Text: Agelica8AV | Photos: Alex Durán
Psychedelic-rock band Orange Anima has proven to be thoroughly innovative and energizing, really winning people over. Ángel Aguirre (born in El Paso, Tx) came up with the idea for the band while away at college in San Diego, Ca. While the band had its beginnings in the Golden State, they’re now back and ready to rock their hometown of El Paso. No longer novices to the scene, they’re looking to share their abstract electric sound and get people going with their fresh, ripe take on experimental psychedelic-rock music.
Orange Anima’s tracks are inevitably contagious with their funky bass lines and groovy transitions. The band delivers guaranteed good times, whether it be through their dance-worthy tracks, or their songs with a mellower vibe. The band is currently made up of 3 members: Ángel Aguirre on guitar, synths and vocals; José Delgado on bass guitar, vocals and synths; and Kyle Royse on drums and percussions.
You guys all do a lot of work for the band. Tell us about your songwriting and recording process.
Ángel: We’re audio engineers, so we’re constantly recording new songs and melodies, playing around with the keyboard and bass guitar, adding vocals. We like to give our music a progressive feel while keeping it mellow at the same time; we enjoy creating that roller-coaster type of emotion with ups and downs. Regarding recording, we record and edit everything ourselves in our own home studio.
José: We write our lyrics both individually and as a group. There’s a broad range of topics we land on in our lyrics—love, heartbreak. From the simplest topics to more complex ones, like lessons or messages to ourselves.
Who or what would you say influences your music the most?
Ángel: There aren’t really any limits on what influences us, we’re always trying to stay updated.
José: Yeah, we’re always listening to different styles of music, whether it’s old or new.
It seems like you guys have collaborated with many different musicians since the band had its start. How has that experience been for you?
Ángel: There have been many musicians that have allowed the possibility of playing live shows and working on material across the country. It started with Alex Levanti, Diego Montaño and Tim O’Neil, who we teamed up with to record our first demo, Youth’s Fever. After that, we got to work with Celina Acosta, Willy Bert and Robert González as great additions to our live shows. Kyle is our most recent member.
Talking about live shows, what do you feel when you’re performing onstage?
Ángel: I tend to get a lot of anxiety and nausea before the show, even though I’ve been playing for a while. When I’m on stage and I’ve gone through the process, though, I feel relaxed and in control.
José: I’m not nervous onstage, but I do feel anxiety right up until the moment we start. Most of the time I just go with whatever’s happening, although there are times when I feel like it’s second nature and I just let my body feel the music.
We like to give our music a progressive feel while keeping it mellow at the same time; we enjoy creating that roller-coaster type of emotion with ups and downs
What inspires you to make music and keep playing?
Ángel: Just creating something new inspires me, it’s like a goal.
José: We want our audience to relate to our music in their own way; we want them to enjoy it, to chill with it, to dance to it and have fun.
Music does have a great impact on people. How do you think culture, art and music contribute to building a better society?
Ángel: These elements motivate you to create something new and really push you towards doing what you truly want to do, and we’re currently doing that with this band.
José: It’s so essential for new generations to get involved in these types of activities, they really help build a better society overall.
What do you think keeps this band together through it all?
Ángel: José and I played in the same band before Orange Anima. When California brought us back together, we were really able to push the band forward. We relate to each other pretty well and it makes working together way easier. Even if sometimes it’s just us 2 or even myself, I’m really determined to keep it going.
José: We’re always striving to advance, coming up with new ideas, improving the quality of our product, working as a team and making decisions together. All this has been really useful during the creation of our albums.
What’s the idea behind your latest album, Future Primitive?
Ángel: The concept is now, new, unique—without any limitations or restrictions. The whole feeling of the album is retro, but with a futuristic touch to it, so it’s more sci-fi without the lo-fi.
We’re always striving to advance, coming up with new ideas, improving the quality of our product, working as a team and making decisions together.
What have you been up to as a band lately?
Ángel: We had the release party for our second album, Future Primitive, on June 4th. There’s 11 songs on it and we’re just about to start filming 2 music videos. There’s also a couple of out-of-town shows lined up around New Mexico and Texas this summer. We played in Santa Fe along with Thom Simon from Oregon on the 30th, and we’re about to have another show with Golden Dawn Arkestra and Kikimora on July 14th.
Where can our readers find your music?
Ángel: Our website is orangeanima.com. Our music is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and Amazon. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
