Picture this. One of your guitar heroes is in your town and is playing a massive show. You send off a press kit, not knowing if will even get to that person. Well, it does and you get a call to meet him at the venue for soundcheck. You jam for a while and even even play each others guitar. Then he says to you: you’re joining me on stage tonight. Is this real or is it memorex (this is a really old reference but kudos to anyone that gets it). It is absolutely real as I was told this story about her jamming with the one and only Carlos Santana by Orianthi herself. Here’s the thing, though. While it’s almost ridiculous, it isn’t the only incredible event that has happened in her musical life. That moment happened when Orianthi was 18 years old in Australia.
Since then Orianthi has gone on to receive gold and platinum albums in multiple countries throughout the world. She has also played, recorded and shared the stage with a who’s who of legendary guitar players. Orianthi was even featured in the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It as Jackson’s lead guitar player. This was the documentary that chronicled the rehearsals and preparation for the concert series that was scheduled to start on July 13, 2009 but was cancelled as Jackson died on June 25th of that year. One of my favorite things about Orianthi is that, while she’s one of those people that other musicians would love to play with, she seems to appreciate it all and relishes every encounter with these artists. She definitely embraces all of these life experiences.
It’s almost seven years to the day that Orianthi released her last solo studio album – 2013’s Heaven In This Hell. After a long wait, her fans are getting excited as Orianthi is almost ready to launch a brand new album. Officially, the album title hasn’t been released but Orianthi says, “It’s just called “O” at this point.”
What we do know is that tracking for the album has been completed. I asked her about some of the recording details and production notes. Orianthi tells Sound Vapors, “I had a blast making this record. We made it really fast in Nashville with my good friend Marti Frederiksen. I think we finished it in like 28 days, the whole record. Doing everything. Writing it, recording it. I’m really excited about it. We have one song on there that was co-written by Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue. He sent through some amazing lyrics.”
Orianthi continues, “I don’t want to say what genre it is. It’s not disjointed or anything. It has a particular sound to it and it’s very commercial but experimenting with sounds, guitar sounds, synth sounds, drums sounds, kind of everything. It’s a big sounding record. Also, played acoustically, it still comes across well. Which I think is important, when you write the song, first on an acoustic and then you add everything to it.” As far as a release date, Orianthi says, “Hopefully, in the next few months, put out properly. With the right video clip and all of that stuff and just roll out.” Very exciting stuff, indeed. Count me as one of the fans ready to hear these new songs.
The album isn’t the only new thing Orianthi has coming out. She tells me about some new guitars. She says, “I have some new guitars coming out as well, which is really exciting, really soon too. Though Gibson and Paul Reed Smith. I’ve just been working rally hard on all fronts, kind of thing.” No rest for the wicked. She’s a worker and it shows in everything that she does. Be it laying down killer guitar tracks, stellar vocals, shooting videos, working with guitar manufactures and the day to day business that is Orianthi. She’s involved in all aspects. Trust me, this is one sharp artist.
Orianthi mentioned during our interview about being present and living in the moment. Something she does incredibly well. But when I ask her to rattle off a few of her fondest memories, right off the top of her head, she doesn’t hesitate. She tells me about getting a record deal and receiving a call from Jimmy Iovine (Google him, if you don’t know. But holy moly, that’s one heck of a phone call to get) and saying he wants to sign you. Another epic moment in her life was getting the call from Michael Jackson to work with him. She tells me, “Getting to work with him was amazing and a dream come true.” The final thing she mentions is getting a number one, platinum song. Like I said earlier – her career has been filled so many success stories. But the first thing she says when I ask her about these memorable events? That evening with Carlos Santana. She says, “That moment was so surreal and beautiful too. To be up there playing music with such a great, and the reason why I play guitar, and his band. It was a beautiful evening.”
“That was the most daunting, crazy experience of my life and I’ll never forget it.”
Amazing.
This was a jammed packed interview as we covered many interesting topics. Including my wish for a dream collaboration between her and Silverchair’s Daniel Johns. Which she said she would definitely down for. I’d love to see that happen at some point! You can hear my entire conversation with Orianthi by clicking on one of the links to your favorite place to listen to podcasts. You can also watch the episode on YouTube. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on other interviews with more amazing artists. Just like Orianthi!
-Tommy Marz
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