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WEHM All Access - Great South Bay Music Festival - Orchyd
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In this episode, Harry sits down with Brian and Anthony of Orchid ahead of their return to the Great South Bay Music Festival. They look back on winning the Battle for the Bay and how the band grew from casual backyard jam sessions during the pandemic into one of Long Island's rising jam bands. The conversation also covers their approach to writing original music, how their songs evolve on stage, and why keeping the music at the center of everything is still their biggest priority.
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Well the Great South Bay Music Festival is uh jam-packed with a great bunch of uh bands this year, and uh every year it's always fun to uh see new ones, but also see bands return. And I believe this is their third time around. Uh the band Orchid. Welcome in, guys. How are you?
SPEAKER_01Good man, how are you?
SPEAKER_00Very good. Thank you for coming on, chatting with uh Brian and Anthony from the band Orchid. We met, I want to say it was a couple years back, part of the battle for the Great South Bay, and they blew away the judges. Uh and now they're back for performance number three. Uh what uh what's it been like as a band? Uh of course, what was that first time like performing at the Great South Bay Music Festival?
SPEAKER_02It was uh it was definitely a uh new experience, definitely the biggest stage we had played on to that point. Um I remember before going into the battle, you know, it was just something we saw on social media, thought we'd try it out. I wasn't expecting anything grand from it, but uh we ended up winning the thing, and uh yeah, it was it was fortunate for us, and it was it was a great time getting to to play the festival for the first time.
SPEAKER_00How long have you guys been a band? It's been uh it's been a few years.
SPEAKER_02Uh 2020, I'd say is when we formed. Um it was during the pandemic, and you know, we were just looking for ways to entertain ourselves. And uh it was actually in Brian's backyard. We uh a couple of our friends, you know, we plugged in just jamming on some songs we know. Um, but it was Brian and Eric and I that we all shared that passion for the grateful dead and just that kind of like jam band seed of music. So you know, at first it was just the three of us with acoustic guitars just playing through the the dead songs, um got a couple of gigs in town here and there, um, and the rest is history, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Well, what was it? Because you you started off as as a as a tribute band to the dead. Uh how'd you make the decision to kind of involve to a to a full band?
SPEAKER_01Um we uh it was weird. We we had a couple of friends join us every now and then. Then we had a couple of friends leave us every now and then. Uh and we just kept you know having like a like a weird eclectic group of us. So I I think it was either Tony or I suggested why don't we just start writing originals? If they work, they work, if they don't, they don't. And it's just kind of exploded.
SPEAKER_02What's yeah, you know, in the beginning it was a lot of just you know playing Grateful Dead and other art like classic rock bands we'd cover here and there. Um Eric was the first one to bring his song to the table. It was the song Walk Me to the Sun, he wrote that, and that was that's kind of like our our first song. So uh yeah, you know, Brian started writing stuff, I started writing stuff, we're writing together, and now we've got uh a good handful of songs that we cycle through.
SPEAKER_00What's the writing process like for you guys? Um, as far as uh how does it start, whether it be with melody or with with lyrics? Where do you guys begin?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'd say the three of us have kind of distinct writing styles, which on one hand, um, for one band to cover so much ground in terms of genre is a little, you know, it's it's a bit out there, but uh I feel like that's part of what makes us unique is that you know you look at a band like The Grateful Dead, all of those guys, you know, they came from different dep different backgrounds, like Jerry had his bluegrass thing, um Phil was classically trained, so I feel like that's part of you know what made them such a great, you know, creative band is that they all had those different influences. So I'd say we're kind of similar in that regard. Um as far as the writing process, um usually I like to lay down the melody first. I know everybody's different and it's kind of you know, everybody has their own way of doing things. But um what really makes our writing process fun for me is that you know usually one of us will be like the main songwriter, you know, the person that lays out the chords and the lyrics, whatever. But then we'll all just kind of add our own little thing. Like for example, um, Glimpse is a song that I wrote the words and the uh chord changes to, but Eric's got his you know, lead lines that he plays, you know, that was all him. Brian's got the little, you know, the the thing in the intro, those chords, that was him. He came up with that. And uh Dave, who is no longer in the band, but uh he was a drummer at the time, you know, those little flourishes and stuff, that was all him. So it's uh on one hand, it's you know, it's us personally bringing our own, you know, writing style to the table, but then everybody also has their own thing that they bring to the table, you know.
