From the sounds of modern British indie rock comes five-piece Melbourne band Gorilla Orchestra, who are intent on making waves in Australia.
Comprised of James Hall (vocals/ rhythm guitar), Darcy Eddy (lead guitar), Grant Hardisty (keys), Brent Morrison (bass) and Nick Hardy (drums), the group's newest single is the upbeat 'I Think It's The Way She Moves'.This Gorilla Orchestra's third single release, following 2019 songs 'You' and 'Light Me Up'.
Who are Gorilla Orchestra? We are a five-piece indie-rock group from Melbourne, with influences stemming from the British and Australian scenes.
We have been writing and performing together since 2018. What started as four guys jamming in our parents garage, a lot of things have certainly changed over the years.
We sound like… I guess our influences stem from very catchy, guitar-driven British rock groups, like Catfish and the Bottlemen and The Wombats. But we certainly look up to a lot of local indie rock bands who are killing it at the moment, like Holy Holy and The Vanns.
Our first gig was? We played our first show at The Workers Club; an absolute staple for local bands in Melbourne! We had about 120 show up, which is not bad for a first gig.
When did you settle on the group's name, and was it a unanimous decision… We honestly spent four weeks over countless Face-Time sessions and calling on what we would be called. I think we made a list of 250 names and 249 already existed on Google.
We came to Gorilla Orchestra as it wasn't taken and didn't sound all too terrible. I think we still have that list of alternative names still floating around somewhere.
In the studio we usually… Tend to overwork ourselves in the studio, to the point when it's going on our 16th straight hour and we are all playing our instruments half asleep to a beat.
But we all truly love the process of recording and enjoy throwing crazy ideas at each other. We spent a lot of time in the studio for our latest single and we are really proud of what we achieved.
If we could tour with anyone… I mean, the dream gigs are always the big names; Catfish, Arctic Monkeys. But touring with big Australian acts like Ocean Alley or Sticky Fingers would be really cool. Our biggest dream at the moment is to play a big, Australian summer festival.
Social media is… A place to showcase our craft and connect with our fans.
My favourite app at the moment is… In the studio, we have this app on our phone that controls the lighting in the studio. Depending on what vibe we wanted, we would be changing it every ten minutes or so from hot pink to dark blues. I think our bassist, Brent, became so obsessed with the app he got it installed in his own house.
To date, our most embarrassing moment was the time… There are certainly a few that come to mind.
One time we were doing a really long practice for an upcoming show and we left the studio for some dinner. We came back and the door was locked behind us with all our possessions and gear inside. I think we spent two hours trying to bash the door down or find another way into the studio, when we realised we had the code on our phones the whole time.
Another time was when James was unloading his gear for a video shoot; when he came back to his car 30 seconds later, a guy was writing up a $200 parking ticket. Apparently the inspector took a photo of the car with James in the background going off his head at the inspector.
Life on the road can be… Challenging but some of the best times with band mates. You do whatever it takes to play a show, but at the cost of hours and hours of driving, load and unloading gear, eating terrible food and not getting enough sleep.
If you'll have us on your bill, all we ask is that our rider contains… An actual room to put our stuff in and not a cupboard.
It comes with the territory, but having a room to put our gear in is a luxury for us. Sometimes I don't even know how we manage to fit our gear into a 2x2m space on the side of the stage like it's a game of Tetris.
The most scary scenario we've found ourselves in, was… One time, we were doing an outdoor photoshoot in the city, and we were in this alleyway doing some portrait shots.
This guy came up to us and was watching our shoot for ten minutes. He came up and said how attractive he thought Nick was and I believe he came into the shoot for a bit. But he wouldn’t stop following us around our shoots and we had to do a runner in the end to get away from him. Who knows, we could have had a sixth member that day.
What celebrity/ famous person would you love to be spokesperson of the band? Kevin Rudd. What a man. He knows how to pump up a crowd and can dominate you in a game of 4 square with his eyes shut.
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party? I don't believe we have ever thrown a dinner party before. Having a dinner party with The Chats would be pretty fun. Those guys know how to have a good time.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? Honestly, I don't believe any of us cook. I know James would probably set the kitchen on fire trying to make toast.
I think if we had you over, we would Uber Eats Maccas cheeseburgers and nuggets for everyone; maybe chuck on some Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares because why not.
No matter the expense, send me a case of… Guitar picks. Those things always go missing in our studio and at practice. We find them in the most random places and we honestly think they disappear into another dimension sometimes.
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was… What's a gym?
What's the one chore you dislike the most? For us, unloading and reloading cars with gear is something we do not enjoy doing. We can't wait for the day we do not have to unload our own gear and can just go to a gig and play.
Do you have any phobias... please explain? We always think Brent has a phobia of bad sounding tone. Every practice, he honestly spends 45 minutes to an hour obsessively making sure everyone's tone and sound is perfect. If we let him, he would probably spend five hours setting up the mics and amps.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? If we ever got the chance, 100 per cent. As Darcy is from a small town outside Shepparton, I honestly think he would do well on the show 'Farmer Wants A Wife'. He could wear the big cowboy hat and boots and impress ladies with his guitar solos.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? Honestly, it's a bit of a free for all when it comes to pranking and poking fun at each other. Anytime we practice, there will always be someone at the centre of the jokes.
