Coming from somewhere in America, L’Orange is an artist who shrouds himself in mystery as much as he shrouds the music that he arranges, produces and composes in layers of narrative, ambiance and evocative nostalgia. In Old Soul (2011) L’Orange created a deftly structured and vaguely terrifying concept album by exclusively using sampled, mixed and freshly twisted pieces of music by Billie Holiday. In The Mad Writer (2012) he marshalled an impressive roster of underground hip hop artists to create a consistently elusive but gripping album about creativity, madness and the feeling of someone else’s yesterdays. The City Beneath the City, his upcoming album with Stik Figa, promises to continue this march towards the ineffable darkness that holds him. He agreed to answer a few questions in the present tense.
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L’Orange is…
- L’Orange: …dissonant.
Canada is…
- L’Orange: …relatively northern.
America is…
- L’Orange: …relatively northern.
America was…
- L’Orange: …a fat man in a raincoat.
America ought to be…
- L’Orange: …new.
Happiness is…
- L’Orange: …making peace with the darkest parts.
Home is…
- L’Orange: …the smell of seasons.
Love is…
- L’Orange: …inspiration.
Nostalgia is…
- L’Orange: …an illness.
Making music is…
- L’Orange: …organizing existing sounds.
Billie Holliday was…
- L’Orange: …tortured.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans is…
- L’Orange: …arbitrary.
The difference between Batman and Superman is…
- L’Orange: …style.
The difference between James Dean and Marlon Brando is…
- L’Orange: …timing.
Hip Hop is…
- L’Orange: …innovation.
One fact that every human being ought to know is…
- L’Orange: …truth is relative.
One fact that every human being ought to forget is…
- L’Orange: …we die alone.
The most underrated album of all time is…
- L’Orange: …“I Do What I Do” by Kev Brown
My best choice was…
- L’Orange: …switching to the MPC.
My greatest regret is…
- L’Orange: …not being a part of my family.
My first CD (or tape) was…
- L’Orange: …a self-made mix of AM stations.
The one thing that everybody needs to do before they go to bed tonight is…
- L’Orange: …wash their hands.
The City Under the City –my upcoming album with Stik Figa- is…
- L’Orange: …dichotomous.
The City Under the City is available on iTunes. You can learn more about L’Orange and stream his entire discography by visiting lorangeproductions.com.
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Theodore Wiebe is a writer living in Calgary. You can follow more of his important nonsense on Twitter (@TheodoreWiebe) or Tumblr (writingafterdark.tumblr.com).
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