For those readers that have not heard of you could you tell us a bit about yourself your story?
We’re a Belfast based 4 piece in our infancy to most standards, having only been active since January ’16. Three mid twenties millennials and a disgruntled thirty year old who have musical ties in one way or another. We came together thanks to a shared desire to write music in a new context, having all been active elsewhere in different projects. We draw influence from a range of artists and genres, looking further back we would tap into Pixies, Elliot Smith, Blur, and more recent artists would include Tame Impala, The Strokes, John Fruiscante, Bombay Bicycle Club, the list goes on. The hardest job is to try and define genre limitations on ourselves but we normally settle for “Alt Rock”
Who inspired you to get on stage and perform?
It’s a mixed bag. We’ve all got our individual influences; Phil is a big Iggy Pop fan, Josh a long time advocate of The Pixies & Frank Black’s work, Jamie would cite Peter Gabriel as a continuous influence and Matt Glen Hansard. More recently it was probably a mutual appreciation of Tame Impala’s “Currents” album which gave us a spring board when we started writing together.
You released your EP “Wolf By The Ears” last summer could you tell us a bit about the recording of this EP?
The EP was recorded in April ’16 at Start Together Studios Belfast and produced, mixed and engineered by Rocky O’Reilly (Wheatus, General Fiasco, Mojo fury, ASIWYFA, Axis Of). Rocky really knows his onions, so the process of taking what was in our heads and laying it down in the studio was effortless. He really knows how to get inside a track and communicate what he hears where, so it didn’t take long to get a final product we were all really happy with.
You recently released a new single “Kicks From You” and recorded a video for the track, how did the recording go?
After the EP it was a no brainer to go back to Rocky to lay down the single. We emailed him some live demos of the track and before we even walked into the studio he was speaking our language. Once we had the first mix we had Ryan Orr spend a day with us shooting the video down in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter which he combined with footage he had shot at our June EP Launch. We we’re really happy with the resulting video and the positive reaction we got online!
What is the most interesting venue you have performed at?
Our First live performance under the “Orby Chase” moniker was in a vape café in Belfast around March time. None of us vape so it was an eye opener that such a place even existed. They did great coffee though so despite the plumes of vapour filling the room we had a lovely time.
What are your favourite songs that people might not of heard of and why?
The Doves’ “Pounding” is a song we occasionally cover in our live set; texturally it fits really well with amongst a few of ours. We’re also fond of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” which we throw in as a curveball from time to time.
We are always on the look out for new artists is there anyone you can recommend that we check out?
Belfast has always been a great city for live music. Over the past year we’ve played with some incredible bands but our favourites would have to be Hit the B Button & Monkey Bath. Tonnes of banter on stage and exceptionally lovely guys. If you like things a bit more punked up the Flims are a really solid local indie punk three piece, and we were blown away by the performance Eniskillen post hardcore outfit Lost Avenue put on at a recent gig, they blew the place to bits.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We finished off 2016 with a limited capacity gig on the Belfast Barge on Boxing day with some exceptional local bands supporting. We were so blown away with the local support we’ve seen over the past year we wanted to give something back, so we bought an absolute mountain of drink and gave it away at the door. We wanted to see the year out with a bang, what better way than with loads of free beer? The night was a blast.
Find out more:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orbychase/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/orbychaseuk
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM1yIUvXYrNNB5jV3hEZZw
Soundcloud: https://www.instagram.com/orbychaseuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orbychaseuk/
