Orbital Belfast

Interview: Orbital

The brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll are hardly fashionable these days, but as Orbital they are rightly talked about as amongst the very pioneers of dance music as we know it.

A decade on from the seminal Chime and, with two new albums coming out within weeks of each other, Orbital are to embark on scoring soundtracks.

And it seems they've got gigs coming up too.

We chatted with Phil about Orbital's audience, inspiring weather conditions, Hammer horror, a famous brother-in-law and Fatboy Slim...

Two albums at the same time? Apparently so, as Orbital's erstwhile record label London Records release a retrospective of their last six albums with the label and the brothers release their Back To Mine compilation of other artists' work.

We wondered what ended their time with London Records. "Our contract's run out with them," explains Phil, "and we decided not to continue with them, hence the retrospective being put out".

Years ago, a song called 'Chime' did rather well in the charts. But that was years ago. What's made them continue for all this time, while the genre of music they helped to invent has changed almost beyond recognition? "There's no formula for it," says Phil. "We do our own thing and see what happens when we release it."

And they have unfinished business too. "My most unrealised ambition is to come up with the ultimate track," states Phil. "There's always some disappointment with what you do to keep you making something else new (after it). And I still listen to stuff out there - there's enough out there to still inspire me."

But taking the resolutely indie way to sell records means Orbital's gigs are particularly important to them.

"Our live stuff helps us because we don't get a lot of radio play due to not fitting into the normal conveyor belt of the pop world," he says.

"We're not a couple of amazing studs who rip our clothes off or anything like that!" Exclusive - and you heard it here first - Orbital are not a boy band. "Yeah, we're the only band that isn't a boy band!" laughs Phil.

"Playing live is our format of getting our music out there to people. And we've not gone to the dizzy heights of people like Fatboy Slim. We quietly bubble along underneath, and we've reached a nice little plateau where enough people like what we do to keep us going."

The film industry seems to be amongst those people. Orbital are starting work on a film soundtrack - something they've said for some years that they'd like to do. As for the film...

"It's a surreal, supernatural, suspense-like David Lynch sort of British film," says soundbite superstar Phil. "It's called Octane, and is directed by Marcus Adams. He did Long Time Dead a few years back."

But this unexpected step sideways does not spell the end for the band's touring. "We've got five gigs on this year," he continues. "We're not going to do any more than that because there's usually a touring year then a composing year - and it's nice to sit back and do a film score. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll have some more stuff. Just because we're not signed to London doesn't mean we won't be carrying on."

"We're the only band that isn't a boy band!"
- Phil

What can their audience expect at these gigs? Phil offers some pointers. "We'll have projections, lovely screens, flashing lights," he laughs, "and videos are prepared for each track. There's lighting production too, to enhance each track. That's a really enjoyable part of playing live for me, doing all of that. Gigs need to be more of a theatrical experience, especially with a couple of bods on stage twiddling knobs, which we are!"

Long-time fans can rest assured that their trademark headlamps will be making an appearance... but where do they get them from? "I've got to make some more torch glasses, actually," recalls the tech guru. "I lost some at the last gig. They're custom built for each gig, 'cause they come with nasty little lights that hardly last two minutes, so I have to cut out all the innards and put in Mag-lites."

Mag-lites?! They must be heavy! "You have to have them strapped to your head," reveals Phil, "or you'll topple over after a few drinks! They come from the heady days of acid clubs and smoke and strobes and that sort of thing where you just need to see what you're doing."

Yes, but where do they get the original material? "We found them in Spaceage Gifts in Manhattan - one of those shops that sells mud and things like that. They double up as your eyes and work as a communications device," he continues. "The audience think they can see where you're looking, but in actual fact you've got your eyes shut and you're thinking, 'oh my god, there're all these people out there!'"

So is he scared of his fans? "No," he laughs, "'cause nobody knows what we look like - I have these blinding lights stuck to my face!"

Orbital's fanbase has changed over the years to the point where Phil isn't sure what kind of audience they'll get at any given gig.

