Taylor heard about us in LA and found out that we were going to be in England. We put in a request, somehow we found out that he heard about us and we got the gig.
Did the band give you any advice or tips?
Not to upstage Duran Duran. “Whatever you do, don’t take our fans”, that was what Simon Le Bon told us.
Your debut single ‘No Tomorrow’ was one of iTunes most downloaded singles and you have a myspace profile as well as a website. How important do you think the internet has been to your success?
It has been important. Just as important as how The Beatles got broken into the US via the television. The internet is the way to the future I think and is just as important as the television. So I think it’s around to stay.
How have things changed for the band since you had your number one?
Literally nothing has changed since we arrived here in January; it’s just been touring and interviews, video and photo shoots, meetings with the record label. It’s a lot of back and forth.
How did you celebrate the number one?
When we went to number one we were in the studio recording b-sides and we got a text message saying we went to number one. That was really cool to know that things were moving along for us in a good direction. We celebrated by taking a break in the studio. One of our friends came over with champagne so we took a break in our little lounge area of the studio and collected our thoughts and then went back to the recording.
How did you find your first British tour in February?
We were terribly excited to go all around the UK and Ireland to get a good taste of the culture, the bands and the locals. Playing in Birmingham was a lot of fun. You guys have that nice big mall over there, the Bullring. Yeah, that was beautiful.
What do you have coming up?
We’ve just got a call from our tour manager that we have got the approval to do a string of European dates along with our UK tour and we have festivals coming up this summer like the V Festival, Oxygen and T in the Park. A lot of gigs.
Words: Amanpreet Kahlon