Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Those of you who sit around on the weekends and complain about there being no good music on campus have obviously never heard of these guys.
Horizontal Orange, made up of Donnie Prince on guitar, Daniel “Country” Morris on bass, Brandon Passmore on drums and Jarrod and Brian McMillian on vocals and guitar, are a hard rock band based out of Fulton and who are one of the few groups who rock Martin on a regular basis.
“We’ve been around for a few years,” says Brian, the band’s frontman. “But this group has been around since July. Our previous drummer and bass player got jobs and went their seperate ways.
Jarrod and I picked up Daniel and Brandon, and we played as a four-piece. Then we got Donnie, and we’ve been playing together ever since.”
The band got their name after throwing around a few others before settling on this one. “People usually think it has something to do with [the movie] “A Clockwork Orange’,” said Brian. “But we just wanted something that had a lot of z’s and v’s. So this is what we decided on.”
While they may call Fulton home, and usually stick to West Tennessee venues, the boys have played at some pretty impressive places. They’ve travelled to New York City, West Virgina, Illionis and Winsconsin just to name a few. “There’s a new venue about to open up in Metropolis, Ill.,” said Brian. “It’s shaping up to be a pretty good place, and we’re already planning on doing a few shows there.”
The guys have also had songs on 105.7 The Quake and on radio stations in Michigan. Also, they’ve played with bands such as As Cities Burn, Across Five Aprils and Analog.
The band has recently signed with an independent label called Hearts On Fire Records, which you can check out at heartsonfirerecords.com. While this is an exciting prospect, Brian doesn’t see it going too much further. “We’re a good band, we have a lot of potential and we’re hard workers. But right now, we just want to have fun. This is something we all love to do. We would love to be signed to a big label, but this is a stepping stone for us.”
For right now, Horizontal Orange is content to play around Martin.
Right now, they’re planning on starting a three week tour with Tearing Down Vegas, another band out of Murray.
“There’s a lot of apathy for music here in Martin,” says Brian. “We’re lucky to get 150 people when we play in Murray, and we’re just happy to get 50 people at the Stables. I think we put on one of the most energetic shows of anyone around here. Every show is free, it’s a great form of entertainment and it’s a great way to check out some local music.”
Horizontal Orange has its roots in diverse music forms, including southern rock and blues. “We sound like bands such as Everytime I Die, Boys Night Out and He is Legend,” says Brian. “Each one of us has different influences — punk, metal, Southern rock — and so we really don’t have a distinctive sound.”
Some of the band’s influences are Norma Jean, the Smashing Pumpmkins, the Doors and even John Lennon, though Brian warns that people shouldn’t expect the band to sound like any of them.
Another thing that sets these guys apart from anyone else is that they write all of their own music. “One or two of the guys will get together and write the music,” said Brian. “It’s then brought before the band, who shapes it into a song.”
The finishing touch comes from Brian himself, who writes all of the lyrics. “Most of the lyrics are fragmented and personal,” he explains. “ But each one has a point to make.”
For example, “The Ballad of Fast Eddie” came from a comment he overheard in a class, and deals with different issues, such as the homeless and the Bible Belt.
So far, the band has two albums out, whch you can purchase at their shows or online at horizontalorange.net and heartsonfirerecords.com. The songs that you can check out on their myspace page were produced in Paducah, and everything has been paid for by the band members.
You can check out the boys on March 10 at the Stables right here in Martin, but don’t expect to be seeing them on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine any time soon, though that possiablity is not beyond reason. “Our ultimate goal is to make enough money to live out of a van and travel,” says Brian. “But if we can make it big, then I won’t complain.”
For more information about Horizontal Orange, a list of their upcoming shows and to check out some of theis songs, head over to www.myspace.com/horizontalmusic
- UTM Pacer - Volume 78, Issue 21 Issue Publication: 2006-03-07
Discography
We have two demo cd's available at shows. Each of them feature five songs and will rock your socks off.
Tracks from these cd's have been given radio play on 106.7 in Paducah, KY, 105.7 The Quake in Union City, TN, 90.3 The Hawk in Martin, TN and has also been featured on a Michigan staion to promote for a couple of shows we did up there.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Horizontal Orange is comprised of five young men who work hard and simply love to rock. We hang our collective hat in the Western KY area and came together to celebrate the fact that West KY needs a music scene. We, along with a host of others, are in the process of creating one now. First and foremost, our favorite thing to do is to play shows. Never failing to see the silver lining, we tour as much as we are able and have played with the likes of The Escape Engine, As Cities Burn, Across Five Aprils, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza and Analog. We've played everywhere from The Club Soda in Kalamazoo, MI to The Complex in Memphis, TN. From a show in New York City, NY at The Knitting Factory with the Voodoo Glow Skulls to a dive bar in Sheboygan, WI. We have have played endless amounts of shows at bars, restuarants, halls, ymca's, etc. After recently joining forces with Hearts On Fire Records we hope to do much much more of sleeping in our blazing hot vehicle at some rest area, getting swords pulled on us outside of veues, spinning our suburban and trailer on a patch of icy road. You know, just whatever the road brings us!!
Constantly seeking to broaden our horizons, both as a band and as individuals, we'll travel anywhere our music takes us and try to meet as many bands/individuals as we can. Our influences vary so much that it's not worth writing about, but to sum up our music just let us say this: a unique blending of southern rock, blues and hardcore - straight no chaser and a very energetic live show. Ya dig?
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