Welcome to the latest edition of Behind the Mic! This week we sat down with a local band from Georgia, The Orange Constant, before their performance at Loose Change in Downtown Clemson on April 7th. Read on to find out about how they balance their social lives after graduating college, and how they managed to score one of their biggest crowds ever!
TimeOut (TO):When did you and your friends first decide to start a band?
Andrew Brantley (AB):Well, we first formed a group together sometime in September 2012, starting off with only two guitarists, myself and Nickalous Benson, as well as Lee Guentert on drums, but after about six months of playing, things weren’t working out and we had to switch out our bass player for the awesome Will Goggans in March 2013. From there on out, we became The Orange Constant that everyone knows today!
TO: Was it a part of everyone’s plan in The Orange Constant to go into the music industry or become a musician?
AB:Unlike a lot of other musical groups that we know, Nickalous, Lee, Will and I pretty much had the plan to start up a band at some point in time. We’ve always wanted to write music and play it in front of the biggest crowd possible. Of course, when we first started out, it was a bit of a pipe dream that we would get any major gigs or record deals right off the bat, we gradually moved up to that level step by step!
TO: What is it like trying to balance your social lives alongside having practices and getting ready for gigs?
AB: Well, we started out as students at Georgia Southern University, so for a while it was difficult to get things going at first with all the school work (laughs). Nickalous and I both happened to be in school for music, so any fears of us getting rusty didn’t turn out to happen because we always had class together. Thankfully, the four of us are out of college now, so it’s made things much easier now, especially since we have enough time on our hands to actually make a living out of playing music.
When it comes to keeping a decent social life though, it’s actually a little more difficult, since one of the perks of being at college is that you’re constantly around your friends. Once you’re done with that, you kinda have to go out of your way to maintain those relationships with people. It can be particularly difficult too when one of the major aspects of being a musician involves pigeonholing yourself in a room to practice or write music for long periods of time. However, we’ve managed to strike a decent balance so far, as our schedule hasn’t been extreme yet. We usually only do about three days a week on the road, which definitely beats a 24/7 schedule, so it’s been quite the adventure so far.
TO: What has been your favorite performance to date?
AB: We had one show at this place called South City Tavern in Statesboro, Georgia for an end of the year party. Lady Antebellum happened to be playing in a nearby stadium that was right across the street from us, so once they let out at 10, those hundreds of people just crossed the road over to where we were just setting up. I think they had a little over 900 people come over, and it was truly amazing to play in front of such a pumped up and excited crowd ready to hear whatever you have to play.
TO: What has been the biggest hurdle that you and your group had to work around?
AB: Staying afloat in regards to money is probably the most important. It is vital that we all have as much income coming in as possible, but still be able to come in to practice and play shows. We’re doing much better now, but scheduling work or the occasional odd job around practices can be a little tough at times.
TO: What is your favorite song to perform, whether it be a cover or an original piece you wrote?
AB: I’d probably have to go with “Cannonball,” one of the original pieces we did off of our latest album. “The Breeze” is also a personal favorite of mine,and is a great, fun song that gets everyone happy and ready to hear more!
TO: What are some of the artists that inspired The Orange Constant’s sound, or made you want to further pursue music?
AB: We tend to draw a lot from groups like Moon Taxi, in the sense that we’re a bit of a jam band, but a little more song oriented, and Phish, in that they are free and ready to do a lot of interesting things.
TO: Batman versus Superman: who would win in a fight?
AB: Superman, because he actually has superpowers. (Laughs) Superman would take the cake any day of the week against anyone, really!
TO: What can we expect from “The Orange Constant” in the future?
AB: We’re starting to hit some festivals in the future, as well as some bigger shows. The SweetWater 420 Festival in Atlanta is probably going to be the biggest one for us, at least for this year. We are also planning on dropping a new album before the end of the year, so hopefully that gets going soon. Besides that, we’re just trying to hit as many places in the southeast as possible this year!
TO: If you could say one thing to your fans, or the community around you in Georgia, what would it be?
AB: Hmm … Don’t forget about live music? (Laughs) Always remember that live music is an option when heading out to some bars with your friends on a weekend.
