Real! Real!? Yes, real! Real… Other words won’t give the unique music of Orchid a proper fit.

So if you cannot listen, I mean to listen closely to perceive and capture all the nuances of their music with you really taking your time, and this is longer than four minutes, so if your perceptions are dull this one’s not for you! What a pity!

Just imagine you left your comfort zone for a time to check out a band you never heard of before. You may like to live under a stone, only to come out from time to time as I did! All of a sudden I stood there in the small concert room of the KIFF in Aarau, Switzerland, had myself a beer and made myself comfortable. I wondered what was there to come!? With the first light I had to close my eyes and get aware of the first strokes of the bass strings entering ‘Son of Misery’. What a bass lick! Kind of a hooking one where you wonder that it was never played before! I really felt it shivering down my spine and the whole way up again. It touched my soul while the sound got enriched by drums and guitar and myself with goosebumps! All over! It is a hard driven blues in an unconventional progression. I thought I got in a time warp which transferred me back in time for about 35 years! But it is said to be 2013! What happened? Can this be real? I opened my eyes again but there it was still.

A band grooving heavily in a classical lineup as a quartet: a singer, a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer. They give a slight impression of the hippie era referring to their look: these clothes, all wearing these old pairs of bell bottoms, Keith’s leather jacket, Theo’s shirt and some accessories. So this is Orchid I wondered. I thought of an instrumental opener when surprisingly Theo Mindell started singing about pale men conquering an untouched land. Without mercy in their veins…according to the lyrics the theme reminded me of Neil Young’s ‘Cortez’ song. The transported picture was a lot heavier of course, due to the perfect fit of the voice of Theo Mindell. What kind of a voice, with everything to satisfy the expectations of a rock voice.

The sound is the concentrate from many times of jamming so every musician seems to improvise. Yes, also the bass player is serving this purpose and is playing his instrument like a bass should be played. You may compare the dynamics between Steppenwolf’ Rushton Moreve’s bass and Jerry Edmonton’s drums, old Groundhogs’ Peter Cruickshank’s bass and Ken Pustelnik’s drums, Blue Öyster Cult’s Bouchard brothers (on ‘Secret Treaties’: ‘Career of Evil’!), Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, The Revels (!?), or all the other “improvising” players as well to get a clue. With a great guitar adding the spice to it with interesting, never the same riffing and bone biting hooks. The song gives an idea where these guys musically come from named blues, folk and hard rock.

I did not wonder anymore because as B.B. King once stated, “The blues speaks from the heart and soul to the heart and soul of man!” And that one did! I had to take a sip of my beer, can this really be real? Of course, it was. The band somehow finished the first killer song driving directly into the next called ‘No One Makes a Sound’. This train really gathers speed, a steady rock speed. The bass holds the main theme with some playing around every fourth pulse and the drums are perfectly supporting the first with fine accentuated drumming and a lot of changing patterns, both just harmonically complementing one another. How refreshing! As Rick Rubin states in making of ’13’ by Black Sabbath: “…going for the pre-metal feel, there are a lot of drummers who can play the metal, but there are not a lot of drummers who can play the blues and jazz and bring heaviness to these more jam oriented pieces. I mean sort of abstract shaped songs!”

This drummer does exactly the last mentioned and is fulfilling his duty as a conductor perfectly! The bass plays independent and equivalent to the drums as a rhythm instrument but also equivalent to the guitar as a melodic instrument with a guitar adding melodic facets. Not to mention the quality of the lyrics and the pictures drawn by them. What a fantastic combination of songs to start a concert! What a killer duo! My beer was warm and my mouth was left dry tasting like a dead towel but I really enjoyed following the rest of the tracks, a little dazzled by the light maybe and still confused: 3. ‘Eyes Behind the Wall’, ‘4. ‘Capricorn’, 5. ‘Black Funeral’, 6. ‘Silent One’, 7. ‘Eastern Woman’, 8. ‘Wizard of War’ … and finally 9. ‘He Who Walks Alone’.

There was no filler with the exception of the band taking some time resting between most of the songs, making me believe that they considered the next song to come which added an extra magical touch to the concert. Taking some time appeared to be a good idea to me anyway. The quality on a whole was sort of a perfect one.

