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Q: Your new single, “Fuck Me Eyes,” draws inspiration from the seductive sounds of 1970s soul, channeling legends like Barry White, Marvin Gaye, and Bill Withers. What was it about that era of music that inspired you to explore this particular sound, and how did the story of a post-show party and a hotel hot tub evolve into a song about desire and unapologetic self-expression?
A: I was born in 1974, so I think the music of that time must have soaked into my brain, and I can remember my parents listening to Barry White and Donna Summer and all that incredible 1970s R&B and Disco. There’s just something about it that’s so seductive, but also authentic. These folks were singing about love, and you can feel it! I wanted to make a song that was sexually charged, but not raunchy. Celebrating the undeniable joy of love making, hopefully I achieved that sound! Yeah!! We had just finished the last night of a tour and the bands and some friends all went back to the hotel (totally decked out in glam rock make-up) and somehow we got the concierge to let us into the hot tub! It was such a great rock and roll fantasy moment, and we were all feeling pretty loose! The sounds of the bubbling jets of water sounded like a melody to me and that’s where I wrote the song! A gift from the gods of love I suppose!
Q: Best known for the glam-rock theatrics of The Orion Experience and the viral success of “The Cult of Dionysus,” you’re now exploring a more intimate, sultry side of your artistry with your solo project, ORION. What inspired you to step outside the musical identity you’ve built with the band, and did you find it liberating to create music without the same expectations attached to The Orion Experience?
A: The Orion Experience is exactly what it sounds like – an EXPERIENCE there’s so much that goes into performing a TOE show, and it’s great, all of the band members are Theatre kids so we love to dress up and have wild sets and dances. But I felt like I needed to explore the other side of my songwriting, a more intimate side of myself, and that’s what you’ll hear when you listen to an ORION record. The Beatles, The Kinks, Paul Simon… these are all big influences for me, I’m always just trying to write songs as good as them. It’s been liberating to just focus on being a vocalist, when I’m playing my solo shows, it’s just me and an acoustic guitar so the vocals are the main attraction.
Q: Your forthcoming solo album, Tragic Magic, explores themes of obsession, isolation, addiction, fame, and desire, suggesting a more introspective approach to songwriting. What prompted you to delve into these darker corners of the human experience, and did writing about them help you understand any of these subjects differently?
A: These are great questions, thanks for asking this. Yes, the songs on Tragic Magic represent a period of my life. I’m always writing, all the time, so whatever is happening to me in those moments are what tend to make their way to the surface of my songs. I had been writing music in relative obscurity for almost 20 years, and then in 2020 The Cult of Dionysus went viral and I became sort of famous overnight. All of my music was being heard and enjoyed by millions of fans and it was A LOT for my brain to process. I had always believed in my songwriting, and in a way my songwriting is a physical manifestation of my inner soul, so when you suddenly have fans writing and expressing love and appreciation, it’s like a very delightful narcotic, with all the good and bad that come with delightful narcotics. I am no stranger to addiction, and I can recognize the addictive nature of fame. It took me a while to get my footing but now I think I have a better handle on it?? Maybe?? So yes, the songs on Tragic Magic explore my feelings and experiences with this unique period of my life.
Q: You’ve described your solo material as having a “more somber/sultry vibe” than The Orion Experience. How do you decide which ideas belong in your solo work and which are better suited to the band, and have you discovered aspects of your musical personality through ORION that you hadn’t previously explored?
A: When Linda XO and I came up for the concept of The Orion Experience we decided that we were going to write music that had to make people want to dance. We wanted to be the punk rock ABBA. So that is where that signature TOE sound comes from. High energy punk rock disco music. I always know when I’ve got a TOE song because I can hear Linda’s vocals in it and I can imagine people going crazy on the dance floor. When I write ORION songs, they have more of an intimate feeling to them. Like I’m singing them to you at a party perhaps. My solo songs allow me to explore some of the darker aspects of my personality, which can really be a great source of inspiration.
Q: There’s a fascinating contrast between the playful sensuality of “Fuck Me Eyes” and the darker themes that run throughout Tragic Magic. How important is that balance between pleasure and pain, humor and vulnerability, when you’re writing music, and do you believe those seemingly opposing emotions are more closely connected than we might think?
A: Another great question! I absolutely believe that opposing emotions are more closely connected than we think! Crying and Laughter can sometimes sound very similar but they are on the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. It’s the same way that a happy sounding song with dark lyrics can be so effective. When you hear “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy” by Queen, Freddie Mercury is singing this happy, jaunty tune about a proper romantic courtship, but just underneath the surface that song oozes with sleazy sexuality. That’s why I love Freddie Mercury. He was such a hedonist, but in the best, truest way. OMG Freddie would get so cancelled if he lived today hahaha. I try to balance the dark with the light, that makes for a more enjoyable album.
