Oranje: From Jazz Band to Up-and-Coming Math-Rock Power House
Oranje at Big Winter Classic Shot by Shannon Johnston (@me_only_louder)
Calgary math-rock outfit, Oranje, weaves compact, start-stop tracks rooted in jazz through a refreshing, punk lens. Their 2023 debut EP Pure Sport gave us a taste of what’s to come as they impressively continue to evolve and expand their sound with their second EP in the works. We had the chance to chat with Joseph, Andres, and Mike of Oranje about their genesis and progression, the evening before they rocked Commonwealth as part of Big Winter Classic, a staple in Calgary’s festival scene, playing alongside Vundabar and Slow Down Molasses.
REVERIE: How did you guys meet one another?
Mike: Joseph and I have known each other since high school. We started talking in grade 11 then we played together in a jazz combo as well as in our high school jazz band. We continued to play jazz in the U of C jazz band. We both joined and that's when we met Andres because Andres was the drummer of the U of C jazz orchestra. That's basically how we met each other. We actually didn't realize that we all enjoy the same music until Joseph saw on spotify that Andres was listening to an emo band and then Joseph was like “wait u like this kind of music? I’m really into this kind of music too”. Soon after that Joseph just approached Andres one day like “hey, we should jam sometime”.
Joseph: Mike normally plays piano and I normally play trombone. Then, I started playing guitar and bass. We were writing some more punk sort of stuff and then yeah, we were like yo Andres!
REVERIE: What made you pick your band name and what was the reasoning behind it?
Joseph: First off, there’s just so many bands out there, there’s like no names left, it’s so oversaturated. We actually looked up about 5 other names but they were already taken so that helped. Also, spelling it with a J is how orange is spelt in Dutch which is also the name of the Dutch national soccer team. The Dutch national soccer team is important to Andres and I because we both like Johan Cruyf; a player who was responsible for helping Barcelona get really good at the way they play soccer. He developed this cool kind of soccer called “total football” where every player can play every position. It’s this interesting balance of both collectivism and individualism.
REVERIE: When it comes to being an instrumental band how does not having a vocalist affect your chemistry and dynamic when it comes to creating and performing music?
Andres: Well first of all yeah, the first EP is instrumental, we all like instrumental music and we all have classical backgrounds. We grew up with classical music, we're classically trained and jazz trained as well, so that's at our core. We definitely do enjoy music where the instruments speak for themselves without the need of vocals however, for the second EP we’re trying to have guest vocalists and have a combination of both the instruments having their own time to shine and then vocals to compliment that.
Oranje at Big Winter Classic Shot by Shannon Johnston (@me_only_louder)
REVERIE: Are there any specific bands or artists that you would say helped mold or inspire your sound and style? If so, who?
Andres: My favorite band of all time is Chon. Basically that’s how I learned to play the drums by transcribing all their stuff. A drummer I’d mention is Kocnik, definitely a big influence. When it comes to classical music there’s the post romantic era. Lots of French composers are a big influence in how I write music and I think we can all kind of agree on that.
Mike: “Do Nothing” is my favorite band right now and has been for the past couple years, they’re just taking a different angle to post punk music and i wouldn't even really call it post punk music because when i tell people it’s post punk they’re like “this isn’t post punk!” because it’s not traditional 80’s post punk. I’d say it’s more of a modern take on that kind of music and they’re just doing something different plus, are just insane musicians.
Joseph: Andres comes from a math rock perspective, Mike comes from a post punk perspective, and I come from a midwest emo perspective.
REVERIE: Is there a venue in the city that’s particularly memorable for you to perform in?
Joseph: To preface this question, we’ve never had a bad experience at a venue. Everyone’s been super kind. We've had a good time, there’s been nothing wrong. No one's done anything wrong so, every venue is pretty good. They’re all special in their own way, they have different flavors, different people come out to different venues. We did our EP release show at Loophole Coffee Bar. Loophole is very tight and small. It’s a very safe community there, it's awesome. Also, Ship and Anchor. They’re one of the best pubs in Calgary, we’re always there anyways.
Mike: Amazing beer prices and amazing beer selection.
Joseph: I think the vibe there fits us really well, and the people there are just really nice.
Mike: Palomino’s great, it’s been a great spot.
Joseph: We’ve also played Dickens which is fun, Commonwealth’s fun, Palace Theatre is fun.
Mike: The King Eddy too, because the memories.
Joseph: We used to play there every Tuesday night.
Mike: Yeah, that was our old jazz band we were in, we played there together a lot. We'd play jazz standards. There’s a lot of people who just came there for dinner but didn’t like loud music so they’d come and listen to us.