Music > Interviews
The Orb
The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA
28/11/16
The Orb! Electronic wizards. Witchdoctors of sampling. Chill out gods. They’ve taken us home in an ambience since the heydey of nightclubbing back in ’88. But they’ve never rested on their laurels and despite the 26 year old Little Fluffy Clouds being their most memorable hit single, they’ve have charting albums every since, and have worked with Dave Gilmour and Lee Scratch Perry amongst many other greats. The latest album, Chill Out World is a totally ambient excursion, and they’ll be playing tracks from it as well as an hour of music from 1991’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld at the Waterfront this month. I spoke to founding member and utter legend Alex Paterson about new technologies, the demise of nightclubs and what we can expect from a live Orb show.
You lived in Brixton when you were a teenager and were obviously surrounded by reggae and hip hop, but also you were a fan of Kraftwerk. When you first started making your own music, what did it sound like?
Ha ha! I was a little punk rocker in those days and I modelled myself on Johnny Rotten and Ian Curtis. I used to smash lots of glass up and turn them into drum patterns in the early 80’s.
The Orb were one of the first acts to break songs and sounds apart, consider them as separate entities and put them into different combinations. Entroducing by DJ Shadow was the first album made completely from samples – what did you think of that as a musical development when you first heard it?
I’ve never heard it! I’ve probably listened to a lot of things you’ve never heard of though.
Perhaps your most well known track is Little Fluffy Clouds which is unbelievably 26 years old now! What was the starting point for that masterpiece? Was it the Steve Reich guitar sample?
Basically we got a cassette through the post from a fan, who said “I’ve found you a new Orb single”! And that was the starting point – the acapella and the vocals, and these guitars that we blatantly sampled, although that’s been cleared up since then!
You’ve worked with Youth from Killing Joke and Thomas Fehlmann on and off now for a very long time. What is it about those relationships that have stood the test of time?
It’s the fact that they won’t work with each other so I’ve ended up working with one and then the other, and at the moment I’m trying to get the two of them to work together as one for The Orb’s next album which is quite amusing. I know them both very very well. I used to be Youth’s prefect at school so we go back a long way. I’ve known Thomas for over a quarter of a century as well.
You’ve worked on some interesting projects in the last few years – with Dave Gilmour, Lee Scratch Perry and with some Ghanaian drummers. Is there anyone else in particular you’d like to collaborate with?
Ooh, well recently I worked with Roger Eno on the new album, and I suppose Brian Eno would be the other one. He lives on the Norfolk Suffolk border I believe.
Which of the remixes that you’ve done for other people are you most proud of?
Oh blimey. Ummm. There are loads! I think my favourite would be the Transasianexpress mix of Satellite Serenade by Suzuki K1. It was just fun to make.
Your new album Chill Out World is an incredibly laid back, minimal affair. What made you want to create something like this now? Was it as a response to your previous album Moonbuilding 2703 AD which was more upbeat and dancey?
The Orb have always been known for making chill out sounds. We started out as a DJ collective back in ’88 and we were the founders of the chill out lounge. But we’ve never done a proper ambient album in all the years although we’ve done ambient tracks on some of the albums but we always ended up putting beats on them. This time we made ourselves take the beats away and let the music do what it does best – chill people out, really. When we play those songs live we add beats in a subtle way. Of the three tracks we’ve been playing live on this tour, one is pretty much beat-less cos you’ve got to do that sometimes, and the other two are 84bpm and 95bpm, which could bring in some reggae beats but we tend to do more hip hop stuff now, minimal breaks and beats. It’s all played live on the night so you never know how it’s going to turn out but by and large it’s been really good fun.
How did you put the new album together?
I initially wanted to call the new album Chilling, and then Thomas came up with Chill Out World and I loved the acronym, C.O.W, it just brings a smile to my face, so we stuck with that one. We allocated a number from 1-10 for each track and we wanted to include that number in the track title, like First Consider The Lilys, which is a reference to feminist history in fact.
You’re going to be playing Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld in full on this tour. Recorded in 1991 it took 3 weeks, used six studios and twenty outside musicians to make it. I don’t think a record label would let you spend that kind of money and time these days!
Well we’re going to play an hour’s worth of tunes from the album on this tour. It was actually 12 musicians and three studios..they do like to bump it up and make it sound grander than it actually was! I was given a budget of £20,000 and I came in £500 under. Being an old roadie and A&R man I kind of knew how to get these things done on a shoestring and get a double album out of it. Touche! Now release it, you’ve got to do that now! Quite funny.
Blue Room and UF Orb both did incredibly well in terms of chart success, hitting number eight and number one. At that time, did you wonder what was next for The Orb?
Ha ha! The only way is down! In our world we couldn’t compete with all these visual pop stars and they couldn’t market us. We got a number one album on a wing and a prayer, just due to a great fan base.
The Orb have been going since 1988, and at the start you used all manner of formats to create your sound and incorporate samples, tapes, CD’s, records and a mixer. Do you miss this way of making music or do you relish being able to use laptops and digital files now for ease?
Not at all. The modern way is a lot easier, I’ve got to say without a doubt. I don’t miss the sampler crashing, or it taking 35 years to send a file, I don’t miss how slow everything was then. I don’t miss splicing piles of tapes, and then if they’re wrong, doing them all again. It’s got a lot easier now.
The visuals are a vital part of your live performance – is that easier these days as well?
Yep, for sure. There are a lot of young people who are doing this video mapping thing nowadays which is fascinating as well, and hopefully we’ll incorporate it into Orb shows in the future. It’s very interesting, kind of like using 3D imagery over the whole room rather than just on one screen.
What do you think of British dance music culture these days, and the demise of nightclubs in general?
It’s just a case of society moving on isn’t it, like the demise of fish and chip shops and pubs. It’s a different generation – the young people don’t want to dress like we used to dress, they want to dress smartly and go to top notch things and enjoy themselves, and that’s just how it is, especially in London. In terms of festivals as well, everything except BoomTown is pretty preconceived. You’ve got your charging tent, the place where you can get money out, and you can even hire out boots! Snore.
What sort of show can we expect in Norwich?
You’ll see the two of us twiddling knobs, making weird noises and keeping up with each other! We’ll be playing new and old material and looking forward to the future. We’ve decided to support ourselves on this tour as it can be a bit tiresome if you have the wrong support act. Do you know what an acronym for Norwich is, by the way? I’m not going to tell you cos you’re a girl and it’s rude!
The Orb play The Waterfront on 1st December. Tickets available from ueatickets.ticketabc.com