SPEAKER_00So how does it work with uh because obviously um the the songs change, they evolve on stage. Um when you decide to jam and kind of take them in a different direction. Uh how does that uh how does that I guess organically grow? Um does it start, do you kind of know where you want to go with the song and change it up on the stage, or where do you get and how do you communicate that with the uh the band to w to make sure everyone's kind of on the same page that you're gonna try something?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, that's one of the liberating things of being in a in a band like this is that you don't have to well, because ideally as an artist, you want to fully commit to something before you bring it out to the world, right? But the beauty of being in a in a band that does so much improvisation is that you can kind of, you know, over time things just start start of sort to to change organic, kind of like you said, organically. And uh, you know, takes a while for some song, like sometimes you have to play them a lot before you like settle into them. Like I can tell you in the beginning, you know, the way we played Walk Me to the Sun five years ago and we started playing it is nothing like the way we play it now, you know. So, you know, just over time, gradually, those things kind of change. I don't know if there's anything you want to add, Brian, to that.
SPEAKER_01Uh well for certain songs, like if uh like I might write out like a chord progression. Um, but still even then, like the how we do it stylistically is always different every now and then. I always try to tell them like maybe this this time we let's take it a little more spacey with this word, or this time let's let's give it more of like a driving funk kind of beat. Like it's always uh it's always just kind of like day of what you're feeling, and you can you just make a suggestion. No one has to follow it, but you just make a suggestion.
SPEAKER_00That's interesting. With a lot of members in the band, and uh, how do you kind of I I guess carve out the space for everyone um to make sure that you're not necessarily crowded uh with each other and everyone kind of gets their own role? Is that tough to develop and uh how how does that work to make sure everyone's everyone's got their own part?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it can be tough at times, um, especially when we were a six-piece, you know, six most bands, you know, four four members is is enough. But uh it's something we kind of had to consider early, because in the beginning, when it was just Eric and Brian and I, three guitars, you know, most bands can make it with one guitar. We've got two extra basically. So um, you know, that's one of the biggest hurdles in the beginning was just finding out how to you know give each other that that space. Because it's hard to do, because you have three lead instruments playing together, and uh but I think that's part of you know just you know adapting to kind of the circumstance of you know, we all we all like the guitar, it's our instrument, and we've learned how to you know play with each other and just give each other that space. So um yeah, that's the the gist of it.
SPEAKER_00Where did the uh where did the name come from? Orchid.
SPEAKER_02Well, we actually changed the name. The first name we had was a little too similar to another jam band, like in that jam band sphere, and we didn't want you know any weird stuff coming out of that. So um all I can tell you about Orchid is that it's like the flower but with a Y. It kind of sounds cool. But I also kind of like the uh kind of like the the nature aspect of it, you know. I feel like there's like a like an organic kind of kind of I hate using the word vibe, but I guess that would be the best way to describe it.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's funny talking to a lot of bands that are performing, they ask them about their name and their origin. I feel like that's one of the tougher things for people to come up with. It's almost the last thing they need a name before they start doing stuff, and that's one of the harder things. So I'm glad that that came together for you guys. Uh how long of let's go I'm curious to kind of get your backgrounds um for for each of you. Um when did it I guess we'll start with Brian. Um, when did you start getting into music? Has this been something you've been doing all your life? Um kind of w how did you get involved uh with this type of uh this type of direction with with your life with music?
SPEAKER_01Uh I started playing like music in general when I was in uh fourth grade. My elementary school, I'm sure a lot of elementary schools here give you that choice of like three or four different instruments. And and I chose trumpet and trombone, and the trombone was just too big for my scrawny little body at the time, so I took trumpet. Um and I did that all the way through high school. I did the course uh classes and stuff like that. And then in high school I was doing the like the extra bands like Safonic and uh like uh concert choir, student musicals and stuff, and that uh that's in high school when like the world started like just burning. I I I went to the Grateful Dead because everyone talked about I have family members that that love that music, uh, and it's always been played around me, but I never invested into it. So I finally like was like, let's do it. And I stuck my whole body into it, just jumped right into the pool. Uh, and I just started searching for like I was like, everyone likes this decade. Let's listen to this decade. I started listening to that, and then that that you know, just like all things, that uh I started getting into more like uh funk and uh that like 70s sort of like um like yacht rock sort of thing and jazz and stuff like that. Uh I got really, really invested into that.