Q: Your music has always embraced theatricality, psychedelic textures, and a certain sense of mystique, while Tragic Magic incorporates occult-inspired imagery alongside vintage soul and psychedelic rock. What draws you to the theatrical and the mysterious, and how do you use these elements to build a world around your music without spelling everything out for the listener?
A: Again, I grew up in the late 1970’s and my earliest memories of musicians are David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust Era) and KISS and Michael Jackson. These were THEATRICAL performers, so a pop musician, to me, has always been associated with big costumes and alter egos. I think what those artists were doing was framing themselves in the best light (just like you would with a beautiful painting) and that’s how I’ve always wanted my musical art to be framed. Larger than life, a power greater than myself. Sometimes when I see modern bands like Geese (nothing against them as artists) it’s a bunch of people in baggy jeans, T-shirts and baseball caps, and that just doesn’t connect with me. The suspension of disbelief just isn’t there. I like to project a persona when I’m on stage, but it’s really just me, glittery and amplified.
Q: “The Cult of Dionysus” found an audience far beyond the band’s original fanbase, becoming a viral hit and introducing The Orion Experience to a new generation of listeners. How has that level of unexpected exposure affected your relationship with your music and your public identity, particularly when fame itself becomes one of the subjects you’re exploring on Tragic Magic?
A: Yeah, again, good question. Andy Warhol said (I’m paraphrasing here) the job of an artist is to make art. You have no control over whether people like it or not, so just make your art and put it out into the world. That’s how I’ve always looked at my career, and every once in a while, something will connect with the collective unconsciousness of pop culture. When The Cult of Dionysus went viral, it was so out of the blue, there was no rhyme or reason for it. Its time had come to connect with the mass consciousness. All of a sudden people were discovering my music and forming their opinions about me and my art. It’s such a weird, wonderful, and at times wary thing. It doesn’t bother me when people form a parasocial relationship to me as an artist, that’s natural, but a lot of times people make up a version of you that’s not quite accurate, and when that vision doesn’t align with reality, people can feel hurt. It kinda goes with the territory of being an artist. I try not to be affected by it. I try to give people room to feel the way they feel about me, it’s not really up to me, you know? I just have to keep making art and hope that it connects with people, and so far it has.
Q: With its deeper vocals, psychedelic production, and vintage-soul influences, Tragic Magic sounds like an opportunity to reinvent your approach to performance as much as songwriting. Did recording this album require you to rethink how you use your voice or approach arrangements, and was there a particular creative risk you took that ultimately became essential to the record?
A: As I’ve gotten older my voice has changed a bit, it’s gotten deeper and I’m really digging it. I am a massive Jim Morrison fan, in my opinion, he is the best singer in all of rock music. His voice is pure seductive magic. As my voice has dropped into the baritone register, I’ve really been embracing my inner Jim Morrison, you can hear it on tracks like Strawberry Moon. I’ve been focused on the seductive nature of the low male baritone voice and it’s been really fun to experiment with that idea.
Q: The title Tragic Magic suggests a tension between the extraordinary and the destructive, something that seems particularly relevant to an album examining the costs of creative ambition. What does that title mean to you personally, and has your own journey as a musician changed the way you view the relationship between artistic obsession, personal fulfillment, and sacrifice?
A: I’ve always been fascinated by myths and stories about the cursed wish: the tale of King Midas, the monkey’s paw, the tree of knowledge. The idea that with every desire there is a price that needs to be paid. I really do believe that there is a price that comes with fame or success, whether it be a lack of privacy, pressure to stay relevant, the drugs, the sex, all the pitfalls that come with ambition. I will be writing songs and chasing those desires until the day I die, so for me Tragic Magic is something that I always need to be aware of… As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”
Q: “Fuck Me Eyes” is a playful introduction to an album that promises to reveal a much more complicated and vulnerable side of ORION. When listeners reach the end of Tragic Magic, what do you hope they’ll understand about you that they might not have discovered through The Orion Experience, and does this solo project represent a new chapter in your career or a side of yourself that has been waiting to emerge all along?
A: I hope that when someone listens to Tragic Magic, they discover something about themselves that they haven’t known before. I hope that it inspires people to take a chance and chase a dream or pursue a desire. Music is such a magical way for human beings to communicate, it is a higher form of thought. I hope that somewhere, someone who I’ve never met, can feel like they know me and that I can know them <3