All of their songs are composed and arranged like they did it in the best era of bluesy and jazzy hard rock, the zenith of rock! Or as Rick Rubin said (’13’): “It’s blues and jazz influenced heavy music. It’s really pre heavy metal!” What a perfect blend in old tradition! What a great evening! I felt happy to be there, it was one of the concerts you’ll never forget! What made me lose my breath was the vitality of the band as one whole organism. They really enjoy what they do! Everything was perfect, the quality of sound, the light and the natural transport of the musical information. And all happening in a small room like hopefully your living room feels like. I somehow felt familiar with every song like knowing an old friend. Of course, the spring of their sound and musical inspiration lies some decades behind, surely between ’69 and ’77. I won’t pigeonhole the band nor try to feed any hype! Don’t like this thinking in a box. There were and are so many bands that can inspire you today. Don’t ask me! Make up your mind for yourself! Perhaps you can put a little of each in a shaker: a bit of Tony Iommi’s riffing, some Steppenwolf, a bit of Led Zeppelin, maybe some Blue Öyster Cult as well. Add some spirit for the soul! Shake long enough but not too long and transport really professional and cool, enjoy! This is the re- evolution of rock! When it comes to music I preferred to stick to the past but these guys changed my hungry musical mind! Luckily I’m living these days to witness the evolution that a band from the other side of the world is making the sound I missed for such a long time!

I like to stick to what Ennio Morricone once stated: “Music is getting emotionally significant as it is transported. Three parts are involved: as first the composer, second the musician and third the auditor. The emotional content is only accessible for the one who is listening. To build up a house you’ll need bricks, lime and some other components. Now if you take a certain amount of bricks, some cement and some other materials it will not become the same house! That’s the composer’s problem, to create something unique with the same material all others have. It’s all about that!”

The work of Orchid is unique. The amount of musical information per song is a mind blow. These guys get your brain busy, not only with the music but also with the nice worked out lyrics! And everything is matching that beautiful! Some piano parts (where these obscure voices are coming from?!), some tambourine, some maracas, some Santana-like sounding parts or Spanish guitar styles or some harmonica sounds are added wisely where they fit perfectly (not to mention the bell!). Their creative output in art on a whole is enormous. The song’s workout is perfect, referring to music, lyrics and harmony. The artwork is exceptional. Yes, the quality reaches the top from every point of view! And if Theo says “thank you” at the end of a show you feel that this comes from the bottom of his heart! If there is a rock band these days that deserves your whole attention it’s them! If there’s a rock band that should be enabled to work itself up to the top it is them! For myself I want to believe in something still and I’m not with Rick Rubin if he says on making 13 that “what Black Sabbath does is a lost art”! Hey Rick, it’s found, luckily it’s not gone! A whole universe can hide itself in a shell! This kind of music has never gone and it never will! It is made for eternity and if so it will be comparable to the end of days!

If you think you know better check out your local music store, get yourself some kind of instrument you may like and try to tame the beast. Become the founder of a band, get to know how it feels to be part of a band! And all the best for you and your band mates! You are now on track to open and create another universe! Come for complaints as soon as you know about song writing, arranging music, investing time, sweat, love and heart, and after all if you know how to keep a band alive, real without getting conceited. Now think of your songs getting stolen a billion times…This kills a part of the world, art and culture. Where would we end up if no one’s willing to invest loads of time, love, heart and sweat to make his dreams come true and without sharing them with us because of a lack of financial possibilities?

So if you want to give them a chance I would recommend listening to the record or tape or if you are not capable of perceiving the missing 2,000hz on CD, well, then on CD. They deserve the best medium for their kind of music. As Mr. Roger Waters answered lately to the question how fascinated he is about the always improving technical devices to make his show more spectacular (interview with Reinhold Hönle; Stadtanzeiger Winterthur 08/27/2013 ): “Some are drowning the content. The quality of MP3 data is awful. But nobody is getting aware of that because people have become used to wearing these horrible ear plugs to listen to music. It makes everything sound lousy.”

If you are able to catch Orchid live: How lucky you are! Make a decision for a real special drink, maybe an old fashioned drink on iced stones if available and enjoy an extraordinary evening!

“Music is considered to be an escape”

Thank you so much for your attendance for this little talk. I would like to start with some questions about your concert touring in may: as you performed at the KIFF you always took an intermezzo between the songs with an exception of the opening duo of maybe one minute? Was this with clear intent? If so, why did you do that?

Carter Kennedy: Interesting question! I was about to answer no, and then I thought about it more and the answer was actually yes. There is no set time, but I am told to give some time between songs so the singer can catch his breath or in some instances there is guitar tuning. We always try to do two or three without much of a break in between, to start, and then we break as needed throughout the rest of the set.