SPEAKER_00Um where did you where did you grow up?
SPEAKER_01Uh Linda Nurse. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Oh you're Lindy Bulldogs, yeah. It's interesting that you said trumpet and trombone because I've found uh that there's a really distinct personality traits between trumpet players and really different for trombone players. So it's good to hear that you uh you you dabbled in both and then you went in the uh the trumpet direction. Uh so did your parents listen to the dead, or how did you because you briefly mentioned it there, how did you really get into it and discover it?
SPEAKER_01Um I would my mom is the musician of the family. She used to play violin and do uh uh music lessons. She went to Potsdam for music and stuff like that. So she'd be the one who's playing music a lot in the car. Uh so I would hear a lot of Jerry Garcia like band kind of stuff, but only like uh American beauty and that sort of stuff. My dad really likes uh the more rock and roll like country stuff, especially his side of the family. So I would hear more of that from him when we were driving the car.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's uh and then Tony Anthony, what uh how does it work for you? When did you start doing music and kind of get involved?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so uh I didn't really come from much of a musical background or anything. Um my parents were big, you know, classic rock fans, so I grew up listening to a lot of that. Um I think what was the uh the big experience for me that kind of changed my life is when I got Guitar Hero 3 for Christmas, probably the year 2008, but uh I played the hell out of that game and I uh worked up my way to playing on expert. Uh not bragging, but uh it inspired me and it made me you know want to pursue music. So, you know, I took guitar lessons on and off when I was in middle school and high school, but I didn't really stick with it until I was in college. Um went to school in Newport, so if you've ever been there, you know, hippie-dip town, hippie-dip school. Um, but they have a lot of like local bands come through and it was going to house shows and just you know seeing that kind of community being fostered that you know kind of relit my passion and made me more serious about it. So picked up the guitar band that was about maybe seven or eight years ago now and haven't looked back since.
SPEAKER_00How's it been with uh because it it's interesting, it's not just about being in a band, uh sadly anymore and just playing music and doing shows. There's a lot of promotion that has to happen now, and you can get your name out there with social media and posts. What's been uh that like for you guys as a band to try to kind of put together the whole package to really raise your profile?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's definitely one of the biggest hurdles for a for a musician or a band in this day is that you can't just be a musician, you gotta be a content creator too, you know? And the hardest thing about that is just the fact that you know content creation, it's good for expanding your brand and you know, you know, just sharing who you are, but it's not really the best medium for music, especially when you have like a jam band where you're playing, you know, 10, 15 minute long songs, but most people, you know, you're scrolling through 30-second videos, you know. So it's hard to adapt it to that format. And you know, you can do like little skits and things like that, but you know, at the end of the day, the music has to be the most important thing, right? So it's it's hard to balance those two things. But uh, you know, we try to post concert videos. Um, we did a couple of like you know, skid kind of things for you know, promoting our GSB uh festival set that's coming up, but uh yeah, you know, the hardest part is just finding that balance of you know doing things that you know are you think are gonna bring in fans and you know just making sure that the music is front and center.
SPEAKER_00Is there a platform that you found uh that's better for it? Um obviously TikTok and Instagram are out there, Bandcamp and and others that are very different. And Adrian, is there one that you guys have gravitated towards that kind of makes sense to you a little more?
SPEAKER_02Instagram is definitely where uh most of our you know social media presence happens. Um I like Bandcamp because you know it's just they do a lot for the artists. You know, they they make the music the most important thing, and you know, the artists are able to like set their prices and stuff. So if you want to support the artists directly, it's definitely the best best platform.
SPEAKER_00Uh you guys were the winners of the battle for the Great South Bay a couple of years back. Uh I've always been curious what goes through the mind because it's interesting, and I have to say we've been very lucky. We've done this a few years now, and for the most part, the bands get along. Um, you know, everyone's it's a small community overall, everyone's gonna see each other at different places. What goes through your mind when you're getting on the stage to compete and you you know you have got a certain amount of time to to impress these judges? Uh, what was going through your head at the time?
