Orson were an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, formed in 2000. The band, despite being American, were much more successful in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Career

Orson started its life under the name of Halogen in 2000 and consisted of vocalist Jason Pebworth, guitarists George Astasio and Chad Rachild, bassist Johnny Lonely (aka John Bentjen) and drummer Johnny Fedevich. Within the first year of the band's existence, Fedevich was replaced by Chris Cano; creating the line-up of the band that would exist for most of the rest of its history. Their self-financed debut studio album, '' Bright Idea'', released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

in 2006, was produced in Los Angeles by

Noah Shain Noah Shain is an American record producer and musician. Shain was dubbed "one of the most prominent young producers in the United States” by Mute. He notably produced early work by Grammy Award winning Skrillex "Sonny Moore," as well as album ...

and achieved chart success in the United Kingdom with the first single, " No Tomorrow". The album and single both debuted at the top of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

respectively. '' Bright Idea'' went

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

in the UK charts and went on to sell just under a million copies worldwide. Rachild departed the band a year after recording ''Bright Idea'' and was replaced by Kevin Roentgen. The band first performed on UK radio during a live session on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's Dermot O'Leary Show. Later, when they appeared at the 2006 Virgin Mobile V Festival in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in the UK, lead singer Jason Pebworth exclaimed, "It's good to be home!" This is because the band moved to London from Los Angeles in 2006. The band had more success in the UK than they did in their home country. Lead singer Jason Pebworth said in an interview that the band's musical influences are

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

and

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

. Other UK television appearances include

Concert for Diana Concert for Diana was a benefit concert held at the newly built Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 1 July 2007, which would have been her 46th birthday. 31 August that year brought the 10th ann ...

, ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', ''

Pop World ''Popworld'' is a British television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the T4 strand, featuring pop news, trivia, gossip, interviews and music videos, as well as musical performances from contemporary artists. The show began ...

'', ''

1 Leicester Square ''1 Leicester Square'' is a British chatshow hosted by Russell Brand which ran from 2 April to 31 December 2006 on MTV UK. The show's title was the actual address of MTV's glass-walled central London studio that overlooked Leicester Square. It ...

'', ''

The Sharon Osbourne Show ''The Sharon Osbourne Show'' is an American talk show that ran for one season (2003–2004) on various US channels. Cancellation The show was eventually canceled due to poor ratings and scathing attacks by critics as being too focused on Os ...

'', ''

The Charlotte Church Show ''The Charlotte Church Show'' is a Channel 4 entertainment television show presented by Welsh singer Charlotte Church. It was first broadcast on 1 September 2006 and ran for six subsequent Fridays. The show was commissioned for a further two seri ...

'', ''Davina'' and ''Top Gear''. In 2007, Orson won the Brit Award for Best International Breakthrough Act and released their second album ''

Culture Vultures ''Culture Vultures'' is a second and final album by American band Orson. The album was released on October 22, 2007 but it leaked online on October 20, 2007. The album did not follow the success of their debut, 'Bright Idea', which charted at # ...

'', before deciding to disband shortly thereafter. During the course of the band's life, Orson toured as support act for

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

and

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene ...

as well as headlined their own UK tours multiple times from 2006-2007. Festivals they have played include Fuji Rock, T in the Park, Oxegen, V Festival,

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the ...

and Lowlands.

Post-Orson

Signed to

Universal Publishing Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

, Pebworth and George Astasio remain successful writers and producers under the name

The Invisible Men The Invisible Men is a songwriting and music production trio consisting of Jason Pebworth, George Astasio and Jon Shave. Invisible Men's songs have so far achieved over 7 billion Spotify streams, 30 million record sales worldwide and the trio ...

, along with colleague Jon Shave, formerly of

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...

. They have already had hits with artists like

The Noisettes Noisettes are an English indie rock band from London, currently composed of singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa and guitarist Dan Smith. The band first achieved commercial success and nationwide recognition with the second single of their seco ...

and

Gabriella Cilmi Gabriella Lucia Cilmi ( ; ; born 10 October 1991) is an Australian pop singer. A contralto, Cilmi is known for her distinctive raspy singing voice. Her debut album, ''Lessons to Be Learned'', was released in March 2008, becoming a moderate int ...

and also work with Iggy Azalea and

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

. Johnny Lonely continues to perform as well as manages new artists under the name Lo Pro in Los Angeles and performed with Roentgen on the ''Hott Mess'' EP. Chris Cano works continuously as a drummer and toured with Ozomatli.

Goldsboro

Chris Cano, Johnny Lonely and Kevin Roentgen formed the band Goldsboro in 2010 and independently released their debut album produced by Noah Shain in the Spring 2012. They were hand-picked by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

to open their Up Close and Personal Tour March 2012 "LA Takeover" shows at the

Wiltern The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a ...

and House of Blues. Their song "Angels" appeared in Season 4 (Episode 11) of ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

''. Their song "Great White Buffalo" has received repeated airplay by the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

on Jonesy's Jukebox on Los Angeles radio station

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

Personnel

Members

Final line-up * George Astasio – guitars (2000–2007) * Johnny Lonely – bass (2000–2007) * Jason Pebworth – vocals (2000–2007) * Chris Cano – drums (2000–2007) * Kevin Roentgen – guitars (2005–2008) Former members * Chad Rachild – guitars (2000–2006) * Johnny Fedevich – drums (2000)

Line-ups

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Other contributions

*'' The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show'' (2007,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

) - "I Can't Go For That"

In popular culture

*Their single "Tryin' to Help" featured in the 2006 romantic comedy '' It's a Boy Girl Thing''. *Orson were nominated by '' Q'' magazine for "Best New Artist of 2006" along with Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, Corinne Bailey Rae and

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums). Their music is primarily influenced by the ...

. *Orson appeared at the

on 1 July 2007.Concert For Diana

References

External links

MySpace profileGoldsboro Official Site
{{Authority control Brit Award winners Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2000