You did the spring touring for almost a whole month at 25 locations with a concert each evening, starting in Lichtenfels and ending up in London. You travelled nine countries on a whole, leading you to Germany, the Benelux, Poland, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland and Great Britain. You did, as I presume, more than 10,000 k’s. This must have been a very strange journey! How did you travel? How did you find your time to relax and recreate? Did you realize where you have been? Did you have some time to check the places you rocked? Was there a place you liked most?

It was our longest tour yet and we originally were supposed to be supporting Witchcraft, but due to illness in the band, they cancelled, literally the day before we left, so by default we became the headliner. Your list of countries is not the way it ended up going, six venues cancelled upon hearing that Witchcraft pulled out, so we actually never went to Spain or France, and other shows were added in their place in The Netherlands and Germany. Also, we did a show at The Nuclear Blast headquarters, which coincided nicely with our entering the German charts at number 18! In other words, it was gearing up to be a strange journey before we even left. We traveled on a Night Liner with all three bands, a merch girl, tour manager, and soundman. The last two shows, which were the Rock Hard festival and The London show, were done in a van because the other bands were not doing those. This tour was also our first time on a bus, which was really nice because all the driving was done overnight, so when you rolled out of bed the following day, you were already in the next town. Some days we would arrive late, so it was straight into soundcheck and show mode, but on others there was time to wander around the city for a while and sightsee. Unfortunately, we really did not have time to see much of Switzerland other than the drive in, but in Italy we had more time and I really enjoyed walking around Milan, but the following day in Rome, I was too tired to get out and about, which was really a bummer because I really wanted to see Rome. Even if there was time to look around, most of the venues were well outside the city center and it took much planning and walking and train rides to get to where you wanted to go.

It’s kind of special to be that close together with your band mates for so long. If nobody is able to escape from his surroundings it may cause trouble or tensions. If you are not able to take your time for yourself you may become crazy, impatient or even mad?! Did some of the mentioned occur and if so how did you solve that?

The road has been a real bonding place for us, and we have been lucky to tour with great bands that were really friendly and we all got along well. In some cities I would take off by myself after soundcheck and walk around, which was nice, and everyone was good about being quiet on the bus during the day, so people could get some quiet time, and most importantly, so the driver could sleep!

After you have decided to do the headlining instead of Witchcraft on the promotion tour: Did this decision make you happy by looking behind, are you grateful for the possibility? Do you think it was a successful tour for ORCHID?

It was a scary decision to make because we had no time to plan for it, we found out the day before and I remember waking up the morning we were leaving not knowing for sure if it was still on. I checked my emails and we had heard nothing, so we decided to head for the airport and hope for the best! By the time of the first show, there were still 6 open dates that had cancelled, and we were worried about finances, but the booking company came through, and by the third show all the nights were rebooked, and I was surprised to find that even the pick up dates were over half full, which was really amazing because the promoters had less than a week in some instances to get the word out. I would say by the fourth date we were confident in our new headlining status and it was all shaping up to be a blessing in disguise. In the end, it was a very successful tour for Orchid!

Carter Kennedy of Orchid | Photo by Julia Adam

Someone who is travelling will always learn something they say. Did you learn something special while touring old Europe?

I guess I learned the most on the first tour, and that is the fact that for the kind of music we are doing Europe is the ideal place to tour. The people are great and there seems to be a huge music scene in all the countries for about any kind of music there is. Rock music is very alive and kicking in Europe much more so than in the states.

You travelled with your promotion tour partners Troubles Horse and Free Fall. How was the relationship between the bands? Did you make some friends? Have you been happy with the constellation?

They were great, I was totally blown away at how good of musicians they all were, Sweden is apparently full up on talent! We had a great time, and were all real good friends in no time. I think I spent more time hanging out with the guys in Troubled Horse than I did with my own band. I found myself in late night bars after the show in quite a few cities to look around and not see another member of my band in sight. Everyone had such good personalities and there was no shortage of laughter at any moment, especially the drunken late night bus rides when we would have to leave directly after the show.

Referring to the live capture of the RockHard Festival: It’s plain to see that your engagement is very high. You’re so aware of what you’re doing and wide awake. It seems that you really mean it while still having fun. How do you prepare yourself for an upcoming concert in general? Was there some stage fright among you or your mates? How did it feel before, meanwhile and after the gig at the Rock Hard Festival in front of 8000 people?

