Interview with Jay Gordon from ORGY; Hitting the road with new material this March!
With a their latest single, the first new material in 7 years, Los Angeles’ Orgy are back in the spotlight. Their track, “Grime Of The Century,” encapsulates all the finer points of EDM infused industrial rock, and will be a hit for fans who like the mechanized, crunchy sounds and pop choruses we expect from Orgy.
After a tumultuous end with his previous band members, founder Jay Gordon has assembled a stellar crew of modern musicians to continue Orgy’s push, and signed the group to his own D1 Music. Orgy promises to continue forging a path into the mainstream with their version of industrial futuristic rock, and I spoke with him prior to their headlining run to talk about the new single, Orgy’s legacy, D1 Music, and when we can expect the new album.
Interview:
G- Hi there and thank you very much for taking the time to speak with Live High Five! Orgy is coming back into the spotlight and you’ve got some new musicians with you… To start it off, can you tell us who’s playing with you now and what are they doing?
J- Yea for sure. What’s up, man? It’s been a crazy little ride here, but I put a new band together and, you know, it was kinda time to do something a little bit different than what I’d been doing before. I think now it’s starting to come to fruition, you know? “Grime Of The Century” is cool… It’s a good track and all, and it’s being received pretty well, but I think that the new stuff is just… Man, it’s pretty cool! I think this new record is really going to set things straight, you know?
It’s definitely a departure from anything we’ve done in the past but, in my eyes, it’s kind of what I envisioned for Orgy in the beginning. It’s just all coming together properly. No one is better than anybody or whatever you want to call it. No shots at the old dudes… Everything’s good, but yea the music is definitely coming together way better than it did in the past and I’m really happy with it. It’s a lot more high energy and it’s really what Orgy should’ve been before, you know?
So, yea!
G- Awesome, man! So, you brought it up already, but when should we expect that new full-length, and do you have a date or any tentative titles we should know about?
J- It’s actually not a full-length, it’s an EP.
G- Ok.
J- Followed by another EP. That’s the way it’s going to work out. The reason why that is is because it’s a new record each time you doing an EP, you know? Most of the time, you don’t but a record anyway… You’re buying songs and then the rest is kinda like filler stuff or whatever. And rather than do that, we wanted to laced it up where there’s 5 really exciting songs on each EP, and I think it’s a better way to buy a record. People will really gravitate towards this new music, so it’s going to work out really good.
G- That’s excellent! Now, are you doing it as a 1-2 punch concept, or are they going to be separate releases on their own in different time spans?
J- Yea they’ll be different releases in different time spans. We have plenty of material, but rather than do an albums worth, like I said with a couple really good songs and a couple of “whatever” tracks, we’re picking through, like, 20 tracks and picking 5 sick ones and putting that on there.
There’s 6 really good songs on the first one, and 6 really good songs on the second one, and there’s not really… I’ve thought about a lot of different ways to do this thing where I can kinda tie on into the other, you know, and play around with some of those ideas, but I think that either way, no matter what happens, they’re going to really compliment each other well. And I think that the fans will appreciate the 2 separate releases that are coming out.
G- For sure… I dig it! I’ve already gotten a taste of “Grime Of The Century” and you’re dropping that on D1 Music, which is your own record label… Where and when did you record the track, who did you have producing, and how do you feel about it?
J- Well, a guy named Devin Covener and Aaron Shear, 2 producer/DJ’s that I work with… One goes by COVENER and one goes by FUTR3, actually (giggles).
G- OK.
J- And actually, Aaron is my roommate, so how it worked out is Devin came with this idea. He really loved Orgy, and he really wanted to get together and work on some music, and Aaron came up with this idea, and they approached me and I was like ‘Ahh Cool… Let’s do it!’
So, the rest of the band liked it, we got together and finished that up, and out came the track. But, you know, it’s cool. It’s something I’m stoked on, but I kinda pictured that track coming out a bit different, you know? I think we’ve gotten used to working with each other, and we’ll be doing some more writing with FUTR3 and stuff like that, so I think it’s starting to come together a lot better now. But, you know, we just wanted to put something out in the interim, you know?
I like the track and all, but I think the new stuff blows it away. So, that’s basically how I am feeling about it.
G- Alright… Strive to be #1, man! That’s awesome.
Now, I saw Orgy back in 1999, and it was in front of about 40,000 people and it was wild!
J- Right on.
G- What should your fans, both old and new, expect of the performances when you guys hit the road this time around on your headlining run, and what should some of the first time listeners expect to see when you take the stage?
