We thought it was really cutting edge, then realised it was complete s***! We got a keyboardist, and it was even more s***. We became a disco-sex-pop-act - it was terrible.

What happened one night was we went up to go see Sum 41 in L.A. and we left the venue thinking...oh, that's what we should be doing. It was that very night that we formed the band, we became Orange.

-Recently you've released the Dead Sexy EP to coincide with this tour. Have you managed to gauge much of a reaction to it yet?
We don't get sales reports until a few months after, because it comes in quarters, but Facebook buzz has been really good. All the fans are responding super well to it.

We kinda did it to give the people who don't know Orange coming to this tour, something to discover us by, something new. Each album, it feels like we've progressed so many steps. Dead Sexy is a really good teaser for the next record we're going to do next year.

-Have you started work on the next record then?
Yeah. The thing is, I'm always in the process of making a next record, all the time. I'm never not working, so it's definitely in process. We've got probably about 80-something songs. When we get back to L.A. from tour we'll start working on that really heavily.

-I'm not sure how it is in the States, but over here there's quite a heavy download culture. Is that something you've found difficult?
The thing is, it was difficult at first, especially because when we first got signed and put out our record, it was just as downloading hit. We never really sold that many records to be honest. We've been lucky enough to have word of mouth, YouTube hits and TV stuff. I think downloading is the way of the future. You've gotta adapt to a new kind of music business if you want to survive.

-Moving back to the EP, Ryan Hewitt produced it. Are you looking to work with him on the next album?
Definitely, I don't wanna work with anyone else at this point. He does such a good job.

-What was it he brought to it then?
What I really loved, was he brought such a good energy. I've always been really into good vibes, energy and different spiritual things. He's just got such a good attitude, and he's also really creative.

-In terms of that energy and vibe, is that something you try to bring to the live environment?
Totally, yeah. We always bring a really heavy impact of high-energy fun to our sets. Actually, just yesterday, I've been a little bit ill so I've not been able to go as crazy as I normally do. Hopefully I'll feel okay by tonight, but there's never a moment where we're just standing. It's pretty mental, the whole show.

-Is that important, particularly when you're supporting someone?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I think live shows, how you dress, what you say, what songs you play, how the set flows - it's so important. You're not really going to get s*** from records these days. Everyone who sees you, you've got to make that count.

Our shows are scripted - we know exactly what moves we're going to do here and there, what we're going to see. That's what a lot of bigger bands do - I mean, Green Day, all their shows are scripted. I think that's a really good way of delivering the best you possibly can.

-I was reading something that said you had a major music publishing deal?
What happened was we got chosen to do the theme song for Cartoon Network's Generator-Rex, about a year and a half ago. From that, we got hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube. It really helped propel the band a bit.

The publishers heard about that, and liked the sound of my voice. They asked me, it's kinda a funny story. They asked my manager if I'd be willing to do a demo for a film called Arthur. I went and sang on this, and I didn't know the song was a cover, I thought it was an original.

I was like...this song sucks - the arrangements are terrible. I was really going on about it - let me help you make it better. I sounded like a right arrogant p****, but she was really impressed by that, she was like - "F***, this kid's got initiative!" They took a shot at me, and we signed a publishing deal about a year ago.

-What's on the horizon with that, then? Are there any plans at the moment?
Well, how that works is they send you assignments every week or so, and you just pick and choose what you want to have a go at. To actually get picked for something, it had better be f****** good. A lot of luck is involved.

-Is it something you find hard balancing with the band?
No, it's totally easy. All I do...I don't have a regular job, I just sit home and write songs all day. It fits in really nicely with how I work with Orange.

-Moving to the pop-punk scene as a whole, there are bands like yourself and Forever The Sickest Kids making waves - what do you think of the state of the scene at the moment?
It's a little confused. Every time there's this new pop-punk band coming out that everyone excited about, to me it sounds really...just to whiney, too nice. There's just no balls to it anymore.

-I've noticed pop-punk bands recently starting to heavily rely on synth, more than they should.
Yeah, it's true. It's all becoming too sugary for me. I like to bring a side of aggression to the pop-punk scene, like '90s pop-punk was really high-energy and fun. It had good lyrics, and it wasn't so whiney.

It sounds like all these pop-punk bands right now, their first influences of music were things like Fall Out Boy - there was nothing before that, which is where everyone's going wrong. It's a little confusing to me, but you have to go with the times if you want to survive.

-You've mentioned the new album and possibly a co-headline tour. What else do you have planned?
We're kinda just focusing on making the best album we can at the moment, and definitely planning coming back to the UK in a couple of months for another tour. Beyond that...no idea. I just want to get those two things sorted first.

Female First - Alistair McGeorge

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