Exclusive Interview with I SEE ORANGE

Hailing from Mexico, Giselle brought to the UK her unique taste and a talent for writing folk pop, looking to explore a new musical direction fuelled by a passion for rock. Finding Cameron and Charlie, two British born and raised musicians marked the inception of I See Orange, mixing multiple genres into their unique post-grunge sound, a deliberate combo of captivating melodies, clever lyricism and heavy rock. Check out the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us about the band’s origins: the line-up has an international flavour, so how did you all connect? And from where did the band’s moniker come?

I SEE ORANGE: I Giselle moved to the UK from Mexico and I was working on my solo project at the time but I really wanted to make some musical friends here in the UK. Cameron had been in a couple of his friends bands but was looking to find some people he could start a serious band with. Charlie had stopped playing drums for a while but got a sudden urge to play again, so he too was also looking to find a band to play with and get back in to playing.

I put an ad out on to our local scene musicians facebook group to see if there was any musicians that wanted to play some of my songs and maybe start a band. Cameron and Charlie responded and we decided to have a meeting jam session.

This led to booking a small studio session together for the first time. As we walked in, everything was orange. The drum kit, the amps were all Orange amps, the walls were black and orange sound foam. Before even playing together I instantly had a great feeling about this session being a bit superstitious and sentimental to the colour Orange.

We started with one of my songs and we instantly clicked. It felt easy and natural to all play together and so we decided to form the band and keep going.

We sat around a meal trying to come up with a name for the band, a lot of good and very poor suggestion’s were passed around but I could not shake the good feeling I had about seeing all that orange in the room. It was our first meeting, it had to mean something. So I mentioned to the guys about when we entered the room, I said “I see Orange”. We all then and there decided to be called ‘I See Orange’

2. Musically, you draw inspiration from ‘90s and early 2000 bands. What bands are you main influences, and is there one group who all the band loves? And what made you look backwards for inspiration rather than at contemporary artists?

Giselle: I personally always loved the grunge scene of the 90’s, in all that intails. From the music to the styles and fashion and the 90’s in general. Movies and shows like ‘Empire Records’ I guess inspires me when I write sometimes. Even when I pick a dress i want to get, like everything else I love and like.

The 3 of us have a liking towards 90’s rock music in common and that era in general.

We wouldn’t say we look backwards for inspiration in our music, it’s just a time in music that we really love and it speaks to us.

We try to not let bands of our inspiration inspire our creations too much. We want the sound and that nostalgia, but to mention some of the bands we like are Nirvana, Pixies, Soundgarden, Oasis, Foo Fighters and Hole.

We also love modern bands like ‘The Warning’ that keeps our sound diverse.

3. Lyrically, your songs avoid stereotypical subjects. From where do you draw lyrical stimulation? And what’s your songwriting progress; how do you piece songs together?

(Giselle), I’m a very sentimental person and I feel every little bit of my life experiences very deeply. It happens to me all too often and being that way is quite a lot emotionally. Writing is really therapeutic to me and it’s a relief to be able to put what I feel down in words. I write songs and poems all the time to cope, and I journal daily so lyrics are coming from all my surroundings.

We would either take a demo from a finished song I had written and we would then work it out together at the rehearsal room. We would each add our parts instrumentally and polish it up. We could also be at the rehearsal room and Cameron would start playing a riff he just came up with and

Charlie will join him with the drums. Then I would start humming a melody on vocals and a song would magically come out of us, it’s really fun and that’s how our song ‘Mental Rot’ came to life.

4. Things have moved really fast since the band’s formation in 2022. Are you surprised by the momentum you’ve picked up?

I SEE ORANGE: Yes, we’ve been really amazed by the support we’ve been getting, it’s great to see people really connecting to our music. What’s been most surprising for us is the attention we’ve been getting on YouTube, especially with the Mental Rot music video and being able to see our fans come out to support us live!

5. You’re the first non-Japanese band signed to JPU Records. How did that come about, and how do you feel you fit into their roster?

I SEE ORANGE:

JPU discovered us through the alt escape in Brighton earlier this year, and we loved JPU’s mission for bands and their artists, and it felt like a perfect fit for us due to the passion and want, to go more international. We’re so excited and honoured to be the first non-Japanese band signed to JPU, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds together.

6. The band has a strong visual presence, case in point being the video for your latest single ‘Doll Guts’. Where do you get the ideas for your videos and what meaning are you trying to convey?

I SEE ORANGE: We try to follow an aesthetic and a theme, sometimes visually showing the meaning of a song metaphorically in a music video. Old School looking videos, 90’s fashion, spooky things and the Autumn season are a big inspiration for it.

7. You’ve released an EP and a handful of singles, are you ready to unleash an album? If so, what can people expect?

I SEE ORANGE: Yes, so ready. We have our debut album coming soon and people can expect so much more of what they have heard already but in all its contrasts, lyrically and sonicly, it’s a very fun, raw album. We really hope you all will love it as much as we do.

8. How do you envision your sound evolving in the future?

I SEE ORANGE:

We’re always experimenting with new sounds and trying to push ourselves to become the best musicians we can be.

Our goal is the always push boundaries and hone our sound whilst keeping the core energy of our sound that people have connected with.

9. How does your sound transfer to the live environment? For those who’ve never seen I See Orange live, how would you describe one of your gigs?

I SEE ORANGE: We usually come up with most of our songs together in a rehearsal room, so we always feel our songs translate very well to the live shows. We play everything live with real amps to really give the songs the energy they deserve. We are constantly renewing pedals so that we can really achieve the recorded sound and replicate that in the live environment and keep everything raw, all sounds from our instruments. We really feel our music on stage and express this as best we can through our movements and expressions. We are always looking for new ways to connect with our audience with sing a long choruses (and maybe some bubbles!)

10. Finally, what are your future plans?

I SEE ORANGE: Keep playing, touring as It’s a big dream for us and continuing making music Thanks for your time!