I would say we were all a little nervous before that show because we knew that they were recording live and also we were using different equipment, and not to mention it was by far the largest audience we have ever played for. On the other hand, we were all so sleep deprived that day, which actually helped keep my nerves to a minimum. I have to hand it to the crew there, the sound on stage was really great and the staff and techs were top notch and on the spot with everything. I usually warm up for about thirty minutes before the show and stretch and try to stay relaxed and focused. I think the focus for us all was to stay relaxed and have fun, and most important for me, DON’T PLAY TOO FAST! After the show, we felt great, we made it through with no train wrecks and an overall good performance, I mean it was not perfect, it never is, that is what makes it live, and that is the stuff I really like to see. When I check out a new band, I always go to YouTube videos in order to see what they really sound like.

It looks like you spread love and happiness! Did you expect the success and respect you earned for your music?

Our music does make us happy, so it spreads naturally because it is true. I think people can really tell the difference between genuine happiness and that which is contrived. As far as the success we are having, we never really expected it. I think we have all been in bands in the past where the focus was on making it, and in the end it never really happened. This band was about writing good music and maybe doing some local shows, but we never really expected it to go any farther than that. It was quite a surprise when our first label happened to catch some demo songs we had up on MySpace years ago, and contacted us with a deal, especially since it was coming all the way from Germany! We never sought out a record deal, or even a tour, everything that has happened for this band has been a natural process of simple word of mouth. We did the best music we all enjoyed and things just happened bit by bit, nothing was ever forced or expected. I was playing in a couple bands when I joined Orchid, and Orchid was the one I was doing for fun, just for the love of the music, and was by far the last band I thought would take me across the world touring! In my mind, at the time, I thought only people who sold their souls in silly pop bands got to do that!

Your cradle is not a golden bath tub, is it? Theo is owner of Murphy’s tattoo shop, Mark’s working in an office. Can you live off the income of your sold music already or do you have to work in another regular job to pay your bills? What about Keith?

No, we can’t live off the band at this point, and we all have other jobs too. By the way, it is Spider Murphys. I work odd jobs, mainly landscape and gardening and I also do some writing, back in 2010 I published an occult novel online through Keith’s publishing company called Foma publishing, the book is called Schism, which I authored under the name C.S. Kennedy. I wish we did try and live off our music by touring more, but we are older and people do have other jobs and responsibilities, so we don’t tour as much as I would like to, but hopefully one day that will change. Since 2011, we have averaged two short European tours a year. I also stay busy with other music projects where I live and have done some teaching too.

You started drumming as a child working out how Stewart Copeland drummed for The Police or John Bonham. What did your parents think of that? As you learned mastering the drums did you ever have a teacher or did you find out for yourself? What was your ambition and motivation to learn drumming as you do: to get grounded or was it the aspect of precision, this counting where your bandmates can rely on?

I had toy drum kits as a little child but they all would be bashed to pieces before any serious study was undertaken. When I was four years old I was going through my sister’s record collection and came across Kiss Love Gun and was totally blown away with the look and the music, and from that point on I knew I wanted to be a rock musician. My parents took me to see Kiss the following year and I was hooked. I played some guitar but did not get serious about playing music until I was 11 and came home from school one day and my mom had bought a used drum kit from a friend and I took to it immediately, teaching myself Rock n Roll by Led Zeppelin, and Every breath You take by the police. After that, I went to a local music store in Birmingham, Alabama, where I am originally from, and found a drum teacher and took lessons for a couple years learning all my rudiments and the basics. I also did a year in marching band playing snare on a really good drum line, which was quite hard because I never really learned how to read music well. Most everything I know I learned by ear and observation, but those few formative years of lessons were really vital, to this day I am always trying to learn new beats and take things a little farther, I think drumming is a constant process of evolving and there is always more to learn. My parents are not musical but they did support my endeavors as a kid, but never thought it was something I would still be focused on all these years later.

Can you tell me more about the evolution of your drumming, did you play in some bands before you met Theo and if what was it about? How did it feel to go for a tattoo and leave the shop as the drummer of Orchid? What is the story behind?

