In Conversation With #277 - Fizzy Orange
Six piece alternative rock outfit Fizzy Orange have just released their debut EP ‘Fizzy Orange in Mono’. Giving a new twang and flare to the word vintage, they band bring feelings of nostalgia while taking their sound on a unique path into the future.
Boasting a signature sound consisting of an analogue amalgamation of 60s songwriting, 70s studio techniques and the 80s home recording revolution, Fizzy Orange have been breathing fresh air into the indie up-and-comers scene since 2020. The Dublin band have recently sold out iconic venues across the UK and Ireland, including The Sugar Club (Dublin), Whelan’s (Dublin), St. Luke’s Church (Cork), Two Palms (London) as well as festival bookings for Guinness Cork Jazz (IRE), Trinity Ball (IRE), All Together Now (IRE), Dot To Dot (UK) and Ventnor Fringe Festival (UK).
With a can-do DIY approach, Fizzy Orange have built a serious buzz with their single releases and become consistent sell-outs at home in Ireland, only set to grow in the UK. Grassroots, independent, fiercely up-and-coming, Fizzy Orange are bringing Dublin City Soul with them wherever they go!
They took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there Fizzy Orange - how are you? So your debut EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
We’ve put a lot of work into this project this past year and its amazing to see the outcome. It’s been a massive goal of ours to release a longer-form project and we couldn’t be happier with this as a debut.
It is called ‘Fizzy Orange in Mono’ - what is the meaning behind that?
Were all big fans of the Beatles, the Kinks and Small Faces. The mono mixes of albums like ‘Revolver, Arthurand The Ogdens Nut Gone Flake had a major impact on the sound of our EP. We have always loved analoguerecording and vintage sounds so it felt most fitting to mix our debut in mono as an homage to some of our favourite bands.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
The songs were demoed in Leitirim on a recording/writing trip we all took down there. We spent about a week working out all the tunes before heading into the studio back in Dublin. The EP was recorded over four days in Sonic Studios, Stoneybatter. We recorded with Iain Faulkner, it was great to get his perspective on the tunes and he was able to enhance the vibe we were going for.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
The EP comes from a time when the band was split up between Dublin and London. Each of us was either studying at home or working abroad, all living different lifestyles. I suppose the songs come from the different things we were all up to at this time mixed with nostalgia and love of the place we all come from. Even something as simple as walking along the coast or riding our shite train system can fill you with nostalgia and love for this city. As far as influences go, I mentioned the Beatles, the Stones and all the other British invasion bands are a huge influence. Thin Lizzy will always be one of our biggest influences and a band we all love and admire massively. Overall there’s a real mixture of influences in every track on this EP from post punk, art rock, garage rock, lo-fi home recording, 60s pop, 70s soft rock and lots more (Wire, Buzzcocks, Beach Boys, Hall and Oates, Harry Nilsson)
Another big influence for our third single for the EP, Choo Choo was the Beatles Hard Days Night film. You can see the influence in the promo videos we’ve posted just before its release!
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
I (Jack) recently watched the Holdovers. I think it is hard to capture that vintage 70s style of filmmaking without it being overly done or modernized but the shooting and editing of this one sold me. Paired with the nostalgic soundtrack full of warm analogue recordings it creates a time capsule for when films were made that way., I think some of the tunes from the EP could fit alongside them.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
I like the opening lyrics to ‘By the Bay’ “40 Days and 40 Nights seven miles away” I love it, it’s so stupid it makes no sense. I was listening to a lot of Hall and Oates at the time and I realised that they always seem to start their songs with a specific time and city ( eg we were 14 days from Toronto) so I tried to make my version of a Hall and Oates tune about Dublin Bay ( my version is a lot worse).
Now the EP is out there - what next?
We have a couple of really exciting gigs coming up after the EP comes out. We’re playing our next London headline show in Bush Hall on the 4th of May. A dream venue for us in London and we’ll playing in the round! Another exciting one in May is we’re performing in Dalymount Park in Dublin as part of Phizzfest. A local football stadium where Thin Lizzy, Bob Marley and a load of other legendary bands have played. It’s going to be a really special gig for us all to play somewhere a lot of our heroes have played before. Other than gigging, we plan to head back to Leitrim and continue writing and recording songs, we’ll get some time in the studio then and are aiming to get our full-length debut album together this year.
