ORCHA

09. Dec, 2020

One of the first things that stands out in listening to ORCHA is the Melbourne violinist and beat-producer’s penchant for experimentation. ORCHA headlines each song with intricate layers of synthetic sounds and seamlessly meshes them with classical instrumentation.

His artistic journey has led him to the release of his debut album Reflections on 20 November. Subverting expectations quickly becomes the norm on the album as his neoclassical sound runs freely throughout. Lead singles ‘Atlas’ and ‘Euphoria’ aptly capture the energy and striking individuality of ORCHA’s sound.

He talked to me about the creation of ‘Reflections’ and how he expresses himself through his music.

How would you personally describe your sound and the feeling you want fans to experience when hearing it for the first time?

I’d probably describe my sound as violin-based indietronica mixed with modern psych-rock/synth pop … it’s kind of like an immersive palette of dreamy tones and colours that’s quite lush and spacey. I’d love people to get a sense of the vast expanse of time and the universe, with some feelings of pessimistic optimism thrown in there for good measure.

What does your songwriting process involve? I feel this is always interesting to hear about from artists that work through DAW because it allows for a lot of variation in songwriting.

I never really sit down and write a song before I start recording, I think the nature of warping my violin through Ableton live really dictates how the song ends up forming. I usually base my songs around whatever interesting tones and textures I can create on my violin first up, then work on finding a form with melody and lyrics. For this album I always started with a drum beat or groove which really helped dictate a lot of my violin parts, locking into a rhythm really helped decide where to take each song.

Who are your favourite Melbourne or wider Australian artists at the moment? Are there any artists in particular you look up to or would love to collaborate with?

Ahh there’s so many! I love Two People’s music, so dreamy and dark. I know them from school so I’ve seen them progress so much over the years. I really love Aphir’s music, she helped me master my album. I’d love to collaborate with her one day! I also love Close Counters and Finn from the band helped me record a bunch of the synth basslines for my album. I’ve worked with so many artists that I really love already, either by playing strings on their projects or them helping me on my album, but I haven’t done too many collabs yet — looking forward to that in the future.

How do you think Reflections and your current music style progresses from your previous work?

When I released my first EP BODYBOUND, I was really just finding my sound, testing out a few little tracks and styles that I loved and wanted to explore. This new album is really a refinement of that sound, as well as a continuation of my exploration of violin sounds. The album is a bit of a mash of genres, but I think there is also a discernible style within the overall sound.

With ‘Euphoria’ and ‘Atlas’ most recently, I know you want your songs to be interpreted by each listener of their own accord, do you have your own personal interpretation of these songs and their themes?

I always try and write about a general feeling or mood that I have over a long time rather than a specific experience, so with ‘Atlas’, I was trying to sum up a mood I had where I felt the weight of the world always on my shoulders, finding it hard to keep up with life and I wrote the lyrics to ‘Atlas’ as a little reminder to hang in there and stay strong. With the lyrics, melodies and tones of ‘Euphoria’, I wanted to try and explore the idea of searching for transient moments of elation in between periods of ordinary everyday life. I imagined that the “searching” was like climbing up a staircase towards a temple, and wrote the rising and falling string parts to compliment that idea.

What role would you say lyrics play in your music? To me as a listener, on a song like ‘Crescent’ with Liahona, her voice on that appears to be used as an instrument layered on top of your production as opposed to a traditional lyricist. Is there any point where you feel lyrics are necessary to get a message or feeling across that the music itself cannot?

I always want the voice in my songs to be like an instrument weaving in and out of the song, providing more tone than actual meaning … but I have found with my new album that I really tried to express what I wanted to say much more in my lyrics than my previous songs, because I did want to try get the message across more clearly.

In terms of creating your songs through the likes of Ableton, what are some of the difficulties and freedoms that come with transferring these songs to a live context?

I have found it quite hard to translate the songs to a live setting, just because there are so many non-conventional sounds and layers of strings … I’ve been working with a synth wizard/producer named Moses Carr to help translate my sounds to a live setting. He has been converting some of my string parts into Ableton sampler keyboards which he then plays live with me, and I’ve been loading up an SPD SX for my drummer to use for live beats. I usually create all my synth-violin synths with a giant multi-fx pedal made by Line 6 called a Helix LT which allows me to make my violin sound like whatever I want!

The album title and cover for Reflections are both instant stand-outs, how did they come together?

I worked closely with designer and artist Sam Ingles to come up with the album cover. I explained to him that I wanted an image that represented me as a consciousness floating in the universe, connecting with reality through my experiences and ideas. I chose the name reflections because I was thinking about how our perception of life acts as a distorted lens or mirror through which we view reality. Our perceptions influence how we process, interpret, understand and act on reality. In doing so, our tendency is to assume that how we perceive reality is an accurate representation of what reality truly is.

Having played violin for over 20 years, at what point did you start branching out into a modernist twist on that sound that can be heard in your music today?

I started improvising in high school, busking on the street for a few years playing swing jazz and folk music. It was really only at university that I started experimenting with FX pedals and the context of the violin in a full band setting. To keep up with bass, drums and synths I had to find a way to amplify my violin and fill the role of a lead guitarist or keyboard player.

To what extent would you say the lead singles are representative of Reflections as a whole? What can listeners expect from the rest of the album?

The singles are a pretty good representation of the overall album, although there’s quite an eclectic bunch of songs on there. I move from more chilled songs, with slower beats to more frenetic, immersive sounds. Plenty of strings, every song features my vocals and there’s lots of dreamy synth-like sounds too.

What has been your best experience with live music, on stage yourself and as a concertgoer?

I’ve played some pretty amazing gigs over the last few years, collaborating with visual artists, projection artists, lighting designers, scent artists, dancers and circus performers. My last gig before COVID-19 hit was on the banks of the Yarra River with some crazy lasers being projected through the gum trees, it was really beautiful!

My favourite live show I’ve been to would have to be the Flaming Lips at festival hall, they had so many amazing visuals and theatrics, and their set was euphoric!

Ultimately, where do you want to take your music in the future and what role do you see Reflections playing in getting you there?

I’d love to be playing at more festivals and be able to fund some travel with gigs. I hope the album reaches a wider audience and I start to get invited to perform as soon as things open up again.

Take a listen to Reflections here.