Orgy (band)

For other uses, see orgy (disambiguation).

Orgy is a synth rock band from Los Angeles, California. Their music has been self-described specifically as "death pop".

History

Orgy was formed in 1997 by vocalist Jay Gordon and guitarist Ryan Shuck once of Jonathan Davis' original band Sexart, assisting in their eventual signing to Korn's label Elementree Records. Bassist Paige Haley, guitarist Amir Derakh, and drummer Bobby Hewitt soon completed the lineup. All were veterans of the late '80s/early '90s L.A. "hair metal" club scene. Derakh had previously gained some fame in the 80s metal band Rough Cutt, and Hewitt was a former member of Electric Love Hogs. Gordon and Derakh were also experienced producers. They produced Coal Chamber's self-titled CD. They claimed the name of the band was not a sexual reference, but instead pointed to the "collage" of different styles in their music. Within six months, they were signed to Elementree Records. They had yet to play a single live show. In 1998, their debut album, Candyass, was released. Gordon described the subject matter of the material as "...bullshit...lies and fairy tales." Their cover of the New Order song "Blue Monday" was a breakthrough hit. While many people believe that "Stitches" was Orgy's second single, it was actually their first but did not gain extensive airplay until after "Blue Monday". This album also featured a song titled "Revival", featuring Jonathan Davis of Korn. Orgy made their live debut at EdgeFest, an annual radio show in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1998. They also appeared on the Family Values Tour with Korn, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, Incubus, and Rammstein. They were featured on the live compilation album of the tour, released in 1999. Other tours with Love and Rockets and Sugar Ray followed. Their second album, the science fiction-themed Vapor Transmission, came out in 2000, with "Fiction (Dreams in Digital)" and "Opticon" as singles. In 2001, Orgy release the song "Faces" for the soundtrack of the film Zoolander. As of 2007, "Faces" is unreleased on any of their studio albums. After the release of Vapor Transmission, Orgy left Reprise Records and had already severed ties with Elementree. Gordon started his own independent record label, D1 Music. The band's third album, Punk Statik Paranoia, was released in 2004 through D1. Orgy is still together and taking some time off to do independent projects. When recently questioned about the status of Orgy on the Julien-K message board Ryan Shuck responded saying fans should look forward to 2008. In late 2003 guitarists Shuck and Derakh formed a side project, Julien-K, as an outlet for electronic material they had come up with during the writing process for Orgy. They are currently working on their first album, tentatively titled Death to Analog, and producing Chester Bennington of Linkin Park's solo album, "Dead By Sunrise." Jay Gordon also remixed the Linkin Park track, Points of Authority for their album, Reanimation re-naming it Pts.Of.Athrty. Derakh did state though on the Julien-K myspace that 2008 would be a "good year" for Orgy fans.

Group members

• Jay Gordon - Vocalist
• Bobby Hewitt - Drummer
• Ryan Shuck - Guitarist
• Amir Derakh - Guitar Synthesist
• Paige Haley - Bassist

Currently, all of Orgy's band members are involved with side projects, with the exception of Bobby Hewitt. Ryan Shuck has, however, noted in a conversation after a show with Julien-K that it should be expected that Orgy should play some more shows in the future.

• Julien-K - Founded by both Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck. They are an electro-pop group. They are also helping in Chester Bennington from Linkin Park's solo project, Dead By Sunrise.
• Drug For Joy - Founded by Paige Haley. They are an alternative rock band, but are also self described as falling under the genre of ghetto tech.
• Machine Gun Orchestra - This is the pending side project in which the frontman, Jay Gordon is involved with. News about this project is very limited, and only a sample of the song "Where it Begins" has been released.

Discography

• Candyass (August 18, 1998) - US #32, Platinum
• Vapor Transmission (October 10, 2000) - US #16, Gold
• Punk Statik Paranoia (February 24, 2004) US #11¹, 5,353+²
• Trans Global Spectacle DVD (August 23, 2005)

¹Top Independent Albums.^[1]
2Based on Nielsen SoundScan figures from March 3, 2004 (first week sales only).^[2]

Singles

External links

• Official Orgy Site
• Official Orgy Myspace Profile
• Official Amir Derakh Site
• Official Julien-K Site (Derakh and Shuck side project)
• D1 Music Network (Gordon's record label)
• Official French Fan Site
• Official Bobby Hewitt and brother video label
• Orgy at Last.fm
• Paige Haley at the Internet Movie Database
• Bobby Hewitt at the Internet Movie Database
• Trash the Stage interview with Jay Gordon

References

1. ^ Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
2. ^ SoundScan Report. Blabbermouth.net (2004-03-03). Retrieved on 2007-09-01.