Orgy is 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 formed in 1994, from Los Angeles, California.
They have described their
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...
music as "death pop". The band is best known for their
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the
New Order song "
Blue Monday", and the song "
Stitches", both from their 1998 album ''
Candyass''.
History
Early years (1994–1997)
Orgy was formed in 1994 by vocalist
Jay Gordon and guitarists
Amir Derakh
Amir Davidson, professionally known as Amir Derakh, is an American musician and record producer. He is currently the guitarist and the synthesizer player for the band Julien-K, and was the guitarist for the band Dead by Sunrise. He was once the g ...
and
Ryan Shuck
Ryan Shuck is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, producer, and entrepreneur. A co-founder of industrial rock band Orgy, Shuck is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in electronic rock band Julien-K, and lead singer of the rock ...
. Bassist
Paige Haley
Paige Haley (born May 10, 1966) is an American musician and record producer.
Born and raised in Alameda, California, as Brad Armstrong. He is close friends with Jay Gordon, another member of their band Orgy. He used to paint houses for a liv ...
and drummer Bobby Hewitt soon completed the line-up. Derakh had previously gained some fame in the 1980s
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band
Rough Cutt
Rough Cutt is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles who released two studio albums on Warner Bros. Records in the mid-1980s. Rough Cutt never achieved the commercial success enjoyed by many other Los Angeles bands of that time but vari ...
, and Hewitt was a former member of
Electric Love Hogs
Electric Love Hogs were a short-lived American funk rock band formed in San Diego, California in 1991. The band's lineup consisted of John Feldmann (vocals, guitar), Dave Kushner (guitar), Donni Campion (guitar), Kelly LeMieux (bass) and Bobby Hew ...
. Gordon and Derakh were also experienced
producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
, having produced
Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber is an American nu metal band formed by Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón in Los Angeles, California in 1993. Prior to Coal Chamber, the two had also created the band She's in Pain, in 1992. The original lineup also consisted of bassist ...
's
self-titled album.
In 1997,
Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the ...
, who performed with Shuck in
Sexart
Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the ...
, signed Orgy as the first act on
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Originally formed in 1993 ...
's label,
Elementree Records
Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Originally formed in 1993 by ...
, which at the time had distribution with Reprise Records.
''Candyass'' and ''Vapor Transmission'' (1998–2001)
In 1998, Orgy released their debut album, ''
Candyass'', the name inspired by a
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
they had met. The album sold almost two million copies
and produced two singles: a cover of the
New Order song "
Blue Monday", and "Stitches". Both charted on ''
Total Request Live
''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...
''. The song "Revival" featured Jonathan Davis.
Orgy made their live debut at EdgeFest, an annual radio show in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, in 1998. They also appeared on the
Family Values Tour
The Family Values Tour was an annual rock and hip hop tour held by the American nu metal band Korn since 1998. The first tour took place in 1998 and the second tour in 1999, but the tour took a hiatus in 2000 due to heavy competition from the A ...
with
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Originally formed in 1993 ...
,
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...
,
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
,
Incubus
An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...
, and
Rammstein
Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...
. They were featured on the live compilation album of the tour, released in 1999. Other tours with
Love and Rockets and
Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray is an American rock band formed in Newport Beach, California, in 1986. Originally playing heavier funk metal and nu metal style music, the band achieved mainstream popularity in 1997 with their more pop-influenced single " Fly". T ...
followed.
Their second album, the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
-themed ''
Vapor Transmission
''Vapor Transmission'' is the second album by American Industrial rock band Orgy. It was released on October 10, 2000.
The first 1000 pressings (as well as the Japanese release) of the album included a bonus track known as "The Spectrum", which ...
'', was released in 2000, with "Fiction (Dreams in Digital)" and "Opticon" as singles.
Side work and ''Punk Statik Paranoia'' (2001–2005)
In 2001, Orgy released the song "Faces" for the soundtrack of the film ''
Zoolander
''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...
