With shows alongside Biffy Clyro, InMe, Skunk Anansie and Hed PE on their growing resume, London trio Black Orchid Empire have been honing their brand of bold, melodic rock for the best part of seven years.
While 2016’s ‘Archetype’ put their foot on the first step to bigger things, they’re now set to return with its follow-up. Entitled ‘Yugen’, album #2 sees the trio take the big hooks of their debut and combine it with a more technical, harder edge making songs such as ‘Burn’, ‘Wires’, and ‘Pray To The Creature’ thrive. Nevertheless, they’re not afraid to show their softer side as evident on ‘Vertigo’.
In the lead up to the release of ‘Yugen’, we talked music by the numbers to bassist Dave Ferguson. From the songs, he wishes he had written, to the bands he wants to play with and apparently a lot of gaffa tape.
One Artist/Band I Couldn’t Live Without…
Deftones
Two People I Know, That Shaped My Passion For Music…
My father. My stepdad.
Three Songs You Wish You’d Written…
Black Peaks – Glass Built Castles
Alice In Chains – Down in a Hole
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
Four Bands Everyone Should Hear…
They probably already have but: Black Peaks, Palm Reader, Bad Sign, Young Legionnaire.
Five Songs You Love…
The first five songs on ‘Love Is Hell’ by Ryan Adams are perfect.
Six Bands You’re Keen To Play With…
Press To Meco, Black Peaks, Bad Sign, Palm Reader, Deftones, Karnivool
Seven Places You’d Love To Play…
Barcelona, Berlin, Rome, Rio, LA, Tokyo, Melbourne
Eight Essential Tour Items…
Eight rolls of Gaffa tape!
Nine Words To Describe Your Band…
Three foolish dudes attempting multiple time signatures whilst intoxicated!
Ten Favourite Albums Of All Time…
Radiohead – OK Computer
Deftones – White Pony
Meshuggah – Catch Thirty Three
Periphery – Periphery III: Select Difficulty
Mastodon – The Hunter
Black Peaks – Statues
Karnivool – Sound Awake
Queens Of The Stone Age – Rated R
TesseracT – Polaris
Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile
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‘Yugen’ by Black Orchid Empire is released on 25th May on Long Branch Records / SPV.
Black Orchid Empire links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp
