Orange Sky
I chatted with Orange Sky's lead guitarist/lead vocalist Nigel Rojas on September 30th. He and his band mates were on the bus, traveling through the desert, on their way to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I chatted with Orange Sky's lead guitarist/lead vocalist Nigel Rojas on September 30th. He and his band mates were on the bus, traveling through the desert, on their way to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Tell me about your band Orange Sky, your sound and your band mates.
We're from Trinidad and Tobago in the south Caribbean. On a small island, where everybody knows everybody, we started jamming together 4 years ago. I'm Nigel Rojas and I sing lead vocals and play lead guitar. My brother Nicholas Rojas is our bass guitarist and drummer Obasi Springer joins him in the rhythm section. Adam Murray plays rhythm guitar and Richard Hall plays keyboards. After we formed Orange Sky, one thing led to another. We started playing in Trinidad and Tobago in front of 40 people, and it led to 400 people, and now to 4,000 people. We've been lucky to be received with open arms. Our sound has been influenced by a lot of rock and a lot of reggae, both old school and new school. Anything from old Judas Priest to The Wailers and Peter Tosh. I call our music roots rock and we try to keep it organic. It's all about us being us. Our sound was calculated or planned, it just came together very naturally. It's a unique adventure and we don't know what we'll sound like next year.
Tell me about your band's current CD, "Upstairs."
"Upstairs" was released September 27 across the United States and Canada. The first single hasn't been picked yet. "Beautiful Day," "Escape," "It's Over," and our cover of Cat Steven's "Peace Train" have gotten the most positive reviews. Our website has short video and audio clips so people can see what we look like, sound like on record, and how we sound live. We love to play live, it's the biggest asset of the band, and it's where we hope to connect to the fans. "Peace Train" is a good song for the times, with humans destroying each other and everything in our path. Humans are the most dangerous monkeys on the planet and we'll destroy everything if given a chance.
Tell me about your band's touring plans for 2005.
We just played a bit on the West Coast. It's our first time in the United States so we're hoping to plant some seeds and make new friends. We were taking it day by day hoping some more tour plans get set. We just received awesome news that has me doing cartwheels. Orange Sky landed the spot opening for Yngwie Malmsteen on his Unleash The Fury tour. We're on the bill for most of his performances, over 20 shows, including December 1st at B.B. King's in New York City. When we play in your city, I hope people will come out and give Orange Sky a chance.
What does Orange Sky have in store for your existing fans in the next 12 months?
Our existing fan base is just in the Caribbean. They hopefully understand that we'll be touring the United States, Europe, and Japan trying to spread the word around.
Feel free to promote anything else you'd like that applies to your band.
Our website that is www.theorangesky.com and our myspace page is www.myspace.com/orangesky . I hope fans will stop by and visit at these sites. The first couple of thousand CDs have added DVD footage. It's a short documentary of us playing and hanging around in Trinidad. It lets people see where we come from. That DVD in its entirety will be released later in the year.
Please share your thoughts on Dimebag Darrell.
First and foremost, he was the most incredible and influential guitarist of these times. Nobody played with such fluidity and soulful aggression. His death, and how he died, was devastating. I play his model Washburn guitar. Whenever I look down in concert or in rehearsal, I see that guitar. It's my way of paying tribute, of feeling that he is still here with us. We're so lucky that he left behind a lot of songs and a rich heritage and legacy of music. We really loved that dude, and nobody will ever forget him. He's now an angel, so he'll look after everybody, and help us keep it metal.