"At the last few gigs I didn't know who would be turning up, but we find our fans do tend to stick with us once they're in. But at those gigs there were loads of 18 year olds, which is great - but I was thinking they were eight years old when I started my career. Six, even! But our audience's age range varies, really. We still do gigs early so the older ones can get to bed by 12..."

He advises new fans should check out 'The Brown Album' if they're looking for an easy road into Orbital's music, oddly ignoring the opportunity to plug the forthcoming retrospective album. "'The Brown Album' is a good favourite and has continuity," he says. "I'd recommend they listened to that. Or they should buy the back catalogue. Or get their dads to buy it all for them!"

Playing live involves more preparation than audiences might think. "We have to convert all of our songs so we can perform them live. We use basic sequencers live, but the stuff gets written on computer so it has to be condensed and made more basic. It's a very boring process and it takes three weeks when you're not really doing any music."

As for the next album proper, "We decided to come up with a record first and then see who wants it, says Phil. "We could sign to someone now and then have them say when the record comes out, 'oh, it's not what we were expecting', but we want to avoid all that. We want people to sign it for what it is and I'm sure they'd agree that'd be the best way to do it. We could just release it ourselves and get a distribution deal. All the live stuff is our own company anyway, so it's really a formality."

"We haven't really lost much with not being with a record company anyway," he continues. "It's actually quite liberating."

On Orbital's last album, a special guest appeared. As radio stations are known to prefer tracks with vocals, one could be forgiven for wondering whether David Gray's participation meant A Big Marketing Opportunity.

"He's my brother in law," corrects Phil. "He's a laugh, and it's all very casual. It wasn't done because it'd be good for marketing, it was just a laugh. But then he became David Gray writ large..." Unlike The Chemical Brothers, then, Orbital won't be resorting to indie blokes for their future records.

"I decided we shouldn't stay there much longer, with lightning ten feet away..."
- Phil

One thing Orbital do a great deal is sample. Some people are not convinced that sampling is any different to ripping off. "What we normally do is take a tiny snippet or a loop from something rather than a whole riff," says Phil. "You'll listen to something and a light will just go on and you'll think 'I like that'. Something will just stick out and you'll think that'll be a great sound source to synthesise and twist and turn. The sampler is a creative tool with a whole synthesised section to it. You can take a chord from a record with a guitar on it and twist it so much that it has nothing to do with the original. That's a creative way of using a sampler."

"Or," he continues, somewhat mischieviously, "you can just take a huge chunk, like Fatboy Slim. I'm coming from a world of hip-hop, with three decks, where two are running at the same time and you're creating a third thing. If you're taking a big chunk, you have to ask, are you bringing anything to the party?"

The interview's nearly over, and Phil is asked to describe his most memorable Orbital gig. "One of the most bizarre gigs we've ever played was up a big tower in Germany," he begins. "We were asked to play on the top of this flume tower, on a metal platform. There were about 10 people and thunder and lightening and we did a track called 'The Box' as a Hammer house of horror version and it was so appropriate! All this lightning coming down... it was fantastic."

"But then I came to my senses," he continues, "and decided we shouldn't stay there any longer on the top of a tower when I could see lightning ten feet away from me...! So I just scarpered, but my brother was so pissed he just stayed there and played like a madman! It was quite an experience."

Audiences at Orbital's forthcoming gigs shouldn't expect the Hartnoll brothers to conjure appropriate weather systems, but Orbital can magic up a fine live experience. Even now, Phil Hartnoll will be building up his neck muscles to take the strain of those Mag-lites...

Orbital - Halcyon On and On

Biography

Orbital are an electronic music duo consisting of brothers Phil Hartnoll and Paul Hartnoll formed in Sevenoaks, Kent, England whose career originally lasted from 1989 until 2004.

Orbital took their name from Greater London’s orbital motorway, the M25, which was central to the early rave scene and party network in the South East during the early days of acid house. One of the biggest names in British electronica during the 1990s, Orbital were both critically and commercially successful, being particularly known for an element of live improvisation during their shows, a rarity with techno acts. They were initially influenced by early electro and punk rock.

