What really struck me about Orange Goblin was not Big Ben Ward`s stature (the dude is fucking tall) or their unwillingness to tip delivery people, but their absolute professionalism in the studio. I`ve been lucky to see a handful of bands in the studio, and it`s generally a stretched out affair, with parts being recorded and rerecorded over the course of several days. Not so with Orange Goblin when they set up shop at Mad Oak Studios in Allston, Massachusetts (with producer Craig Riggs). They banged out two originals (the next album, per Ben, is to be about the Black Plague) and one cover in two takes each. More often than not, it was the first run through that was the keeper. And they did this while drinking a healthy amount of beer and eating an ungodly amount of pizza and wings.
Orange Goblin:
Ben Ward vocals
Martyn Millard bass
Chris Turner drums
Joe Hoare - guitars
Doing the Damned
"...we thought we`d do something a bit English and a bit different."
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John: So why are you doing this Damned cover?
Ben: Because Scott Hamilton asked us to do it for the Small Stone Sucking the `70`s II.
John: He asked you personally?
Ben: Well, no. Uh, yeah he did actually.
Chris: Not for this specific song.
Ben: He`s always sort of mentioned we should do something for him.
Chris: Every other band`s covering like, all your Sabbaths and Zeppelins and Mountains and Blue Cheers and all the kind of standard things that everybody covers from the `70`s. And we thought we`d do something a bit English and a bit different. The Damned cover. First punk single ever released.
Chris` Split with Capricorns
"I can understand them hating you."
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John: The official comment on Capricorns?
Chris: They sacked me. They sacked me cause I wasn`t committed enough and I was holding them back and it was pissing them off. And I was too cynical.
John: And after they sacked you, then you said, "Ok, then you`re not touring the States."
Chris: My lack of commitment was that I agreed to do two sets on an American tour. And that`s how little committed I was. And I wouldn`t do some show because my wife was about to have a baby at the same time.
John: Well, that was a little selfish of you.
Chris: Y`know, it`s all a matter of priorities.
Ben: Me me me.
John: At least they should`ve done the tour with you in the States and then sacked you.
Chris: Yeah. That would`ve been the best way. All that`s happened now is... The only person that could possibly book them shows in America is Greg and...
Joe: I can understand them hating you.
Chris: Well, yeah. I hate myself more than anybody else. I think Greg`s pissed off, because the shows had been booked and posters had been made and everything else and all of a sudden they`re not doing it. They burned their own bridges a little bit. Best of luck to them. I like the band. I just think they did it all wrong, really.
Ben: The only reason we haven`t sacked Chris is because we haven`t found anyone else stupid enough to drum for Orange Goblin.
Chris: I`m on the Orange Goblin Gravy Train.
Ben: The Orange Goblin Gravy Stroke.
Stoner Rock and Creative Inspiration
"We`ve ripped off everybody."
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John: Now weren`t you guys written up in Rolling Stone years and years ago when they were trying to push the stoner rock thing.
Ben: Yeah, they mentioned High on Fire, Sleep, Down, and somehow we sort of crept into it.
John: That even help you guys at all?
Ben: No, really. Because we were with Rise Above God bless Lee and everything and all his commitment to the whole scene, but financially they couldn`t really help bands much further.
John: Now how do you feel about these bands like Wolfmother and The Sword suddenly making it big.
Ben: Good luck to `em. They`re playing music with the same influences as me.
Joe: I`ve never heard The Sword. Are they good?
John: Yeah, they`re pretty good.
Chris: They`re High on Fire with haircuts.
Ben: Matt Pike is probably seeking the best lawyer in the world, so he can say, "Hang on..."
John: The stuff is kickass; I dig the CD a ton, but when I saw them live, it really hit home this really is High on Fire part 2.
Chris: Try on Fire
John: But with better pants. But for the basic genre of stoner rock, where it comes from Sabbath or Kyuss or both, I can`t start splitting hairs if a band sounds like another band that came out earlier.