I have played in more bands than I can count before I met Theo. I am originally from Alabama and did not move to California until February of 2007 and joined Orchid in late October of that year. They had a few different drummers before me but nothing really stuck until I joined. I started playing when I was 11 and started my first band when I was twelve. By the age of 14 I was writing contracts and playing school dances and making decent money too. I started with classic rock and that seems to be where I ended back up. Led Zeppelin was my favorite band, and then when I was thirteen I got into Rush and set out to learn every Rush song I could. When I was seventeen I started playing bars well before the legal drinking age of 21 in the states. Most all my bands until I was 18 were all working cover bands until I was 18 and then I got into thrash and for the next few years I was all about double bass drumming and playing as fast as I could. By the time I was 21 I was back into groove oriented music and I started touring the southeast and east coast of the US during my mid twenties and came close to a couple of record deals but the bands would always fall apart before any big breaks could be had. I did some studio work and played with some really great musicians but eventually circumstances changed and I found myself in California playing for a power pop band when I was getting a tattoo at Spider Murphy’s, Theo’s shop, and Matt, the guy tattooing me told me Theo had a good band that sounded a lot like Black Sabbath that was looking for a drummer. I gave Matt the go ahead to give him my number, and soon after Theo called and I went down to try out and got the job. I think within two weeks of the first rehearsal I played my first show with Orchid and by the first of the following year we were in the studio demoing the first songs. Orchid was the first time all the pieces fit together from the start, it was the whole package, Theo had a distinct vision and for once all the right people were in the right place physically and spiritually to make it happen. Of course we never thought it would be more than a Bay Area bar band because all of us were older and had been through the music industry before and were not willing to jump in a van and tour around empty rooms and starve, hell, that never really worked in the past. The idea was to make a really good album for ourselves not knowing if anyone else would ever hear it. As we were recording, we would put rough mixes up on MySpace and that is when Oli from Church Within found us and was wanting us to sign to his label, which we did and put out the first EP very soon after.

Did you start playing just for fun or did some professional intentions exist already? What would you do if Orchid would not exist?

I have always been trying to play professionally from the beginning but I always have had to have other ways to supplement my income. If Orchid did not exist I would still be playing in other bands. I have never quit playing in bands since I started, I have always seen it as a spiritual obligation, and believe me sometimes the thought of quitting has seemed much easier, but I never have. In the last question I told how I got into Orchid, as for the others, Mark and Theo had played in other bands together in the past and I believe they knew of Nickel through the San Francisco music scene.

Seems every song could be identified only by hearing the drums. No, what did I say, even every chorus, lyric section, bridge surplus and lots of variations could be identified. In your musical performance there are so many changes of themes and speed, how are you capable of reproducing? This fabulous precision, how did you even implement chord progressions into a pulse of four? Can you recall every single stroke of every song, its pattern, the whole information at once? Is it there in your head always ready to recall? Hey, what is the trick?

It is all muscle memory, I have played in so many cover bands over the years and that really helped me to retain stuff and learn songs really fast, hell, it has all been done before to some extent. We do discuss every last detail of what we are playing as a band and only the most fitting parts stay. For instance I was big into playing double bass, especially in original bands, but when I joined Orchid Theo said that was not fitting for the music, which was a challenge to come off with new fills without getting to use all the same I was used to. What’s funny, that in the end putting limits on what I could use actually made me more creative and a better player in the end. Not to say I did not kick and scream along the way! Change is never easy, and neither is putting together good music in a band, especially in the beginning when you are still feeling each other out. I was on a pretty tight leash for the first albums, but now I know more what will pass and the drum parts for Orchid songs come much easier and are more my own. Our next album is going to be the most collaborative of them yet, and I am really excited to see what comes of it, so far so good.

Your latest album ‘The Mouths of Madness’ has been out since May 2013. I for myself would state this one to be one of the best I got in my record arsenal. I don’t want to discuss each song here because it doesn’t make sense to spread my opinion due to my perception. All songs have their identity and behind every single one there lies a huge amount of hard work. There is no filler for me. The musical arrangements are so colorful and well balanced. There are so many things to explore if you really get into it, and man, I did. It didn’t become boring until now and I heard it a lot of times I swear. The record is worth every single cent I paid for it and I think I made a good deal as I think it was too cheap, what a value for money! It’s again the quality of the whole that gives me the thrills including the artwork. This etched logo on the D-side is just magnificent! So nice that you’ve also produced ‘Mouths’ on cassette! To talk about quality: is this a pillar of your band as a company?

Our singer is the final say on everything and is much more the artist than the businessman. It is all about quality and no expense is ever spared. He is without a doubt the biggest perfectionist I have ever met, it can be really frustrating, but I must say it has served us well so far. He is an incredible artist, for sure.

Let’s do some talking about the lyrics, an outstanding writing as far as I am concerned. So, if it comes to formal decisions do you all participate? Or does all the green grow in Theo’s garden? Do you think Theo is a visionary if he exactly knows how a song should work or sound before you all start to create it and bring it to life. Where is he getting inspiration from?