In 1989, Orbital recorded a track called “Chime” on their father’s cassette deck. It was released on Oh Zone Records in December 1989, and re-released on FFRR a few months later. The track became a rave anthem, reaching number 17 in the UK charts, and earning them an appearance on Top of the Pops, during which they wore anti-Poll Tax t-shirts. A few singles and EPs followed, and their first self-titled album, a collection of tracks recorded at various times, was released in late 1991.

In late 1992, the “Radiccio” EP barely reached the UK top 40, but it included probably their most well-known song, “Halcyon”. The song featured a backwards sample of Kirsty Hawkshaw from Opus III’s “It’s a Fine Day”, and B-side “The Naked and the Dead” was similarly based on a line from Scott Walker’s rendition of Jacques Brel’s song “Next”. Halcyon was dedicated to the Hartnolls’ mother, who was addicted to the tranquiliser Halcion for many years.

The duo’s popularity grew rapidly with the release of their second album, titled “Orbital 2” in 1993. The album featured complex arrangements and textures, and opens with the two minute track “Time Becomes”, which comprises nothing more than 2 slightly detuned, looped samples of a Michael Dorn line from Star Trek: The Next Generation, “…where time becomes a loop” being played simultaneously through the left and right channels, respectively (until 1 cycle of phase difference has happened). This very same sample was used at the beginning of “The Mobius”, the opening track in the previous album. This audible pun was intended to make listeners believe that they had bought a mis-pressed album (Orbital 1 packaged in Orbital 2). The album reached #28 on the UK album charts, staying in the top chart for fifteen weeks. Halcyon was remixed for the album, as “Halcyon + On + On”. The version played live has also gained notoriety amongst fans for containing a complete mashup of diverse samples including “You Give Love A Bad Name” by the band “Bon Jovi”, “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” by Belinda Carlisle, and most recently “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by the band “The Darkness”. The first two albums are commonly known as the “Green Album” and the “Brown Album”, after the colour of their covers.

Orbital won a NME award for “Vibes Best Dance Act” early in 1994, but it was their headline appearance at the Glastonbury Festival on 25 June 1994 that brought them most attention. Q magazine classed it as one of the top 50 gigs of all time, and in 2002 included Orbital in their list of “50 Bands to See Before You Die”. Orbital gave an improvisational element to live electronic music as the brothers mixed and sequenced their tracks on the fly, wearing their trademark head-mounted torches behind banks of equipment. Orbital were one of the few electronic acts invited to play at Woodstock ‘94.

The third album “Snivilisation” was released in August 1994. Alison Goldfrapp provided vocals on a couple of the tracks, including the single “Are We Here?”. This track also included a sample from “Man At C&A” by “The Specials”. Among the remixes of Are We Here? was “Criminal Justice Bill?” - four minutes of silence, a reference to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which was in part intended to clamp down on the rave scene which had given birth to Orbital. The other track with Goldfrapp vocals, “Sad But True”, was remixed for the “Times Fly” EP, the band’s only release in 1995.

The single “The Box” was released in April 1996, reaching #11 in the UK, and its parent album “In Sides”, released in May 1996, became their second top five album. It revealed a less obviously dance-oriented sound than previously, and had more in common with soundtrack music. In Sides has since come to be considered one of their most critically well-regarded works. As with the previous album, there was a vague theme of ecological disaster and dissatisfaction with society. The following year, the duo contributed to film soundtracks (The Saint & Event Horizon) and enjoyed the biggest singles of their career, with a live version of Satan and their reworking of the aforementioned “The Saint” theme both reaching #3 in the UK.

1998 saw a return to the studio to work on their fifth album “The Middle of Nowhere”. This was released in 1999, becoming their third top five album, and was a return to a more upbeat style, with Alison Goldfrapp returning on vocals, and included the single “Style” featuring the stylophone. In 2000 the single Beached was released from the soundtrack to the film “The Beach”, mixing the brothers’ musical style with a melody by Angelo Badalamenti and the words of Leonardo DiCaprio from the film.