SPEAKER_02Well, I can tell you um when I saw that there was there was a panel of judges, they didn't say anything about that before, so that kind of surprised me. Just the fact that, oh, cool, so it's not just the audience, it's uh some actual judges here to uh I guess judge us. But uh Yeah, I mean it's also interesting because the way I see it, you know, music isn't like a competition, you know, people can have opinions of what's good and bad, but you know, it's not really something that, you know you can objectively say that one band is better than another, you know? So um but as far as you know competing goes, you know, it's all I can do is, you know, before I go on stage, you know, I just I will I want to show you know what I've what I've worked for, you know, that's that's what I'm thinking mostly.
SPEAKER_00So you certainly impressed the judges like any other game. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, no, you certainly impressed the judges that night, and it was a really an amazing scene that and really I think all the bands were really good. Um so it's not it's just kind of what they're looking for at the festival, uh which is an interesting um and process to go through. But either way, it's a good experience, and you guys uh have been together for three more years now since that um put was put together. Uh, where do you guys want to go with recording? Are you in the studio uh recording some some some tracks or uh be an EP or an album? What are you guys thinking for the future?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, last year was our our first EP, where you remain. Um that was right before last year's festival. We we dropped that. Um we definitely got plans to get back into the studio. We've got songs that we want to record, we got some some ideas. It's still kind of in the development stages, or you know, we have songs that we've written, we have songs that we maybe haven't written yet. We're still you know kind of in that developmental phase before we can uh you know work on executing it.
SPEAKER_00So I I read that, Tony, you um you handled the mixing and the mastering for it. So what's that like uh to be put in your hands to to do for the band?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well uh I got my degree from Five Towns College, uh master's in sound recording technology. So uh you know, part of the reason I went there after I graduated from when I when I went to school in Newport is because I wanted my skills to serve the band. Um and on one hand it's nice when you're able to do that, especially when you know, if you're the person that has the vision for the music and you're also handling the technical side, that's you know the best way that you can really bring the vision to life in its most uh you know accurate way. But it's at the same time, it's also very stressful. Um you know. I would say that my skills as an engineer are not bad, but you know, maybe there's some people that could have done it better, you know what I'm saying? Like like I'm I'm I'm proud of what I've accomplished, don't get me wrong, but uh it's it's a lot, is basically what I'm trying to say, is that when you're the person who writes it and you're recording it and you're mixing it, you know, it's it's uh it's it can be tough to wear that many hats.
SPEAKER_00What's it like to kind of capture the jam ban energy in a studio? Um because it's kind of a balance, I'd imagine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it um we for at least the the EP last year, we tried uh we did multiple takes. We usually had a metronome going. Uh we for some of the songs for not all of them, but for some of the songs we we took our our our favorite parts of the jams uh and kind of like made an amalgamation of a of a good solo. Uh for other songs, we just went in there, recorded it like six or seven times, and just pumped out something, something that we liked, uh, whatever we thought was good. And if we didn't, we went right back in and we just re-recorded everything. Didn't matter. We just love playing music, so it really was not a not a uh a problem. I just felt bad for the engineer. He just had to keep hearing the same thing over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00Um, your mission is to is to bring people together, and you guys love music. I think that's the what the important thing is, because you can kind of get uh caught up in making the perfect record or uh making sure the promotion's out there, but you guys really do have the passion for it. Um what uh I guess uh when did you first realize that your s your your music actually had such an influence on the audience? Uh what's that like to see and then and watch from the stage?
SPEAKER_02I mean, you know, for me the best part is just seeing people dance. I just I just like seeing people dance. But uh, you know, every so often, you know, you'll get somebody that'll approach you and they'll say, like, you know, that that really resonated with me, or you know, that that was really, you know, great. And uh it's it's kind of it's it's really humbling as a musician because sometimes, you know, a lot of musicians get caught up in perfectionism. I know I'm guilty of that. Um you know, sometimes I'll play something and you know, I'll I'll I'll think like, wow, I could have done a lot better. That wasn't really the best. But and then somebody will approach me and say, that was amazing, that was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. You know, those are you know, high praise. So it's kind of you know, it's it's you know, kind of humbling to uh you know, there's a there's a disconnect sometimes for what an artist perceives on stage than what the audience perceives, and it's kind of just interesting to see that.