Theo writes all the lyrics and most of the music so far, sometimes he might walk in and hear Mark and I jamming on something and a few weeks later he comes back with a song built around the same riff. We arrange the music as a band, and with the next album there will be more written riffs and ideas coming from the rest of us. Since we put the songs together as a band, no matter where the riff came from, we tend to credit the band for the music and Theo for the vocals. I would say on ‘Capricorn’ he knew what he wanted before it was even in existence, but not so much for all the songs on ‘Mouths,’ and I think he is purposely trying not to have such an exact vision on each song with the next album or that is how the writing is going so far, we are already a couple songs into the next album right now and it is shaping up nicely, I love how each album in this band shows growth and the process is not always the same from song to song, album to album. I believe his inspiration comes from the music he grew up listening to, and obviously Black Sabbath was a big part of that.

What is the ambition of the band: What do you want to achieve? Do you want to spread any message, is there a lyrical wake up call?

I don’t think we are trying to sell any kind of message, we are just trying to keep growing and making each new record better than the last.

The whole arranging work takes a lot of time. How long do you work on a song until it feels good on the average? How often do you meet to practice or to work out new stuff to come?

We usually get together twice a week, but when it gets closer to recording time or pre production it can be more. As far as individual songs, we work on it until it is right, some songs like Wizard of War come really quickly and others take weeks to take form, and sometimes months until they are right. The longer we are together the quicker the process becomes.

Your appearance on stage makes me wonder as if it is a part of the bands’ concept. To appear in these hippie clothes: Do you wear that stuff regularly? Is there some thought behind this? What’s the motivation behind the look?

The look was Theo’s idea, but I dress the same all the time, usually Bell Bottoms and a black tank top or T-shirt, whether working in the garden or on stage. We are a 70s band from the style to the song writing to the recording process, I guess the only oddity is we are doing it in the wrong decade! We were all long haired Hippie dudes when we met, so it is real and natural.

How do you cope with the increase of work and time brought to you with success? Do you have to meet the expectations of thirds?

I guess the main thing that changed was deadlines once we signed Nuclear Blast, I think it is a good thing because ‘Capricorn’ drugged us for years getting made, but then again we were finding ourselves as a band through the whole process. We do have final say and full artistic freedom, the label just tries to keep things in a timely fashion. I am impatient and love to play live as much as possible, if it was up to me it would have been moving faster all along, I gig with other bands in the Bay Area to help feed that need to play, but Orchid is my top priority and the best band I have ever been in for sure.

At Slims Keith had trouble with his amplifier. What was the problem? How did you as a band solve the problem? How was the venue and concert?

I think the problem mainly was from the monitoring system and in house sound, something that would probably not happen in Europe, wink wink! Slims is a great venue, as far as the look and size, but the sound is not the best and they have a noise ordinance, and have to keep things below a certain decibel, which is a little annoying. Overall it was a really great gig, great to see the love and support of San Francisco, something that is not easy to get! And we greatly appreciate it.

Music is considered to be an escape. Is that enough for you or do you have some different ways to clear up your brain?

Music has been the healthiest escape I have found so far, I have had other ways in the past, but those nearly killed me!

Slowly to come to an end. If you stick to vinyl why do you do it? What records are turning on your record player these days?

I think vinyl sounds the best, especially for this band. These days I listen to Witchcraft, Graveyard, and still a lot of Zeppelin and Sabbath, Steely Dan and other 70s rock stuff. I like all kinds of music and I am always looking for something new to listen to.

How would you convince parents to let their children learn drums, guitar, bass? To let them become a musician? What are the benefits of making music for you?

I think learning music can help with anything in life, it teaches teamwork and takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be good at it. It also helps with memory and keeping your mind sharp. I think it is the only thing that has kept me alive, the biggest benefit is playing to a full house knowing that people actually do care to hear what you do, I was a music fan first, musician second.

You’re heading for Europe again this November with Scorpion Child and The Blues Pills! How do you feel about that, you just came here yesterday!?

I love to tour, and again it couldn’t happen soon enough, they are both great bands. I hung out with Blues Pills for a bit at Desert Fest in Berlin and really liked them as people, I am sure it will be a blast.

Carter Kennedy of Orchid | Photo by Chris Del Grande

To see you on another stage, thank you so much for your time and patience, it was an honor to speak to you! I wish you all well for all time to come and it is a pleasure to see you all again before wintertime. This fire will keep warm…

Thank you so much for all your kind words and support, we are all looking forward to great times in November in Europe, see you soon!

Janoir

Orchid Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp