ABSENT FRIENDS: Oranjuly

With Real Gone celebrating its fifth anniversary in November 2014, we thought it would be a good time to catch up with a few faces and bands not featured in our columns for some time.  Bands move on, bands split, bands plough on…  In a first instalment of an ongoing series, we caught up with Brian E. King, mastermind behind Oranjuly to find out about his current activities.

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A new band named Oranjuly took the power pop community by storm in the summer of 2010, their album ranking very highly among many end of year lists.  Given the cult acclaim the album gained, it seems strange we never heard much more from this great band.  Oranjuly was never really a band as such, but an outlet for the work of songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Brian E. King…and following the album’s release, he had other musical avenues he really wanted to explore.

Speaking to Real Gone in the autumn of 2014, his reaction to the Oranjuly recording was somewhat surprising: “The second album was 25% recorded but, frankly, I didn’t want to make another power pop record… I want make music that’s more honest to myself instead of McCartney-esque chord changes. I’ll always be a fan of Beach Boys/Jellyfish/Weezer but it’s not the type of music I want to make or be known for.”

King is currently a member of Parks, a new band whom – according to the man himself – are stylistically much broader.  Their debut album is expected at some point in 2015.

A full interview with King talking about Oranjuly, his musical present and the future is coming soon at Real Gone.  [Visit the official Parks website here.]