SPEAKER_00Uh as you guys get together, getting ready for the uh the Great South Bay Music Festival in a couple weeks, uh that's happening. Uh Saturday, you guys are performing at the band show on the 510 College stage. Um that'll be happening. Great South Bay MusicFestival.com for the full schedule of uh performances, and you guys are out there, I believe leading off uh the day uh for that. Um so that should be fun. How do you guys uh approach the set? Is it different than I'd imagine it's a little bit different for the Great South Bay Music Festival? How do you put together the set list?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's definitely a little different. Um we're used to having a little more time for our sets, so uh, especially for you know when you have a lot of extended improvisational parts, you know, 40 minutes is kind of like it's uh you know, you have to kind of squeeze it in there, you know.
SPEAKER_00So you guys have the sets and you kind of know what you're doing what you're gonna do.
SPEAKER_01We have an idea. We have an idea. We you know, we we have some uh some stuff in mind, but uh again, everything's so fluid up until this the the point of the rehears uh uh the show that we're just gonna we're gonna go into rehearsals for the next like three weeks and just just talk nonstop. We're gonna we're gonna have one idea, then the next one's gonna completely knock it off the the list, and then we're gonna have another one that's gonna knock the other one off the list. I'm excited though.
SPEAKER_00Are you guys uh I coming from the uh being uh starting as kind of covering the dead, are you wary of going back to that uh in certain points to kind of fight that or do you kind of embrace that in part of your set?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I can tell you uh once, you know, about three years ago when we were going through the name change, we did kind of want to distance ourselves from that like tribute band thing and kind of you know distinguish ourselves as uh you know our own our own thing. But uh I mean it's we'd be lying if we said you know it still didn't influence us on some level, you know. And you know, it's just one of those things about you know remembering where you came from. So, you know, I feel like that still you know is at the soul of the music.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I always love popping up uh an old cover. It's just something, just something to bring the energy back up. You know, we are always playing our originals sometimes. People are a little lost in the crowd, so it's nice to see them perk up and uh dance. They go, Oh, oh, I know that one.
SPEAKER_00What other I'm curious as we wrap up here, what other Long Island bands that you have you guys been uh involved with or just working with and kind of learned from or impressed by? Because you guys get to see a lot of different uh artists out there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so uh I want to shout out my uh Five Towns boys, the Astral Party. Um met them when I was going into school there, and they they they got together after our band did, but what they've accomplished in such a short time is is really remarkable, and they're all super talented dudes. So uh I checked them out. Purely Green is another band that we've worked with. Um they're super cool dudes, and and what they do is is super cool.
SPEAKER_01So uh we've also worked with uh our friends Funk Island Sound, amazing 10-piece funk band with horns, everything. They're top of the line guys go, they all they're all music teachers, they're all like like perfect at their instruments, just really, really top-level musicians. Um we've we've we're trying to reach out uh to other bands. We've uh we're trying to make something work with uh Ernie and the band. I know they're playing uh with us on the the bill. Other bands too, I've reached out too. So we're all we're we're still just throwing something at the wall, hoping it sticks.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you for still doing it. It's not easy. Uh you know, I'm sure you guys have day jobs doing other things. What's that like to balance that?
SPEAKER_02Well, I do most of my work freelance, so it's nice because uh you know you get to be your own boss basically and you're you're able to balance things a little more easily. So what do you do? Uh I'm a sound engineer for a theater company.
SPEAKER_00So it gives you freedom at least. That's good. Sometimes it's tough to find the time to do all these things and and to do shows and book shows too, I'd imagine. So you want to kind of keep it uh keep it moving. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again live at the Great South Bay Music Festival that Saturday, kicking things off at the band shell, uh great southbay musicfestival.com. And of course, uh, where can people find all your music? It's up there online.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so uh social media. We're on Instagram at ORCIDORCHYD. It's with a Y, not an I, because we're special.band, um, on Spotify, Orchid, Band Camp, uh, YouTube, wherever you consume music, you'll you'll find it.
SPEAKER_00Very good. Well, can't wait to see you. Thank you for taking the time to uh to chat and uh get to know you a little bit and uh appreciate it. And we look forward to seeing you at the Great South A Music Festival. Thanks for uh sitting down, appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thanks a lot for having me.