Ben: We`ve got no right to say anything about anybody ripping anyone off. We`ve ripped off everybody.
Chris: We are the most plagiaristic band ever.
Craig: That`s the name of the game. Miles Davis said, "If you`re going to steal, steal from the best."
Chris: Unfortunately, we steal from the worse. We`re the worst parts of the all the worst bands you`ve ever heard.
John: Your inspiration comes from Eternal Idol instead of Volume 4.
Tom: Tyr
Joe: Headless Cross.
John: You`re a big fan of the Tony Martin era.
Ben: Who`s your main favorite vocalist? Tony Martin. And the guy from Disturbed. And the guy from Staind. We almost got in a fight with Disturbed at the Rainbow on Sunset.
Chris: It`s us and ATP, they were playing at the Rainbow. The guitarist the guy with that fucking thing - in an open top `50s car, says, "You fucking hippies" or something like that. So we ran after him, hurtling bottles at his fucking car.
Popularity, Kyuss, and Shitty Band Names
"Every good `70`s band had a color in it."
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Ben: I mentioned this before on StonerRock.com, when bands that you`ve loved for a long time reach a certain amount of acclaim, you sort of lose interest.
Chris: It was like Mastodon for me. I used to go see everything, but then they got so big, I can`t be fucking arsed anymore
Ben: Five years ago, who was going to the Underworld to see Mastodon? Nobody had heard of them. But now you can`t get into a London show because of kids with trendy fucking haircuts.
Chris: Unless you wearing a mesh trucker hat or have one of those gay fucking fringe haircuts.
Ben: Not to take away from the bands
Joe: Kyuss is a prime example.
Chris: I went and saw Kyuss all the time. I didn`t care.
Joe: But you got to a stage where it was fucking huge.
Chris: But they split up before they got to that stage.
Ben: Kyuss is one of them bands for me are like Led Zeppelin. You don`t really listen to their albums because you know they`re there and you know how great it is. But when you do put them on, you`re like, "Fucking hell. I didn`t realize how fucking good it was."
Chris: It`s always nice to come back to the old stuff.
Ben: We were lucky enough to work with Scott and John for Coup de Grace. Having people like that you`ve admired for song be into your band... We took Scott and John to the pub where we was recording and was asking about the early days of Kyuss and finding out so much interesting stuff.
Joe: We`ve never been as star-struck as when we were waiting to play with what`s John`s band after he left Kyuss?
Chris: Unida
Joe: Of course, yeah. I`m sitting there on me own in the little caf just eating an egg and a cup of tea and John just walks in. I`ve never met him before, obviously an idol, and he goes (affects a horrible American accent), "Hey, you`re Joe! How ya doin`?"
Chris: I had to share a bedroom with him; I`ve never heard someone snore so loud.
John: You really are a grim motherfucker. Here we are, talking about Kyuss and John Garcia and all you can say (affects a horrible English accent), "He fucking snores. I couldn`t get a quiet night`s sleep."
Joe: I love Americans doing English accents.
Ben: Sounds like Dick Van Dyke.
(Unintelligible conversation about Billy Anderson, Mary Poppins, said in high pitched voices, which ended with Chris saying, "He`s a cunt," although I`m not sure who he`s talking about. Probably me.)
Tom: The thing about Kyuss is that nobody knew about them until after they broke up.
Chris: Exactly. I saw them in London at this place called the Borderline. Tiny little venue. There was like 30, 40 people. Just before Blues came out.
Tom: I saw them in Boston with about ten people.
Ben: `95 I seen `em.
John: I didn`t even like `em when I first heard them. Because they weren`t thrash. I thought, "Hey, this is kinda mellow."
Tom: I thought the name was ridiculous when I first heard it.
John: We`re sitting here talking with "Orange Goblin"...
Ben: We`re talking about ridiculous names, then you`ve met the governors.