J- They’re definitely gonna get a taste of what they’re used to as far as what songs we’re doing and stuff. Right now, we’re kind of figuring out how much production we are going to take out with us, which is going to vary based on, you know, how well things are perceived, I guess. Obviously, the better you’re doing, the more production you’re going to take out with you and stuff. What we’d like to try to do is to get the fans comfortable with the new band, so I’m focusing more on the band than how many flashy stage props we’re gonna have. We’ll probably take minimal production out with us because the focus is going to be on really sounding good, you know? I think that that is what is most important… Delivering the goods, you know what I’m saying?
And I think that they’re going to love it because they’re going to hear a lot of new stuff. We’re going to be playing a lot of the new material on the road, so that’s really important. And they’ll get to hear a lot of it before we put out a new record, which is kind of cool, you know?
G- Yeah for sure! Now, of the older stuff or of the newer stuff… Perhaps we should focus on the newer stuff because you’re really excited about it, but do you have a favorite song you have ever written as a member/founder of Orgy or if you were to pick one track from your catalogue to give to someone who’d never heard your band before, what track would you offer them and why?
J- Probably one of the new ones. God I don’t even have a title for you yet because we haven’t named a lot of them, you know! There’re hooks and choruses on them, but the titles are likely to change, up until right when it’s released, you know?
I’d probably say one of the newer ones because it really culminates with the band from the past and what we’re doing now. I think that people will be happy to hear that we didn’t forget, I definitely didn’t forget, where we started, and it’s really hard to accept certain things, you know?
I think some of the shock has worn off now, the initial shock of having new members in the band, and that’s all kind of changed and I think people have gotten comfortable with that, and I think when people hear this new stuff, they’re going to be like ‘Whoa… NOW I get it,’ you know what I’m saying?
G- Definitely. Right on! Well, you’re going out on the road and you have Vampires Everywhere and Davey Suicide as support, and you’ve already headlined and shared stages with an elite group of artists thus far into your career, but you probably have some pretty eclectic tastes, so I want to ask… If you could curate a 3-band dream bill for Orgy to be a part of, who would you want to go on the road with in the future and why?
J- Oh wow! David Bowie, just because he’s such an innovator and I really love that about him. Who else? Maybe Pendulum because they’re huge, talented guys as well, and something like that… Orgy, Pendulum, Bowie would be awesome! That’d be a great tour!
I’m really into Knife Party, too. I’m a big fan of his and really want to get him to produce my new tracks. Hopefully I can get a message to him to make it happen (laughs).
G- That’d be a good idea! And make that tour happen, too, because that’s a hell of a lineup!
J- Yeah right!
G- Bowie would be a tough one at this point because I don’t think he’s touring anymore, but if you can make it happen, I’ll go to the show I promise!
J- Right on right on!
G- So, just one last question for you today… As a member of Orgy, as a record label owner, and as someone who has been in the music game for a long time now, what advice can you give some of the young, up and coming bands and producers everywhere who want to make it in music, on the road, and as a professional musician?
J- You know, try to get some press going somehow, and maybe get with some people who are really in the mix and try to link up with people like that. Try to remix a few things and be willing to establish yourself and get noticed out there with songs that are obviously doing well and people are receiving well.
Just keep trying, you know? You can never do too much. When you’re think you’re getting close to where it sounds perfect, try making it 10x better, and I think that helps perpetuate your growth as an individual.
ORGY on the WIDE AWAKE AND DEAD TOUR
W/ VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE, DAVEY SUICIDE
3/2 – Phoenix, AZ @ Joe’s Grotto
3/4 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
3/6 – Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
3/7 – San Antonio, TX @ Backstage Live SA
3/8 – Broussard, LA @ The Stations Bar and Grill
3/10 – St. Petersburg, FL @ The State Theater
3/12 – Jacksonville, FL @ The Roc Bar
3/13 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
3/15 – Jacksonville, NC @ Hooligans
3/16 – Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
3/17 – Springfield, VA @ Empire
3/19 – Lakewood, OH @ The Foundry
3/20 – New York, NY @ Marlin Room @ Webster Hall
3/21 – White Marsh, MD @ House of Rock
3/22 – Amityville, NY @ Revolution
3/23 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Wally’s Pub
3/24 – Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
3/26 – West Chester, PA @ The Note
3/27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
3/28 – Toledo, OH @ Headliner’s
3/29 – Columbus, OH @ Al Rosa Villa
3/30 – Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
3/31 – Louisville, KY @ Diamond Pub & Billiards
4/2 – Lincolnshire, IL @ Viper Alley
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