| It was the summer of 2003 and MP3.com's active message board community was heating up as well -- with flame wars.
Along came Chaz Fanaro, looking to cut through the negative noise. He began to interview many of the musical artists who pitched a tent on the popular indie music forum. Others pitched in with questions of their own. July of 2003 could have turned ugly, but thanks to the interviews blanketing the forum, it became a home for insight and mutual respect.
The forums were wiped clean by Vivendi in December, 2003. The interviews live on.
Radio Orphans
Artist description
Radio Orphans do not "write" our music so to speak. We unearth our songs like artifacts, through a fusion of our own instruments, samples, computers, and atmospheric disortions.We resist being locked into any particular musical genre or song formula as we like to think of our sound as experimental, experiential, and ambient.
Music Style
Electrorganic--Rock--Ambient--Alter-Native--Experimental
Musical Influences
Music
Group Members
Radio Orphans music is composed,written, mixed and produced by Mike B.--John S.
Instruments
guitars-beat programming-samplers-sequencers-keyboards-found objects--arp axxe-t-table-macintosh
Additional Info
THANK YOU .....for listening
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota - USA
Chaz the Spaz
I understand (and like) your music, but I can see where the casual listener may have quite a different opinion. Even experimental music has some fundamental basis on development, what is your general objective (or theme) in creating your music?
spike of R.Orphan
it's FUN and we aim to please ourselves first and, Keep it Simple! I'd enjoy hearing what you *like* about it? And, Jaw or I may share some more insight into radiorphans
Chaz the Spaz
Damn, I had a list of about 8 selections from your page that I had to choose from, for the station, now I can't find it. Anyway, what I liked about those choices were the over-all feel of the sound. Off hand, "Forgea's Tale", is memorable, it's almost like, making music without trying to make music. Don't know how else to explain it.
one blue nine
It sounds like you create a lot of your own percussion loops. Do you guys ever use an echo loop on stage?
jaw knee
Chaz, thanks for the interview! I agree with Spike, we make music for ourselves first and foremost and if others find any value in the music it is like a reward. As far as theme, it might be that we do not fallow the conventional rules in our approach to music making.
jaw knee
obn, the percussion loops are all programed by Spike with his magic boxes.We have not played on stage electronicly yet, but when we do, I am sure we will just use these boxes the same way as in our studio practice space. I hope he will come on to this post and elaborate a bit more.
thanks for the question!
gray martin
I'm a Radio Orphan fan & some of my favorite tunes are the ones with the voice of "Walter." I've asked before, but can you explain the significance of Walter's creepy voice in Radio Orphan music?
jaw knee
Thanks for the question gray!
Walter represents an orphanic authoritarian father figure, a confessor of sorts, a dreamer of shapely Mesozoic fragmentations, which manifest towards sublime thoughts of proper American behavior.
Or, Walter is just a great source of "public domain" vocal drops which taken out of context, can be shaped to fit the desired mood of the particular song we happen to be working on.
manicd-
On first listen to your music some time ago I was hooked. Your sound is very original and fresh. Do you have plans in the near future to be out playing live?
jaw knee
Les,your comments are appreciated.We currently do not have any live shows planed for the near future. Radio Orphans have played live a few years back and we have recently discussed doing our acoustic music at some of the open mic nights here in town. Performing live shows is an avenue we have yet to direct our focus on. I do think we both would at some point like to take the Radio Orphans on the road.
Thanks for the question!
spike of R.Orphan
It sounds like you create a lot of your own percussion loops. Do you guys ever use an echo loop on stage?- Obn
Obn, yes, I do make echo loops when we are playing "live". I do at times create sample loops with different instruments and run them through various echo machines and obtain loops from those. In the old days we would use tape machines(reel to reel) and I would like to return to that again! ..spike
Chaz the Spaz
Jaw and Spike, how did you each become interested in music?
spike of R.Orphan
I grew up in New York and my father was really into old R&B,Motown,Soul and still to this day I love that music! Jaw and I became friends in our mid-teens. He had a vast knowledge/love of music I wasn't really familiar with..Beatles,Neil Young through the Pink Floyd(he knew all the lyrics). Then we began to challenge each other with discovering new obscure musics..Eno,Fripp,Zappa,Beefheart,JohnCale,Throbbing Gristle,SPK,Joy Division,Bauhaus etc,etc. We both had a good friend who was a fantastic,bright musician and he really inspired us to give it a go! ..spike
gray martin
Walter Judd
Thanks Jaw...the dude's voice (in the context of Radio Orphans' music) has an ominous and quite spooky sound...
Chaz the Spaz
"Then we began to challenge each other with discovering new obscure musics..Eno,Fripp,Zappa,Beefheart,JohnCale,Throbbing Gristle,SPK,Joy Division,Bauhaus etc,etc. "
What you describe as obscure musics was a staple for me. The first album I ever bought was In The Court Of The Crimson King, I practically grew up listening to Zappa, Fripp, Mahavishnu, Gong, etc, and that's just a short list of the normal music.
Chaz the Spaz
What are your goals and what do you have planned for your music?
jaw knee
Chaz, as far as immediate Radio Orphan goals, we are aiming to do a video/film and have a web site up and running by the end of this year. As for 'musical plans' I want to finish a collaboration that has been brewing on the burner for a bit and I would like to cover a John Cale song.
Thanks for the question!
prevoyance
Your recently posted track was quite spooky, with interesting fx ,and would be excellent placed in the right film.
1.) Out of everything you've written so far, which track to you, best descibes Radio Orphans style?
2.) Which track do you regard as being most personal? (in the sense that it was written to reflect a moment in your life)
jaw knee
Prevoyance, Those are tough questions!
As far as what best describes our 'style', I would have to say "Crow Creek" This song has a little bit of rock with an experimental edge. Also our song "Panic" is dear to my heart as it shows our pure improvisational free-style.
Now, not too cop out on you, but all our songs are personal. They really are just snapshots of a larger 'moving picture'. If I had to choose just two, it would be "Body and Soul" which is about a trip Spike and I took to Europe a few years back. Or maybe "This time" which is basically a tune about long-term commitment and unconditional love.
MORE INTERVIEWS WITH CHAZ
-- Rick Munarriz
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