American industrial/ synth rock- self-described as a 'death pop'- band, straight from L.A. That is the best description, considering the multitude of different elements put together. That is also one of the main reasons for the band's name, as lead singer Jay Gordon himself stated in an interview.
Formed in 1996 by Jay Gordon and Ryan Shuck, soon the band was completed by Page Haley, Amir Derakh and Bobby Hewitt. Prior to
Orgy, most of the members already had experience in the music industry, being part of other bands, like Rough Cutt or Sexart (where Shuck performed with Jonathan Davis), while Jay and Amir were producers at the same time, for the self-titled Coal Chamber album as an example.
Their debut album called 'Candyass' was released in '98, which was an instant success with the song Blue Monday covering New Order, and Revival featuring
Jonathan Davis of Korn, who had also signed Orgy to Elementree Records initially. They immediately started touring with bands like Incubus, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Love and Rockets...to name a few. Their second album 'Vapor Transmission' was released two years later, also with striking singles such as Fiction (Dreams in Digital) and Opticon. Obvious fact is this album was sci-fi themed, more than anything else. The band also contributed with songs for movies such as Zoolander, Queen of the Damned, and performed Opticon in an episode of Charmed. The year 2003 brought some significant changes in the band's activity. Shuck and Derakh put the grounds of their side project after coming up with ideas of their own during the writing process for Orgy. Named it Julien-K, but only in 2009 have they released their first album 'Death to Analog'. In their activity separate from Orgy they are also producing Chester Bennington's side project, Dead by Sunrise, while Gordon remixed Points of Authority for Linkin Park.
Jay Gordon started his own record label in 2004 and released Orgy's third and last album so far, 'Punk Statik Paranoia'. It is a bit different from the first two (which were more complex, sounded somewhat more distorted), having a slightly more mainstream sound, nonetheless it still keeps the band's original feeling that is not too easy to describe. If I would be to try anyway, I would say Orgy's sound is a fusion of melancholic, emotionally harsh, but well-defined melodic line with pounding, dynamic, electric highlights.
After a big gap since 2004 and many different statements from the band's side in 2010 about a possible reunion, Jay Gordon declared that the band is too busy with their side-projects and such (he himself having a dubstep project of his own). but he will keep making material for the band and won't let it fall apart completely. This sounds rather promising, hopefully we will get to hear new songs in the near future. I personally hope for new Orgy material since it has been one of my favourite bands eversince I was 15, and they just never get old!
http://www.orgymusic.com/
http://www.punkstatikparanoia.com
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