“It’s the right time,” vocalist Michael Stowers says. “We had the perfect mix of new and old. Some really fresh material with some stuff we felt the need to pay homage to, to close that chapter. It came together. We started demoing 12 months ago and it took that time to build up to release.
“The process has definitely been art imitating life. We’ve risen to the challenges of getting it together and getting it out there, and man, it is a challenge. We’d love to have released five albums by now, but an EP is still a big process, and we’re still learning how to do that the best way. I think an EP is the best way for us to learn how we record, and how we release songs that the fans like. How do we get it out there in a way that will allow the most people to enjoy it?”
To that end, their success has found significant support from their live fan base. Though the experimental heavy tag they find themselves with is a bit vague, the experimental scene brings a passionate crowd. They’re ready to rock and to encourage, but they also have some fairly high expectations.
“You’ve got to have a pretty decent range and ability to be a singer in a heavy band these days. There are a lot of awesome people out there doing it. To play for those fans, they’re used to real quality, and that’s live as well as recorded.
“The genre tags and buzz words are really difficult to get right. I guess we’re experimental in terms of performance; we definitely try different thinks to get the songs across in a live sense. But I think every band is experimenting in some way, just to get their tone a little better as you go. But experimental heavy, who knows? Maybe someone will write a review at some stage that will coin a term that starts to take off. Maybe experimental heavy came from our first reviewer. Lucky it was a good review,” Stowers laughs. “Orsome Welles, that shit heavy band.”
Orsome Welles are hardly a band to rush into things – 12 months for five songs might sound like quite a staggered development to shepherd a recording along, but as it turns out, it’s more an example of creative democracy in action. It may also explain why Towers finds himself with a reputation for being rather enigmatic.
“There’s no one person driving the songwriting, the artwork. We try and evenly spread everything, and that’s why our process probably takes a little bit longer. It takes time to write a song that everyone is happy with, not just one person.
“Maybe the enigmatic thing comes from that. It’s because I feel like I’m part of the machine, rather than the one standing in front of the machine. Lyrically, I love to tell a story that the listener almost has to piece together themselves, to find their own meaning. I don’t put it all out there and make everything 100 percent clear. I like that mysterious side of music.
“I love people singing along to our songs and getting all the words wrong. In the same breath, I really like songwriters who can be blunt and straightforward. But too much of that might take away from the fact that we all write the songs together, and each song is a piece that’s developed as a band. I think that’s awesome.”