''. The band was a musical guest in the television series ''
Charmed
''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...
'', performing "Opticon" in the episode "Sin Francisco".
In late 2003, guitarists Shuck and Derakh formed a side project,
Julien-K
Julien-K is an American electronic rock band based in Long Beach, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic.
The band's name comes from the movie ...
, as an outlet for electronic material they had come up with during the writing process for Orgy.
Jay Gordon also remixed the
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
track "Points of Authority" for their album ''
Reanimation'', where it was renamed "
Pts.of.Athrty
"Points of Authority" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It is the fourth track on their first studio album, ''Hybrid Theory''. Mike Shinoda's verses originally had different lyrics, and Chester Bennington's parts became no different fr ...
".
After touring in support of ''Vapor Transmission'', Orgy began working on a new album and a live DVD in mid to late 2002, but both of these were pushed back to mid 2003. Eventually, the band left
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels.
Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...
and Elementree, taking the band's already recorded material with them. Explaining the split from the label in an interview to PopGurls.com:
"We just couldn't get it together with them to get the record going and they weren't dropping us. So we finally managed to get let out of our contract and got the stuff that we had already recorded." -Amir Derakh
in 2003, Jay Gordon and his father, Lou, started his own independent record label, D1 Music, and the label finally released the band's third album, ''
Punk Statik Paranoia
''Punk Statik Paranoia'' is the third album by the industrial metal band Orgy. It was released on February 24, 2004, their first independent recording.
The album's style is a big departure from the electronic rock sound that was present in '' Ca ...
'', in February 2004. The long-awaited live DVD, ''Trans Global Spectacle'', was released in August 2005.
Following touring in support of ''Punk Statik Paranoia'', the band went on hiatus in late 2005.
Hiatus (2005–2012)
When asked for an Orgy update in late July 2008, Shuck informed fans that Orgy's return is still underway but their priority is getting the much delayed
Julien-K
Julien-K is an American electronic rock band based in Long Beach, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic.
The band's name comes from the movie ...
album released. During a video interview at the annual Californian
NAMM
The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...
2009 convention, Derakh mentioned a 2010 Orgy reunion.
Shuck and Derakh released their first album as Julien-K, titled ''Death to Analog'', in March 2009. In the same year, they also released an album with
Chester Bennington
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, a ...
of
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
under the name
Dead by Sunrise
Dead by Sunrise (formerly known as Snow White Tan) was an American rock supergroup formed in 2005 by vocalist Chester Bennington who was best known as the lead vocalist of Linkin Park. The band also consisted of Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Brandon B ...
.
On October 25, 2010, Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh stated on the Julien-K blog: "As of Oct. 26th we will no longer be part of Orgy. Jay will continue making music without the original members."
On October 30, 2010, Jay Gordon released a statement via his official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
profile stating that he still owns the Orgy name and wants to continue forth creating new material for the band. Gordon wrote that all previous members of the band were too busy with numerous side projects to continue with the original band. "Everyone has been so busy with their different projects I figured this was the only way for me to continue on with the name. I started this band, and I don't want to let it fall to the wayside completely."
On November 7, 2011,
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...
published a news story detailing the bitter feud between Gordon and guitarists Shuck and Derakh, that had spiraled out of control after Gordon revealed his plans to assemble a band of musicians and begin touring under the name Orgy.
Return with new lineup (2012–present)
On February 3, 2012, it was announced that Orgy would embark on a five-week run titled the ''Bad Blood Tour''. Gordon was the only original member of Orgy appearing on this tour.
On August 4, 2012, Orgy linked to a 30-second demo of a new song, "Grime of the Century", via their
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and Facebook page. The song "Grime of the Century" was later made available on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
and the new Orgy website.
In 2013, Orgy embarked on the ''Wide Awake and Dead Tour'' with
Vampires Everywhere!
