With the Los-Angeles quartet quickly gathering momentum, punk rockers Orange make a return to the UK. We caught up with British-born vocalist/bassist Joe Dexter (JD) ahead of their show at Nottingham Rock City.
R13: You are six dates through your headline tour of the UK; how has it been so far?
JD: Yeah, it’s been great. Most shows have had a good turnout and have been pretty packed. We’ve just been partying hard and living the dream!
R13: Tonight, however, is the first of four shows with [Spunge]. Are you looking forward to sharing the stage with them?
JD: Totally! We’re playing a lot of the same venues that we played with Zebrahead a few months ago, so it’s really cool to come back to the same venues and play in front of big crowds and try to sell merchandise!
R13: How did the March tour with Zebrahead and MC Lars go for you?
JD: Amazing! It was the best time of all of our lives, for sure. It was incredible; every night was mental. Those guys really know how to party!
R13: Hopefully you can convince Less Than Jake and Zebrahead to take you on tour later this year?
JD: Hope so! I’ve been working on it. I’ve been talking to both of the bands about doing it, saying that we’ve got a bit of a buzz and hopefully that might be enough to get it. Fingers crossed!
R13: Obviously you were born in Britain, so is it a special place for you to return to?
JD: Yeah, it is very good to be back. I come back, like, once a year for summer or for Christmas. It’s really nice to be back!
R13: Orange have recently released the single ‘Revolution’, which is being used as the theme for Cartoon Network’s ‘Generator Rex’. How did this come about?
JD: It was totally random! We didn’t even mean to release it as a single or anything! What happened was; I think it was our label, they sent all their bands’ records out to all these music supervisors and they got into the hands of this one guy called John Fang, who is a producer for ‘Generator Rex’. I don’t know how he heard the song, because ‘Revolution’ isn’t actually on any records! It’s just a song we recorded and decided that it didn’t fit the record. So we figured we’d use it as a B-side if we ever do a ‘Best Of...’ one day, or something like that. But he called us up and said, "this is the song I want to use," and we weren’t gonna say "no", because it’s a great opportunity for the band. It came about really quickly; in the space of about two to three weeks, filming the music video for it and the show was pretty much finished. They bought a few other songs from ‘Phoenix’ and before you know it, the video was done and it was out there and got released. It unintentionally became the single because it had the snowball-effect and the last time I checked online, the video for it has had over a million views now, so it’s definitely given us great exposure, which we’re very thankful for.
R13: You mentioned your album ‘Phoenix’, which came out last year; has it been well-received?
JD: Totally! It’s been our biggest-selling album so far and the best received record. I think it’s the best music we’ve ever made so far, so I’m really happy that it’s received the attention that it has. We’re going to keep coming back to the UK to do a few more tours this year and keep pushing the band to see where it takes us.
R13: You have also recently recorded the theme for ‘Arthur’; a remake of the 1980s Dudley Moore comedy?
JD: Yeah, I obviously signed a publishing deal and they got us the gig within a day of signing with them. They were like; "we’re taking submissions... I know you’re English..." because they wanted someone English to sing the song, so I was, like; "OK, I’ll have a crack at recording my own version of it and singing it". So we recorded it and it’s going to be out next year, starring Russell Brand, so that might be a good opportunity for the band to get a little more ‘out there’.
R13: Over the years, Orange have gone through a few personnel changes. Have you finally settled as a band?
JD: Yeah, we’ve found a line-up, that for me, is gonna stick and be around for as long as we possibly can be. These are definitely the guys that I want to make music with for the rest of my life, that’s for sure. They’re great guys; they’re all smart, they’re all good writers and they’re all really hard workers. I’m really thankful to have them in Orange.
R13: The last date of this UK tour at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston Upon Thames is going to be a solo show for you, isn’t it?
JD: It is. It’s gonna be kind of weird; I’ve never done anything like that before. We’ll see how that goes! Big Cheese [magazine] are doing the night, inviting the frontmen from the bands they like to come and do an acoustic set. They asked me and at first I said "no", because I was really nervous and I wasn’t sure if our songs were going to translate acoustically. But I thought about it and I figured it would be a good opportunity to see what else is out there and just explore every avenue that I can. Hopefully it will be a good opportunity to have a bit of fun and try something new that I’ve not tried before. But I’ll probably still be playing all Orange stuff.
R13: Do you do much collaborative songwriting outside of Orange?
JD: So far, we actually haven’t. It is something I’ve always wanted to do, but never gotten around to it. Me and a couple of other bands have talked about collaborating; me and Matty [Lewis] from Zebrahead were going to work on a few songs and then I was talking to Tim [Pagnotta] from Sugarcult, because we recorded our last record at his house. Me and Tim Armstrong [Rancid frontman and owner of Hellcat Records] were going to work on a couple of songs, so hopefully it might all come together at the same time; it would be cool and give me another project to do. We’ll see how all that goes!
R13: Is there anyone you would really love to write with in the future?
JD: Kind of like a dream of mine, probably just because they got me into punk rock and pop punk when I was a kid was the band Sum 41. They were the first rock band that I ever really liked, so to write a song with Deryck [Whibley] would be really cool.
R13: Finally, what’s in store for the future of Orange?
JD: We’re hoping to come back once or twice more during the year. We’re talking with the band Young Guns; we might be coming back with them in October, or Less Than Jake, or we might do another headlining tour if things go well... and we’ll be back with a vengeance!
R13: Thanks very much, Joe!
JD: Thank you!
Orange’s UK summer tour continues until 31st July 2010. For all the latest news and updates, head on over to www.myspace.com/orange