Chris: You`re at your daily life; I`m working at my job and stuff. And I`m like, "I`m away for two weeks." "Oh what are you doing." "I`m doing some shows with my band." "What`s your band called?"
(Pauses, looks down)
And you get really embarassed. I just say, "You`ve never heard of us. Don`t worry."
Tom: It`s not a Dungeons and Dragons reference, is it?
John: It`s from The Hobbit, wasn`t it?
Ben: At that time, we were called Our Haunted Kingdom. It was a fucking shit name.
Chris: At this point, I wasn`t in that band. I`m glad that wasn`t me.
Joe: We were really good then. The drummer was fucking ace.
Ben: There were a lot of Tolkien references. We had songs like "Saruman`s Wish" and "Lothlorian," so we said, "`Goblin` is a cool name." And Goblin were a cool `70`s band; they did the Dario Argento music.
Chris: Every good `70`s band had a color in it.
Ben: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, Pink Floyd. So we said, "Let`s add orange"
Tom: And Orange makes a cool amplifier.
Ben: That`s it.
John: I think if you had an "L" and an apostrophe, you`d be a bit fancier. "L`Orange Goblin."
Joe: (laughs) We only played France once.
Chris: That`s because it`s full of the French.
Ben: We played in Paris and we played in that place in Marseilles. What`s that by? Balfour?
Joe: Ah, the south the France. That`s when I couldn`t remember how to play "Quincy the Pig Boy." I had to ask you to tell me.
Ben: You`ve been doing that quite a lot recently, asking me how riffs go (laughs).
John: So France is the shittiest place to play?
Ben: I mean, can you name a decent French metal band?
John: Trust?
Ben: Trust aside (laughs).
Chris: France is just one of those places that`s hard to play in. Not a big scene there.
Ben: They`re too busy walking around being Gay Parisians.
Joe: Plus we`re English, and they can`t fucking stand us.
Ben: We`re never going to get a show in France ever again (laughs). Bollocks.
Chris: The way I look at it is the last hundred generations of my family have actively tried to kill the French. It`s in my genes.
Ben: The only thing in my jeans is my money, my wallet... and I need another beer!
Roadburn 2006
"This year`s was exceptional."
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John: How was Roadburn?
Chris: I love Roadburn. Walter`s a fucking hero. He`s the most committed, the most dedicated... He`s like the Librarian of Metal. You get looked after so well, they treat you so well. It`s so well organized. It`s all totally professional. You get loads of good bands playing there. It was sold out this year.
Ben: This year`s was exceptional.
John: Wasn`t last year`s supposed to the last one?
Ben: Solace coming over and playing was a big coup for him.
Joe: He does work very hard doing it.
Dio and Alice Cooper
"Some people said, `You ought to have kicked his fucking face in.`
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Chris: Dio and Joe bonded. Dio kind of adopted him. We toured with Alice Cooper and Dio. At the end of tour, we were saying all our goodbyes, and Dio takes us to one side and says, "Look after Joe for me." I was like, "Don`t worry, we will."
Ben: On the last night of the tour, Alice Cooper came up and hung out for a bit.
Chris: We had been hanging out with Dio every night, but Alice Cooper would sort of turn up from his hotel before they went on and do their show so you`d never see him. So we asked, "Can we meet him?" So they said come down to the dressing room.
So he`s got this massive room, with one comfy chair, and there`s a stool with a TV on it, and he`s watching golf videos. So I ask, "Can I get you in a headlock?"
See, that`s the thing. We`ve got this thing called "Celebrity Headlock" when you meet a celebrity, you get `em in a headlock and get your photo taken.
Ben: There`s a good shot of Chris with Dave Wyndorf. Some people said, "You ought to have kicked his fucking face in."
Chris: (to Craig Riggs) Am I supposed to be doing stuff?
John: You just be you.
Chris: I don`t know who that is.
Ben: I do. He`s a complete and utter cunt.
