Thanksgiving (band)

Adrian Orange

Adrian Orange, performing live, under the moniker, Thanksgiving, January 2005
Background information
Birth name Adrian Orange
Born March 20, 1986
Origin Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres Indie rock, Experimental rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Singing, Guitar, Drums
Years active 1999–present
Labels Marriage Records, K Records, Gnar Tapes
Associated acts Thanksgiving, The Watery Graves of Portland, Adrian Orange and Her Band, Mount Eerie, Peace the Band, LAKE, François & the Atlas Mountains

Thanksgiving, Adrian Orange & Her Band, and AOK, are the names under which Portland, Oregon singer/songwriter Adrian Orange (born March 20, 1986)[1] performs. First adopting the "Thanksgiving" moniker around 1999–2000, Orange played experimental folk music, often accompanying himself on guitar and self-recording his albums using analogue equipment. While Thanksgiving is essentially a solo act, Orange often collaborates with other musicians in his recordings and performances.

Overview

Thanksgiving (1999-Present)

Thanksgiving's debut We Could Be Each Other's Evidence was released by Vit! Vit! Recordings when Orange was just fifteen years old. In 2000 he co-founded Marriage Records with Curtis Knapp and released his second album Nothing on the label the following year. He also played drums in the instrumental group The Watery Graves of Portland alongside Knapp and Davis Lee Hooker. In the mid-2000s he toured and recorded with Phil Elverum (The Microphones, Mount Eerie), who has since described Orange as "an actual real-life lounging grass-grove poet who went on to write the best songs in human history."[2]

Adrian Orange & Her Band (2006-07)

In 2006 Orange released the LP Bitches Is Lord under his own name and toured the world with a nine-piece backing band, initially known as Child Slave Rebellion and later Adrian Orange & Her Band. The touring group, featuring members of LAKE and François & the Atlas Mountains, recreated older Thanksgiving material with new textures and instrumentation described variously as "rogue West African prison-funk"[3] and "acid-tinged dub-jam nomad blues".[4] In February 2007 the band reconvened at Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, WA to record a self-titled LP, released later that year on K Records. They also released the single Interdependance Dance as part of the International Pop Underground 7" series.

Recent projects

Orange, who had been touring and recording prolifically since his mid-teens, performed less frequently following the release of Adrian Orange & Her Band. According to a K Records press release he had been working towards "[transforming] the band/person into some leaderless, formless, psychedelic, general liberation project."[5] In 2007 he adopted the moniker Lyllyy's Adrian Orange and, briefly, Drone Boner, performing with members of the greater Portland, OR experimental music scene (including members of Rob Walmart, Jackie-O Motherfucker and White Rainbow). Around this time Orange also contributed vocals to the LP Naked Acid by Valet and released two handmade CDRs which were sold on tour, AJO (as "Lyllyys") and Zone Out: The Prequel (as "AOK"). These releases introduced a more experimental and free-form approach to songwriting, with new emphasis on soundscapes and beats.

Orange was long-rumoured to be working on an avant garde hip-hop album under the moniker AOK with producer/musician Adam Forkner (White Rainbow), although this has yet to materialize. In 2011 Gnar Tapes released a double cassette of Orange's recent electronic recordings entitled Deep Stain Doublest Dubba Dope Duba Stank Dank Tape. According to the label, Orange had "suffered a near complete mental collapse, triggered by all manners of fatigue" following his most recent world tour and for a time "very few were aware of [his] activities or whereabouts."[6] In recent years Orange has reverted to using the Thanksgiving moniker and has self-released music through his Bandcamp page.[7] He currently is on tour with r.ariel through the USA. They have plans to record a new album this winter (2014) and will record in the south west. They then plan to tour to New York and fly to Europe to tour through 2015. [8]

Releases

Albums

EPs, singles and cassettes

References

  1. ↑ K Records: Adrian Orange
  2. ↑ P.W. Elverum & Sun Tumblr: Songs and notes to accompany the photobook DUST
  3. ↑ K Records: Adrian Orange & Her Band
  4. ↑ Tomentosa Records: Deep Stain Doublest Dubba Dope Duba Stank Dank Tape
  5. ↑ K Records: Adrian Orange
  6. ↑ Tomentosa Records: Deep Stain Doublest Dubba Dope Duba Stank Dank Tape
  7. ↑ Bandcamp: Thanksgiving
  8. ↑ Indiegogo: Adrian Orange/Thanksgiving Summer/Fall tour 2014

External links