Orsome Welles – Michael Stowers

Lets get stuck in from the opening paragraph. On the evidence presented via the videos the band has posted to You Tube, giving fans a taste of the new EP, titled Rise, Orsome Welles are collectively some of the most accomplished songwriters, performers and musicians under the metal banner in 2017. From anywhere on the globe.

To underline the point, if ever there was a more fertile time in Australian metal… I can’t recall. In 25 years of actively supporting the genre, 2017 is potentially the highest of high tides for the genre across the six states, numerous territories and islands.

What a wonderful time to be alive and supporting the genre when the likes of Harlott, Desecrator, Aversions Crown, Earth Rot and of course, Orsome Welles are available to sate the metallic hunger that is etched deeply into the DNA of the readership of this publication.

Michael Stowers, Orsome Welles’s front man and vocalist, is on the phone to chat about Rise. He’s in high spirits. We jest about the weather, and my fellow Queenslander’s proclivity for underestimating how cold it can be in the southern states before I hit him up with what is without doubt my longest opening statement/ question ever offered to an artist/ musician.

In the interests of brevity the condensed version of my question is as follows: Surely the opportunity exists for Orsome Welles to receive airplay on mainstream rock radio stations such as Southern Cross Austereo or Triple M, in Australia and WKSM-FM or 99 Rock, in the USA. I ask if it were to be the band’s intention to reach as broad an audience as possible, would they welcome the opportunities and compromises that are presented with serious exposure?

“I think we never write with the intention of having things such as radio songs or anything like that. I think we’ve got a unique background, all of us, that we bring to our writing process and now into the production process as well. I think that’s amazing that you hear it that way. Because yes, we think we’re a serious band but we also feel like we’ve got appeal to that wider audience and I don’t think we’d have to sacrifice too much to take that next step. I think, as a singer, songwriter and melody writer, I relish the chance to write things that are accessible, people can sing along to and that are memorable. You hear that term ‘ear worm’ and I think — I never write intentionally to have ear worms but if I go away from a rehearsal or a writing session and I’m whistling away or humming away a melody or a riff or a tune or whatever, that’s a good sign and it’s definitely a motivator for us to move forward. Yes, I think we’re not going to not write something because it sounds too commercial because I don’t even know what that is these days. I think it’s more about that accessibility and that memorability for people, which I think probably, drives our production sense these days through the big choruses and the big riffs. The ways that we write and they come from our influences so it’s just natural that it ends up that way.”

Stowers is the type of bloke that I enjoy having a good old chin wag with, he certainly strikes me a smart bloke possessing a fine intellect. I have a burning question that I have been waiting to ask a local musician so I decide to offer the question to Stowers.

I understand that Canadian radio stations licensed since 1999 have been licensed to play local content at least 40% of the time (which I assume is measured over a 24 hour cycle). This may account for the genesis of the success afforded to Nickleback and Avril Lavine, however it also alludes to the success of Devin Townsend, Protest the Hero, Gorguts and Anciients. It will likely never happen in Australia, so I ask Stowers for his thoughts on the current state of radio and the availability of airplay to artists in Australia.

“Radio’s an interesting beast in Australia and has been for a long time. I think it’s so calculated and just feels so owned by the corporate machine. A lot of bands are giving up on any chance of being played on commercial radio which is a real shame”

My own thoughts are that radio is yet to fully understand and appreciate the impact of streaming services, podcasts and embedded content providers such as Whooshkaa. There is a storm brewing for domestic radio broadcasters and I wonder if the gatekeepers of advertising revenue and content on both the AM and FM frequency have plan.

“Well I think it swings in round-a-bouts, isn’t it? Because I think you were saying before about how do you write songs and if you’d compromise to take that next step. I think bands are putting that to the back burner and exploring what they can do and not being restricted by anything. It means you get this amazing quality and diversity in the music scene. It’s also the (same for) commercial TV world as well”.

Stowers next point is one that I have heard time and again from accomplished vocalists…

“Being a singer in a band some of the response you get when you tell people is, ‘Have you been on The Voice? Have you auditioned for The Voice?’ and you’re like well. I always ask ‘How many CD’s have you bought of people who’ve been on The Voice?’ [laughs]. The answer is usually none. People are having the wool pulled over their eyes that fame is something you’ve got to raffle for and get voted in to be someone of note when these bands are working so hard to push the boundaries and do it themselves”.

I couldn’t have put it another way.

‘Rise’ EP out now.

One individual who has been at the heart of many great domestic releases for almost three decades is Steve Smart. Credited for working with artists as diverse as Crowded House, Silverchair and Kenny G, I ask Stowers for feedback on his experience working with man who mastered Rise at Studios 301 in Sydney.

“He’s the ultimate professional, really. We try to do is have everything ready to go by the time you get it to his ears. He has this ability to understand what you’re trying to create by what you’ve been able to provide for him. And the results speak for themselves. Personally, with the way that he sits the vocals in the mix, it’s centered but it’s not at the forefront, there’s lots of space even though it’s a big heavy wall of sound sometimes. The results speak for themselves. Not just on our recording but on anything that he puts his mind and ears too.”

Rise is a release worth celebrating. The band has gone to great lengths to produce high quality content for fans through their video’s, audio production, an outstanding website and through meaningful engagement on social media. I’ll certainly be adding Rise to my streaming device once it has been released… and if the band sees fit to produce a copy in cassette form… now that would be icing on the cake!

Catch Orsome Welles on their upcoming national tour. Let everyone know you’re going by attending the official Facebook page.

Friday, June 16: Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
with Rise Overrun, Kodiak Empire and He Danced Ivy

Saturday, June 17: Badlands, Perth
with Tempest Rising, Bury The Heard & Illyria

Saturday, June 24: Crown & Anchor, Adelaide
with Colibrium, Japam and The Unset

Friday, June 30: The Factory Floor, Sydney
with Mercury Sky, Sevsons and Genetics

Saturday, July 1: The Basement, Canberra
with Tundrel and Hence The Testbed

Saturday, July 8: The Evelyn, Melbourne
with Qlaye Face, Transience and The Valley Ends

Tickets on sale now via
wildthingpresents.com

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