Vampires Everywhere! is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The last lineup consisted of vocalist Michael Vampire and guitarists Matti Hoffman and Grey Soto. In 2021, the lead singer Michael ...
and
Davey Suicide
Davey Suicide is an American rock singer and the name of his band. They are based in Hollywood, California. The group, formed in 2010, is known for their personas, avant-garde lyrics, stage antics, and big rock anthems.
Davey Suicide's first re ...
.
Orgy launched a
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
campaign in August 2013 via
Indiegogo.com with a $100,000 goal. Two months later, at the conclusion of the campaign, the band had only raised $8,739, falling 92% short of their goal.
On February 23, 2014, the band announced through their official website that the new single "Wide Awake and Dead" will be available through iTunes and
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
on March 18, 2014. The "Wide Awake and Dead" video was filmed on April 22.
In 2015, they released their first collection of new music in 11 years, an EP titled ''Talk Sick''. Originally, it was to be followed with another EP titled ''Entropy'', but Gordon later told ''Westward Magazine'' the band would instead release it as a full-length album,
that has yet to materialize.
Musical style
The band's sound has been described as
alternative metal
Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...
,
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...
,
industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...
,
electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...
,
nu metal
Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
,
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
,
and
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...
.
Band members
Current members
*
Jay Gordon – lead vocals
* Nic Speck – bass, backing vocals
*
Carlton Bost – lead guitar, backing vocals
* Creighton Emrick – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
* Márton Veress – drums
Former members
*
Ryan Shuck
Ryan Shuck is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, producer, and entrepreneur. A co-founder of industrial rock band Orgy, Shuck is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in electronic rock band Julien-K, and lead singer of the rock ...
– rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*
Amir Derakh
Amir Davidson, professionally known as Amir Derakh, is an American musician and record producer. He is currently the guitarist and the synthesizer player for the band Julien-K, and was the guitarist for the band Dead by Sunrise. He was once the g ...
– lead guitar, synthesizers
* Bobby Hewitt – drums
*
Paige Haley
Paige Haley (born May 10, 1966) is an American musician and record producer.
Born and raised in Alameda, California, as Brad Armstrong. He is close friends with Jay Gordon, another member of their band Orgy. He used to paint houses for a liv ...
– bass
*
Ashburn Miller
Deadsy is an American industrial rock band from Los Angeles. The band is known for its visual appearance and unique musical style the band self-describes as "undercore". The band has released two major studio albums.
The band was initially sig ...
– rhythm guitar, synthesizers, keyboards
*
Jamie Miller – drums
* Bobby Amaro – drums
Live members
* Raanen Bozzio – drums
* Ilia Yordanov – rhythm guitar
* Ryan Browne – drums
Timeline
Related projects
*
Julien-K
Julien-K is an American electronic rock band based in Long Beach, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic.
The band's name comes from the movie ...
– an
electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...
group founded by Derakh and Shuck in 2003. Their album ''
Death to Analog
''Death to Analog'' is the first album by the American rock band Julien-K, which had a limited release on March 10, 2009, with a vinyl release on April 7, the digital release and worldwide release on October 20, and the European/Digi-Pak releas ...
'' was released on March 10, 2009.
*
Dead by Sunrise
Dead by Sunrise (formerly known as Snow White Tan) was an American rock supergroup formed in 2005 by vocalist Chester Bennington who was best known as the lead vocalist of Linkin Park. The band also consisted of Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Brandon B ...
– a band founded by
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
's
Chester Bennington
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, a ...
, Amir Derakh, and Ryan Shuck
* Hellflower – a band founded by a longtime friend and Director of Activities Church, including Haley
* kill-o-watt – Gordon's new
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
side project
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
Promotional singles
Music videos
Notes
*A "Opticon" did not enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but peaked at number 56 on the
Hot Singles Sales
This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...
chart.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orgy
1994 establishments in California
American alternative metal musical groups
American industrial metal musical groups
American electronic rock musical groups
Nu metal musical groups from California
Julien-K
Musical groups established in 1994
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quintets
Reprise Records artists