May
20, 2004
Orgy Returns to Rock Again
By Randy J. Klodz
Goth-rock band Orgy may have been a bit MIA in recent years, but the band
is back on tour, and better than ever, with a new album, and will be taking
its fuzz-rocking show through Chicago for a May 25 House of Blues show.
Orgy--which features Jay Gordon on vocals, Ryan Shuck on guitar, Amir Derakh
on guitar synth, Paige Haley on bass and Bobby Hewitt on drums--released “Punk
Statik Paranoia,” the band’s third album in February.
Though it has been four years since the band released its second album, 2000’s
“Vapor Transmission,” Orgy has made several key business decisions,
one of which includes leaving behind the backing of a major record label to
become entirely independent. Orgy first made waves with the popular cover
of New Order’s 80s hit “Blue Monday” off the 1998 debut
album “Candyass” that went on to sell over a million albums.
Although the band no longer has the power of a major label’s heavy concert
and album promotion, the band’s new strategy has been for the better.
From the outside, the transition from a major label, in Orgy’s case,
Elementree Records and Reprise, to independent, D1 Music, may seem drastic,
but according to the band, this isn’t the case.
“The only difference is that we don’t have the big wheels turning
to get us on MTV and all that, but we also don’t have this huge debt
paying for all that,” said Amir Derakh, Orgy’s guitar synth player.
“It’s sort of a catch-22 in either direction. But the thing is
we are all here making more money than we ever have before, it’s cool.
We’re connecting with our fans again, and you can’t really beat
that.”
New tracks “Ashamed,” “Make Up Your Mind” and the
single “The Obvious” glisten with the heavy guitar, frenzied beats
and space noises Orgy fans across the world have grown to love, while “Can’t
Take This” and “Beautiful Disgrace” have singer Jay Gordon
screaming much more than he has in the past giving the tracks a sturdy deviation
from the norm.
A June 5 show at Stramler Park in Bakersfield, Calif. is the final date on
Orgy’s current tour. Once the tour is over, Derakh said that the band
is going to get things organized, and once things have settled, though there
are no current future tour plans, the band will be back on the road in some
form or another. In the meantime, Derakh also has a side project with Orgy
guitarist Ryan Shuck on lead vocals called Julien-K that Derakh describes
as “a bit more electronic, a bit less rock, very 80s Depeche Mode meets
90s electronica.” For more information on that project log on to www.julienk.com.
House of Blues is at 329 N. Dearborn St. Tickets for this all-ages show are
listed for $16 each with a show start time slated for 6:15 p.m. Gloom-rock
band Godhead is scheduled to warm the stage. For more information on Orgy
log on to www.punkstatikparanoia.com.
