There are many terrible orange things in life. Mouldy oranges, psycho killer goldfish, the new Irn-Bru, that dickhead in the Whitehouse… Donovan O’Rourke tells us about another one.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Currently we are based out of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. (About 45 minutes north of Philly for geographical reference.)
How did you meet?
James and I met in high school through mutual friends and played in more than a few garage bands together back in the day. Simon and I met through working in the regional cover band scene the last few years, of which we both just recently stepped away from to focus on other professional pursuits.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We began writing material around February 2019.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It’s an old inside joke between some friends and I from when we were a lot younger and dumber. Lots of people think it’s some kind of Trump joke or something about the Flyers mascot Gritty, but honestly it’s just a bunch of dumb kids hallucinating under a tree in the backyard.
What are your influences?
I like to think that I listen to a lot of different music but some of the stuff that has been the most influential to me has been old Goo Dolls, Box Car Racer, Angels and Airwaves, 30 Seconds to Mars, Conditions, The Dangerous Summer, Longwave, Bloc Party, Coheed & Cambria, and Tokyo Police Club. I’m sure there are plenty more but those are definitely the first things that come to mind.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I’d like to think that that we are a little more cerebral than the typical alternative rock band. Musically, we aren’t the most intricate or elaborate band by any means, but I think we try to elevate the genre by giving our themes a little more depth than your typical alt-pop-punk-indie-rock song. I miss the days when you still heard music with guitars on mainstream radio stations, so I like to think of us a nod to late 90’s/early 00’s while also trying to make it our own sound.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
So far, a lot of our material has dealt pretty heavily with the emotions surrounding times of transition, growth and change. My life was in a pretty dramatic state of flux when I began writing the songs and I think that has been reflected pretty strongly in our lyrics.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Well. Actually. We have yet to play a live show together yet. So hopefully they will rad. Haha. Our first show is coming up on April 4th and we are currently hard at work rehearsing and polishing our set.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
I was playing in a pop-punk band a few years back and like any good pop-punk band we had buttons with our logo on it for sale for like $1 or something as part of our merch. One gig, after we had played our set, the band was gathered around the bar hanging out and someone came up to us, lifted his shirt, and proceeded to use one of the buttons to pierce his nipple right on the spot. We all thought it was the greatest/most hilarious/most horrifying thing was had ever seen. Needless to say we bought the guy a few shots for his troubles. Haha.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
- Donovan – Fender P-Bass
- James – Gibson ES-335 & Fender Telecaster
- Simon – SJC Drums, TRX Cymbals
What are your plans for 2020?
January 21 we are releasing a cover of Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved”. We put a lot of effort into transforming the song into a full band arrangement and we are all really proud of how it turned out. Spring 2020 we will be releasing our debut EP “Lovely Sounds for Lonely Times” along with a 3rd original music video to continue on the story of Terrible Orange Things. Then April 4th we will be playing our very first show as a full band at the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival, opening for Goldfinger and The Suicide Machines. We are incredibly excited to be a part of the festival and to be supporting some amazing bands that we all grew up listening to.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Personally, I would love to open for Angels and Airwaves. They’ve been a huge influence on me musically and seeing their live shows in my teenage years are some of my most cherished memories from that period in my life. As far as choosing our opener, I would love to have our friends in band called Summer Scouts from Allentown, PA on the bill as well. James and I have been friends with the some of the members for an incredibly long time and I’m a huge fan of the music they have been putting out, not to mention I think would be a great fit for the show overall as well.
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