The Orwells are set to release their new album Disgraceland this coming June 3rd and we reached out to them to get a better look into the making of their sophomore record. The band has created plenty of buzz for themselves and this album by touring the nation with Twin Peaks and largely thanks to their famous Letterman performance, making Disgraceland something that everyone is keeping a close eye on in hopes that it delivers on the hype. At first glance, I can tell you that it definitely does.
I got a hold of guitarist Matt O’Keefe to talk about their writing process, the producers they worked with and the meaning behind calling it Disgraceland. You can stream the album on Spotify before its official release and read our full interview below.
What was your approach to this project? Creatively, what did the band try to achieve with this?
Making it better than Remember When was really the only plan that we had. We wrote that over a long period of time and there were a lot of music phases that we were going into it while making it so the overall goal was just to top the last one.
Who did you guys work with to make the album and how did they affect your work?
We worked with three producers; David Sitek did “Who Needs You” from the EP and carried over, Jim Abbiss did “The Righteous One” and “Dirty Sheets,” and Chris Coady did the rest of it. A lot of times with producers it’s kind of like adding another brain into the group and they have ideas about the song and what you can do with it, you think about it and you try it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t; the differences there is all about perspective. Plus they all have access to actual studios so quality-wise they have a much better sound than what we were working on in my basement and the tools that we could work with.
Were you listening to anyone/anything in particular during the process of making the album?
Nobody that has an effect over the entire thing althought you can find influences just by listening to each song individually. For me it was all kind of the same shit that I was listening to around Remember When, 60’s and 70’s Rock & Roll music.
How would you describe your writing process? Does it typically start with a riff or do you create the music after seeing the lyrics?
It starts with the music usually. It can start with as much as just a riff or an entire song. Either me or Dominic bring a little piece to the band and we’ll kick it around. While me, Henry, Dominic and Grant are figuring out the music, Mario’s sitting there the whole time scribbling down lyrics and coming up with the vocal melodies.
What was the reasoning behind calling the album Disgraceland and was that a common theme that is revisited throughout lyrics for the songs that appear on the new project?
I think we all realized that this might be the last album that we’d write in this kind of way that all the songs we’d written before; we’re in Elmhurst and in my basement, doing it ourselves. I think we realized this would be the last record we’d write in this town because now some people are moving down to the city and eventually everyone else will go down there. This is really the last record where we felt like we were still just teenagers from the suburbs so let’s reflect on it and that’s where it went. It’s a bit of a “tip of the hat” to ourselves like “this is what we have to say about it,” and at the same time, the 19-20 years that we’ve been spent here can be described by our sound as a “disgraceland” in a great way and in a disgraceful way.
What are some of your favorite tracks on the new project?
There’s a whole song I really like; “North Ave.” was written when we were in the studio recording so out of all of them that’s one of the most fresh to me so just with all of that I really like it. I like “Southern Comfort” and the end of “Norman” I really like, I just wish we made it a bit better than that.
You guys are going out on tour with Skaters and even hitting Riot Fest here in Chicago, what songs from the album will be added to the live sets for these shows?
“North Ave.” was one that we weren’t playing live so that’s one we know how to play and we can play it tight but it’s a bit more slow-paced so for people who aren’t familiar with the song it might just be a little draggy. But once people will have heard it enough it’ll wind up on our set. Most of ’em we were already playing on our tour except for “North Avenue” and “Norman.” Maybe “Norman” will pop up on our set here and there if we’re drunk enough.
Some of the covers you’ve incorporated into your shows include The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and KISS’ “Love Gun,” are you guys covering any other songs nowadays?
We’re working out new covers now just to find maybe one that we can put in there that everybody knows. That’s the good thing about when we do “Build Me Up Buttercup” or “Love Gun” and “I Wanna Be Your Dog” because everybody knows those songs. When we do covers we don’t try to do something that we really dig but nobody would know so we’d rather cover like “Surrender.”
