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Orson
- Biography
Orson
are an American rock band from Hollywood, California. The
band's vocalist Jason Pebworth sums up the
Orson
sound like this: "We play guitar rock but we have that
rump-shaking quality to our rhythm section, like an R&B
feel. When you listen to Led Zeppelin, for all their rockin',
they made you want to dance. And that's what we're aiming
for. It's great to see people dancing at a rock and roll
show. And if you can get girls into your music, guys will
follow."
Formation
Orson
formed in 2000 around a core of
Jason Pebworth and guitarist
George Astasio . The group took its name from
Hollywood legend Orson Welles. There are two reasons for
this. Firstly, they admired the great man's work (Jason:
"Orson Welles was a maverick who took a lot of shit and made
a lot of enemies yet his art stood the test of time.").
Secondly, they saw a sandwich named after him and reckoned
that the name just sounded good. "We were in a little coffee
shop in
Hollywood,"
Jason recalls, "and there was a list of sandwiches: the
Greta Garbo, the Clark Gable, the Orson Welles. That got me
thinking..." (Note: the sandwich was filled with Gouda
cheese and pickles, and none of the band ate one.)
Over time,
the Orson name has taken on greater significance. Jason
explains, "We're having a little fun with the fact that
we're based in Hollywood. There are so many bands from
Hollywood, and none of them seem to have any sense of being
from here. I love the mystique that this place has. That's
why we wear hats everywhere, as a nod to the Old Hollywood."
Band
members
Jason
Pebworth
is an unconventional rock singer mainly because he doesn't
sing rock. Before putting Orson together, he performed for
several years in various theatre productions. He writes
songs on piano, having never learned to play guitar,
although he often wishes he had, because, of course, "it's
more authentically rock and roll". And his influences are a
mixture of... well, just about anything and everything. "I
love Broadway tunes," he declares, "and I love Black
Sabbath."
Growing up
in Texas, Jason "absorbed" soft rock -
Hall & Oates,
The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan - plus Memphis and Philly
soul. The first album Jason bought was
Queen's The Game
("That album blew my little blond head off!" he laughs.
"They were toying with post-punk and disco and it sounded
terrific."). During his college years, Nirvana inspired him
to think about being in a band of his own. Obsessions with
Jeff Buckley's Grace and Radiohead's OK Computer followed.
And now... "As a band, we're into Led Zeppelin, Flaming
Lips, Beck, Bjork. I'm a huge
ELO fan... Basically,"Jason
confesses, "I've stolen from every human being that ever
wrote a song!"
Lyrics
Orson's
songs are mostly about girls, about falling in or falling
out of love. They form what is essentially a diary of
Jason's own love life. "I torture myself over lyrics," he
says. "Ultimately, the best stuff, the funniest lines, come
out of the most heartbreaking times. To me, Elvis Costello
is one of the great lyricists. He can make something really
funny out of something truly tragic. I like that approach.
It's like the great comedians."
Orson
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