Australian heavy rock outfit ORB releases their 4th LP, Tailem Bend
Emerging from a haitus after the covid lockdown, ORB have published their 4th album, Tailem Bend. Their previous three outings were covered head to toe with homage to Black Sabbath, but their latest record adds other, lighter colors to their sonic palette. We took some time to chat with Zak Olsen about the origins of the band, as well as the direction for this album.
How did you get your start in music?
I grew up in a homestead in NZ with my dad playing music all the time. He listened to heavy metal bands and stuff. So, he was constantly jamming all that thrash kinda stuff, played in a thrash metal band. So my first favorite band I could remember was Megadeth… And maybe as a teenager I saw a Sex Pistols video, and that kinda sparked the whole thing again and I really decided that I wanted to play music as well.
But it was always kind of a far away thing. It was never something I could actually achieve. I went to highschool with Daff [bass player David Gravelin] we’ve known each other for maybe 20 years or more now. We’d always talk about it as little kids, and then we both got guitars for Christmas and that was it… We’ve just been obsessed with this sort of, more unearthed side of ‘60s music. All the bands that recorded themselves and all that kind of thing is what we really got into. It was a big influence on us
What drew you to playing this Sabbath Style of music? How did you transition from the frowning clouds to ORB?
That was our very first band, and so when we were in high school we were obsessed with, and I still am, the Kinks. This sort of early black-and-white ‘60s is how I think about it… And then slowly surely we decided we’d exhausted every avenue we could with trying to find music in that period, and decided to open up a bit more. Getting a bit more psychedelic, a little bit heavier.
Sometimes at Frowning Clouds practice we’d play Sabbath riffs in between as fun and we sort of reminded ourselves how great all that stuff is. And I grew up with my dad listening to it all the time so it sort of ticked this nostalgia box for me. I realized how fun all that stuff is to play.
We honestly thought we’d do a cassette tape and that would be it, really. So we didn’t expect to get 4 albums out of it, that’s for sure.
How has the Australian scene evolved since you started? And why did you choose to go this heavy route around the same time everyone was chasing the Tame Impala sound?
I will admit that that second Tame Impala album was a big deal in Australia at the time. Every band, whether you liked them [Tame] or not before that, everyone heard that record and changed a little bit… When that record came out I had to stop and listen. I was super impressed. It sorta made everyone realize, ok we gotta do better. And at the same time, we didn’t want to do the same kind of thing. They already did it.
Also, being from Geelong where we’re from, it’s not a very sort of beach-y city. It’s suburban and lots of factories. So this kind of washed out psychedelic sound didn’t really seem to match where we came from or anything. It wasn’t something we could relate to in that way. We just got fuzz pedals and did the opposite.
Since your music is somewhere between rock and metal, what sort of fans do you get at your show?
At first we were getting metal heads. And we were playing with very strict sludgy doomy bands and stuff like that. And our first cassette came out on a heavy metal label. And we were probably the least metal thing on it. And we sort of lost a bit of that over the years going forward. But playing with Gizz was a good thing for us. We found an audience that appreciated what we were doing. It’s a pretty eclectic mix lately. We’ve had mixed review with the newest album. People have either really loved it or the opposite and are sort of disappointed in the lack of heaviness.
I for one love a band that will always do something a little different on each record, build on their earlier works instead of just doing the same record once more with feeling.
Thanks, that’s what we think too. All the other records are there if people wanna go back and listen. We can’t really capture what we did that time in 2015 again either. It was the feeling of the time. It just wouldn’t feel right to go back and make that again.
How did Covid lockdown affect the recording of the album?
We started recording it in lockdowns here in Melbourne. I’m not sure if you know, they were very extended lockdown here. It made the music scene way different. It was a year-and-a-half, two years where no one was playing really. We lost a bit of steam. And the album was maybe 70% done and just sitting there for a little while. We actually weren’t sure if was gonna see the light of day. And we had a listen to what was sitting there and decided, no, let’s finish this off.
It probably would have come out a bit sooner if it weren’t for the whole thing. But, at the same time, I’m glad it didn’t because there are certain things that, because it was sitting there for a while, [there were] certain approaches we took which I think was a benefit. Ultimately we’re happy with how it came out, and it came out exactly when it was supposed to.
How was it pulling in all these different influences and styles instead of working with the usual Black Sabbath sound?
It was actually sort of easier. It was less considered because, when we’re doing a Sabbath thing, we have a mission statement. We know we’re gonna make it sound like this. But with this [latest record], we sort of threw all that away and said let’s write whatever feels good.
What is the songwriting process like in the band?
In the past it’s been very jammy. All that will happen is someone will bring a riff. And we’ll get to practice and just work around that. This new one was a little bit different. Some of them were just written fully at home, just chords and an acoustic guitar and we’d bring it all in, here’s the song. So it can be a little bit of anything. In the past it’s been mainly all together as jams.
This one was a bit more traditional with some of the songs. And the lyrics usually would come after. But again on this album, some of the songs are done at the same time. Ones like Karma Comes and Skyclock, that was all just all sort of written on the piano with the voice as one piece.
Most of your influences are older bands. Who do you look to among your contemporaries?
To be honest, there isn’t much contemporary stuff I listen to, but, Thee Oh Sees were a big influence, seeing them for the first time. I’m trying to think when they came and played in our hometown, in Geelong, in 2011, maybe 2012, and they just played in a tiny pub, and there were maybe twelve of us watching, and the played on the floor. And all those twelve people were basically King Gizzard and The Frowning Clouds.
It was a big deal for all of us. It totally changed the whole town. It just made us realize, or it reminded us, that we can record it ourselves and we can do all this ourselves. We don’t need to go asking other people for permission. In that way, Thee Oh Sees has been a big influence on us. The output that he [John Dwyer] has, is a good reminder to ourselves to keep playful with music.
What’s next for ORB?
We have an Australian tour planned, and plans to go to Europe next year. But our drummer Jaime broke his hip last month. We had to cancel the tour. Would be touring right now in Australia, so it’s sort of in limbo. We’re just waiting to see what happens there. Pretty unfortunate timing. But at the same time, I’m of the belief that everything happens as it should. So, maybe we just needed to put the album out and let it marinate before we play it. I see it sort of as a slow burner of an album more than anything so it could work to our advantage.
Listen to the full interview:
You can check out the latest album on their bandcamp page. Keep an eye out for future tours in Australia, Europe, and the United States.
Check out the music video for You Do, off their latest record.
