This week, Wunderground caught up with Dublin-based DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist and live performer, Orlando Fitzgerald, better known as Orquesta for an exclusive interview. Orlando will soon be heading off to New York to enroll in the Red Bull Music Academy but not before filling us in on what he’s been up to and what’s in store for this talented electronic musician.
Wunderground: Hey Orlando, so with your last EP you focused on an electronic interpretation of Latin American rhythms, can we expect you to go in a different direction for your next release?
Orquesta: Hey! It’s made up of 3 songs like a mini EP really. The first song is incredibly loud…the middle song has a short ambient piece that’s quite tropical…and the last song, someone said it sounded like my most Irish song. I still am encompassing Latin-American music but I don’t want it to be the only thing I do.
Wunderground: Tell us a bit about your policy for playing live?
Orquesta: Basically I only play live once a year or less even, because every time I play live I want it to be a totally new experience musically…and to be an immersive experience. I’ve only done one so far because it took me about 6 months to arrange all the music and get the band together, practices, the space…we only did one gig but if there was a market to do a tour of it then I would totally do that as well but I only wanna play certain places.
Wunderground: Is this more a creative approach than a personal decision?
Orquesta: I find that people get bored of the same set in the same city over and over y’know. I wanted to do something so opposite to that and I’m really into bands that have a lot of dramatics in their live shows. Like, have you heard of The Residents or y’know Talking Heads did that ‘Stop Making Sense’ show, that kinda stuff y’know.
Wunderground: Why did you release Cycle One EP as a live EP?
Orquesta: The reason it’s recorded like that is because I wanna document all of them.
Orquesta (live) // Cycle One: An Exoplanetary Forest from Sean Zissou on Vimeo.
Wunderground: So, for the people that do see your live shows they really walk away with something unique that they’ll never see again!?
Orquesta: Yes! That’s it, no one will ever ever see that again! And people would say “Oh would you not just go play at Electric Picnic”, I don’t mean to be arseholey about it, I would love to play Electric Picnic and with my friends but, I’m gonna stick to this. The next one’s gonna be totally different as well!
Wunderground: Can you tell us a bit about what you’re gonna be doing in New York with the Red Bull School Academy?
Orquesta: It’s in a different city every year, this year it’s in New York. It’s starts as a competition every year…I think there’s a ridiculous amount of people entered and somehow I got it along with 60 other people. They fly you out, put you up in a place and basically then everyday you wake up and get a lecture from a musical luminary.
In the past they’ve had anyone who’s anyone in anything. Famous disco producers, people who’ve invented music scenes…really famous session musicians…like the greatest people in the world pretty much.
I think they already had like Tom Moulton, who produced the first three Grace Jones records, and invented the remix and invented the 12”.
Bernie Worrell, who was one of the guys who set up Parliament Funkadelic and also played the keyboards on loads of Talking Heads albums…so it’s gonna be that kinda stuff when I get over there, pretty much the best thing ever.
Wunderground: Wow! That sounds pretty incredible! Have you thought about what sort of sounds or different rhythms that you wanna experiment with further?
Orquesta: I’m always thinking ahead…emm that’s a question that I would enjoy answering…how much can I tell you. The new EP I’m working on is a lot more dancey although it’s still quite tropical. I’m pretty much still sticking with similar things, everything’s more complex and also weirder time signatures so when you think something’s gonna happen, something else will happen, y’know.
Wunderground: We can’t wait! Finally with so much music taking place in Dublin over the weekend can you give our readers one DO and one DON’T to remember this weekend!
Orquesta:
DON’T: Have a plan of what music acts you want to catch, just keep an open mind and go with the flow. Don’t limit yourself.
DO: Go to the Village this Sunday!!
Orquesta plays support to Daedelus May 3rd [tonight] The Sugar Club
Also catch him at The Village Sunday May 5th following Three Trapped Tigers and before DarkStar – as part of The Camden Crawl Music Festival Dublin.