2001’s “The Altogether” featured guest vocals by the Hartnolls’ brother-in-law David Gray, a sampled Ian Dury, and a version of the “Doctor Who” theme, entitled “Doctor ?”. It was to be their last album for FFRR, and had a mixed critical reception. The following year, “Work 1989-2002” collected various singles from Chime onwards.

Orbital split up in 2004. They played a final series of gigs from June through July 2004 at the “Glastonbury Festival”, the “T in the Park” Festival in Scotland, the “Oxegen” festival (formerly known as “Witness”) in Ireland, and the “Wire Festival” in Japan, concluding with a live “Peel Session” gig at Maida Vale Studios in London on 28 July 2004. The release of their seventh and last original album, the “Blue Album” (which, unlike the untitled previous green and brown albums, was actually named the “Blue Album”), coincided with this final wave of shows. The album featured “Sparks” (on “Acid Pants”) and Lisa Gerrard (on the final single “One Perfect Sunrise”).

Paul Hartnoll continues to record music under his own name, including tracks for the new “Wipeout Pure” game for the PSP. He released his first full length solo album, entitled “The Ideal Condition” on the ACP record label in June 2007. Phil Hartnoll formed a new electronica duo, “Long Range”, with Nick Smith. Their debut album, “Madness and Me”, was released on their own label, Long Range Recordings, on August 6.

In 2008 as “Long Range”, they signed to commercial management company Angel Artists who additionally represent the likes of Dave Ball (of “Soft Cell”), “The Grid”, Paul Dakeyne & “Icehouse Project”. He lives in Brighton with his three sons, Louis, Milo and Conrad.

Orbital released a 2 CD/DVD compilation “Orbital: Live at Glastonbury 1994-2004” on 11 June 2007. The collection contains over 2 hours of music recorded from the group’s performances at the festival over the course of a decade of appearances there.

Orbital sometimes incorporated political and environmental commentary into their music. The track “Forever” on Snivilisation samples a speech by Graham Crowden from the 1982 Lindsay Anderson film Britannia Hospital, in which he lambasts humankind for its destructive ways; and the track “You Lot” on the Blue Album, features a confrontational, partially vocoded anti-genetic engineering sample from Christopher Eccleston, originally from the TV two-part series The Second Coming written by Russell T Davies.

They recorded “The Girl With The Sun In Her Head” from “In Sides” using Greenpeace’s mobile solar power generator CYRUS. They named an early record “Belfast” after playing live in the city of Belfast at the height of The Troubles in 1990. Other album track titles suggest environmental concern such as “Kein Trink Wasser” (“no drinking water” in German) from Snivilisaton and “Dŵr Budr” (“dirty water” in Welsh) and “P.E.T.R.O.L.” from “In Sides”.

Although Orbital has done many live shows, Phil Hartnoll said in an interview, that he only learned to DJ in the last few years. LRR is the music label of Phil Hartnoll (Orbital) and Nick Smith and home to the band, Long Range. www.longrange.tv and www.myspace.com/longrangemusic

Pioneer of British electronic music returns Orbital (aka Phil and Paul Hartnoll) were, for almost two decades, one of the most creative and influential electronic acts on the planet, recording their seventh and last studio album in 2004. Not content to rest on the laurels of past glory, Phil Hartnoll’s new creative project is Long Range, formed in conjunction with Nick Smith, an artist whose recording career for dance labels Dragonfly and Atomic Records has led to major film credits with Ridley Scott. Long Range’s sound harks back to the ambient genius that was Orbital whilst transporting the listener into a more acoustic, atmospheric and cinematic realm. From blissed out moments to jarred and broken beats, their eponymous album references a spectrum of genres and refuses to be pigeonholed.

Orbital reformed in 2009 with the original lineup of Phil Hartnoll and Paul Hartnoll.

Orbital - The Box