Oranjuly is releasing their self-titled album on July 2nd at the Middle East downstairs. Brian King is the front-man for Oranjuly. As you can see above, they won the recent Band of the Month poll. Deli readers, pull up a seat and get comfortable, I have something to tell you: This is the best album I’ve received since working as a music journalist. I like difference, I like melody. I like good fucking music. Below Brian King answers some questions. He is a brilliant musician. It is an incredible album. I don’t need to get into specifics. Listen to it! Go to the show!
Deli: Your music transcends almost the past fifty years of surf and pop-psych rock from the Beach Boys and mid-life Beatles to Queen to the early styling of Weezer and Brian Eno in general. But your sound is unique and all the songs have their own personality. How did you develop the “sound” for the album? Where did your influence come from for Oranjuly?
Brian King: Thanks so much! The big influence for me on this record was melody as obvious as that sounds. haha. Besides the little nods to my favorite artists, I just love pretty chords and melodies and putting them together in a somewhat unpredictable way. The songs have a lot of unexpected twists and turns and that’s something I always keep in mind when writing but melody always comes first and is most important. I also think the album has a cohesive sound even though some of the songs were written years ago ("Hiroshige’s Japan" was probably the 3rd song I ever wrote in 2005/6 or so) because I used a lot of the same sounds and elements that carry over throughout the album – but I’ll let listeners figure that out! I left off three songs or so that didn’t really have the "feel" of the rest of the songs. One of them was really synthy and dancey . It’s like Queen meets Muse or something…
Deli: One of my favorite tracks on Oranjuly is Hiroshige’s Japan. How’d you get your hands on a harpsichord? It is perfect for the song. I love it.
BK: Ha. My poor Bach imitation. The harpsichord on "Hiroshige’s Japan" was recorded when I was in college. The school made me meet with the music department chair (Karl Berger, who actually was an arranger on a Cardigans album!) and he let me use it for only an hour or so. Pretty lame, so after my lil’ hour, I did some James Bond shit and put some tape over the door lock so it couldn’t automatically lock after I left, so I came back much later that night and recorded all the parts.
Deli: Where did you get your band name?
BK: It’s just my birth-month and my favorite color at the time combined into one incredible word.
Deli: How many different instruments do you play/use on the album? Why did you use such a wide selection?
BK: I played everything that wasn’t drums for the most part – I can play a lot of instruments but I’m far from perfect on any. I just do what’s right for the songs. I wrote all the drum parts and I can keep a beat but our drummer Lou and our friend Andrew Jones nailed that stuff. I think in terms of what feels right for the song more than logically what I can get my hands on. If I want an accordion, I’ll ask around. I was a film major in college so that’s probably a subconscious thing. I just like different sounds I guess. You can only do so much with guitars.
Oranjuly is releasing their self-titled album on July 2nd at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge with The Everyday Visuals, The Luxury and Spirit Kid, honestly guys, if you are going to see one show this year…SEE THIS ONE! Trust me. Listen to the album HERE. Also anyone wearing orange at the show gets a free album download.
Middle East Downstairs 472 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge — Buy tickets HERE
–Meghan Chiampa