Hey Everyone,
This is one of the surprises I had for you tonight.
Here is our exclusive interview with the frontman and lead guitarist of Orbit Monkey's Jörg Kohring!
NOTE! If you are interested to reproduce this interview you have to send us an Email first for Written Authorization. Thank you.
According to MI, Jorg is known to the music world for touring and performing with multi platinum selling artists like Lifehouse, his previous band Blend, but also his specialty in rock, pop, blues and guitar technique.
Orbit Monkey is an indie band and the brainchild of Jörg. As you can read on their Official Website "After years of hounding by his friends, he finally succumbed to their peer pressure and put a few of his songs on Myspace."
They made a Twilight inspired EP and I can assure you that you will love their tunes. I do hope they will make it into the Breaking Dawn Soundtrack! Recently one of their songs "Let There Be Love" was featured in the TV Show "The Young And The Restless."
But lets go to the interview where you can find out more about Jorg and Orbit Monkey!
Q: What was the initiative
to start your band? Who named it Orbit Monkey? (and why if you want
to share it with us
Jorg: Well, we were taking a
little bit of a break with Blend, which was my main band for a long
time. As usual I kept writing songs and I also got better at
recording and producing these tunes. All of a sudden I had a bunch
of songs recorded and I decided to put them up on myspace. The
feedback I got from friends and fans all over the world was really
good, so I decided to front my own band. The problem of finding a
band name was solved, when I brainstormed with a good friend of mine
(drummer of 98lb weakling) and he suggested Orbit Monkey. It has
this bittersweet taste to it, especially when you consider the
meaning behind Orbit Monkey. I am referring to those poor little
guys they shoot into the Orbit in little space capsules, to make
sure everything works perfectly, before they send people up there.
Some of these Monkeys died and are still circling the earth. A
testament of what we are capable of doing both good and bad. Amazing
and frightening.
Q: What was the reason for
doing a Twilight themes EP ?
Jorg : It all started when we
were in Germany in the summer of 2009. We met up with an old friend
of mine, who is now a very successful producer and songwriter in
Germany. We wanted to record and write a couple of songs, but we
weren’t sure where to take it lyrically. So we asked Jessica, who
was sitting on the couch in the studio reading a book. Needless to
say, it was one of the Twilight books that she became recently
obsessed with. So we wrote a song called “I believed in you” and
it fell all into place when Rachel came into the studio to sing it. I
had worked on a few songs with her in Los Angeles, but I didn’t
know she was a big Twilight fan as well. Her performance was awesome
and the song tuned out absolutely killer!
Back
in LA I started working with yet another artist who was a huge
Twilight fan, called Laura Serafine. We decided to do a whole EP and
submit the songs for consideration for New Moon. The EP is called
“Songs From The Dark Side” and it was released on iTunes just
before New Moon came out.
Once
again, while writing for this project, there were a few song ideas
that were more fitting for a male vocal, and since I had completely
absorbed all the Twilight books by then myself, I started working on
“One Last Twilight” for Orbit Monkey
Q: Was it the success of
the series that made you notice the romance or were it the books?
Jorg: Definitely
the books! Although I was absolutely impressed by the great job of
the casting director. All the characters looked and were pretty much
exactly as I had envisioned them while reading the books. Very fun
and satisfying.
Q: Were you influenced by
old records & tapes? Which ones? Or was it something else?
Jorg: With
these two albums I was much inspired by some of the bands who
actually became popular around the same time as Twilight came out
(and had cuts on the soundtrack). I really got into the sound of
Paramore and Kings Of Leon. Later on I also saw Death Cab For Cutie
playing at the opening event of New Moon in Hollywood and I really
liked their performance as well. Oh yes, and needless to say, I am a
big Muse fan !
Q: What song of yours are
you most proud of? Why?
Jorg: Hmmm,
writing songs is a constant challenge, cause you always want to find
that special thing, the melody that is just perfect, the lyric that
touches you etc., preferably, without repeating yourself too much…
So sometimes the songs I like most, are the ones where I feel I
successfully covered some new ground. For that reason I really like
Laura’s “Happy Ending” as well as “Used”. I like the
intro/vers chords in “Used” and how the words flow in the verses.
It fits perfectly to Jacobs situation, but it can also be applied to
many other situations so people can relate to this in their own way.
And I do like my vocal performance too, which doesn’t happen too
often ;)
There
are some new songs I like a lot, but it would be too early to talk
about it…!
Q: What are your fondest
musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town?
Jorg: I
may sound like a broken record, but playing lead-guitar for Lifehouse
in 2001/2002 was just absolutely incredible. We played shows every
night all over the country as well as some TV shows in Europe. The
highlights were Madison Square Garden in New York and The Staples
Center in Los Angeles. And not to forget, the Olympic winter games in
Salt Lake City.
Q: What can you tell me
about your instruments? (i.e Are you subject to brand loyalty or
will you play with whatever's available?
Jorg: I
definitely like certain Guitars and Amps. Actually, I am pretty
conservative when it comes to that: Les Pauls and Strats with a Vox
AC 30 or Marshall amp. I use D’addario strings and I love my Martin
acoustic guitar. In the studio I use MXL mics going through ART
compressors and my RME interface. My DAW is Sonar.
Q: What made you choose the
instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a
style/model/brand/color preference?
Jorg: Definitely
the sound, but they are also kinda standard (in an old-school way !)
for a working musician, since I did and sometimes still do sessions
for other artists.
Q: What are your plans for
your future music?
Jorg: Being
the best composer and performer I can possibly be. And of course,
getting a song placed in “Breaking Dawn”
Q: One of your songs was it
in a tv series. What was your first thought when you found it out?
Jorg: I
was definitely very excited. It’s a great satisfaction to find out
that someone likes your songs so much that they place it their TV
show. Now hopefully we can get more of those. I can’t wait to get
some placements in the shows I watch on a regular basis myself.
Q: Are you going to tour in
the future? (We do hope to see you in Europe ! )
Jorg: Haha,
yes, I hope to see you all in Europe too! There are no concrete plans at the moment, but as soon as we get some
real traction with our songs we will go on tour, and that includes
Europe.
Q: How do you see / imagine
your band to be in ten years?
Jorg: Ideally
we would go on bigger tours every year you know, opening up for bands
like Kings Of Leon or Muse, until we can headline ourselves. Since
the old music business marketing models don’t really apply anymore,
we focus very much on getting to a bigger audience through film and
TV. Cause a placement in a big movie or even ad can make all the
difference.
At
the end of the day it’s all about the fans though. That said, I
would like to thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you
about Orbit Monkey.
Thank
you for your time!
You can find more info about Orbit Monkey on their Official Website HERE
Official MySpace Page HERE
Official Twitter HERE
Official Facebook HERE
Below you can watch as a video for the FIRST time Orbit Monkey's Are We Alive!
Jorg was kind enough to let me make a video for him. Watch it and tell us your thoughts.
Can you place it in Breaking Dawn? I do...
NOTE! If you are interested to reproduce this interview you have to send us an Email first for Written Authorization. Thank you.
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