One of the great things about going to university are the really cool and really talented people you meet there. One of my flat mates being a member of an even cooler band...
Meet The Orielles.
With Esme-Dee Hand Halford on vocals and bass, Sidonie Hand- Halford on the drums (yep, they're talented musicians and sisters too) and Henry Carlyle Wade on guitar and vocals...this trio, ladies & gents are Yorkshire's finest. The Orielles are a 60's pop-inspired band mixed with garage and surf with a Beach Boys vibe. With already an EP (Hindering Waves) under their belt and past surfy singles Yawn and Space Doubt making huge waves (surf...waves, geddit?) on the music scene, The Orielles are a high one to watch in the future...and they're only in their teens. I've never interviewed a band before on the blog so I thought who better to ask first than The Orielles themselves, so here we have it...enjoy!
From left to right: Henry, Esme & Sidonie.
Photo by Rachael Yielder.
First of all, tell me a little bit about how The Orielles formed?
We met at a house party a few years ago and started jamming on a few instruments together and we realised we all had a sick taste in music. Then we (Sidonie & Esme) started playing in our basement, and it just grew from there.
How would you describe your sound to someone that hasn't heard you before?
Aitch-Faxers mixing Shargi-La weep into your pillow melody with surf scratch and skew, just trynna get weird.
Have any other artists inspired your sound?
There are so many haha! The Beach Boys, Velvet Underground, Pixies, The Ramones, Steely Dan, and more recently- Homeshake, Colleen Green, Guantanamo Baywatch and Thee Oh Sees.
A bit of a cliché question but, is there any particular story or meaning behind the name The Orielles?
We chose it because it kinda reminded us of a 60's surf/soul band name.
Lyrics. What influences your song lyrics, where do you get your inspiration and who writes the songs?
Films, books, life and memories inspire our lyrics. More specifically, we're inspired by the dialogue in films. We've written songs about Quentin Tarantino's 'Death Proof' and more recently on David Lynch's tv series, 'Twin Peaks'. It's mainly Sidonie & Esme who write the lyrics.
What was the first instrument you all ever played?
E: The bottom string of a guitar, clearly I was always headed in the bass direction.
S: I played the recorder when I was about 7.
H: I've played the guitar since I was 6.
What was the first record each of you ever bought?
H: The Cure- Standing on a Beach
S: Pixies- Doolittle
E: Total Slacker- Thrashin'
What's the most memorable gig you've played so far and why?
We played at a house party in Leeds a couple of weeks ago with Chicago band Twin Peaks and Leeds' Bruising, which was pretty rad.
Had you had any real wow moments while being in The Orielles?
Meeting and hanging out with DJ Steve Aoki after one of our gigs a few weeks ago haha! Also, whenever we play a show and have people compliment us loads, we still find that really surreal.
Photo by Penny Blakemore.
If you could meet with 3 musicians- who would they be and what would you do?
S: Brian Wilson, Fletcher Shears and Otis Redding, and we would make really weird music together.
H: Archie Marshall, Jason from Guantanamo Baywatch and Ty Segal-we'd just chill.
E: Debbie Harry, Jenifer Clavin and Bootsy Collins. We would make a supergroup covering Spice Girls songs.
What's next for The Orielles? Is there an album in the pipeline?
We might do an EP, and there may be an album coming soon but for now, we're just gigging a lot and writing tunes.
What's the best thing about being in a band?
Meeting loads of cool people, the free food and of course- playing live.
Photo by Rachel Yielder.
Describe The Orielles in 3 words.
Surf, scratch and skew.
Finally, a few random questions...
What's your favourite place to eat? A place called Belgrave in Leeds, they do the best pizza slices!
Favourite beer? Red Stripe (B&M Bargains Price).
Name one musician you would happily marry? S: Mac Demarco H: Clementine Creevy E: Andy White.
Favourite song from childhood? E: Niney & The Observer- Blood and fire H: The Ramones- Sheena is a punk rocker S: Mamas and Papas- California Dreamin'.
...aaaaand that's a wrap, my first interview with a band, and hopefully many more to come! ...now for the other important bit!
...aaaaand that's a wrap, my first interview with a band, and hopefully many more to come! ...now for the other important bit!
SOCIAL MEDIA LINXXX
- Like them on Facebook for updates, tour dates, cool pics, cool music and other cool stuff,
- Subscribe on Youtube,
- Listen on Soundcloud here for all their tunes,
- and on Spotify here for, well...all the same, awesome tunes.
The Orielles will be touring around the UK this year so click here for a list of venues for a show near you- you wouldn't wanna miss it!
I'll end the post with one of my favourites, their most recent track, Space Doubt! Till next time...
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