Music is like all the drugs people are talking about : Ela Orleans

Polish musician and multi-instrumentalist, Ela Orleans is the first signing to the legendary Howie B's Label, HB Recordings, and her single 'The Sky and The Ghost' is out on 27th April. We chat with Ela about her musical journey and feverish devotion to music.

When I was 8, my parents decided for me…  

I had a good ear, so my dad took me for an audition to the local music school. I went to two primary schools at the same time: one regular, which I hated and the music school, which I loved.  I loved it for being MUSIC school, but also for being a shelter for a little weirdo like me, who hated sports and school trips, I loved it because teachers there were way more stylish,  

because it was "school bell free" and because I could be myself - quiet, serious and sensitive. The first thought of my regular school was stinky toilets; my first association with music school, big wooden, sound proof orchestra room. The choice was very easy. 

The earliest memory is my mom playing Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald, 

by Johann Strauss on piano. She had to play it a lot, poor thing. I also loved listening to the radio and audio books on tape. I knew one story so well, I memorised it backwards. 

The first tune I learned.    

Mozart’s “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” known also as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. My performance didn’t sound very good. 

There is nothing more unique in the sound of the song than the sound of human voice,  

and my favourite singers are : Billie Holiday, Mohammed Rafi, Roy Orbison, Neneh Cherry, Curtis Mayfield, Francoise Hardy, (there are more, I am sure)… their voices have everything I love: tenderness, easiness, clarity and strength. 

The first single to be taken from the forthcoming album, Upper Hell, released worldwide on Howie B's HB Recordings label on April 27th. Album Release: ‘Upper Hell’ Release Date: 27th April 2015 Label: HB Recordings “…Ela Orleans is a revelation. Both utterly timeless and of the moment…” Rough Trade “She is Moondogmatic in her intransigent commitment to producing compositions of subtlety and incongruent beauty. These are polysemous confections which make you feel that you are listening to pop music for the first time again”. Time Out NY ‘Upper Hell’ is the sixth album to be released by pop noir collagist Ela Orleans. Produced by Howie B, it’s due out on 27th April 2015 and will be released on his new label, HB Recordings. Howie was introduced to Ela’s music by his sister and was so wowed that he offered to produce an album for her. She is also the first artist signing to HB Recordings. Inspired by Dante’s ‘Inferno’, ‘Upper Hell’ is an intriguing, cerebral body of work that sees Orleans push her pastoral pop roots into more cinematic terrain, experimenting with carefully considered sound art segments and complex electronic textures. Ela has been flirting with the dance aesthetic for a while under another moniker TRACT so Howie’s offer to produce this album allowed her to explore that further with this album. Orleans is a Polish musician now based in Glasgow. She was a member of the genre defying Glasgow band Hassle Hound, has played with various luminaries of the New York experimental and noise scenes and is a composer for the screen and theatre. During her career this hugely prolific artist has released five solo albums and collaborated on several more. Her 2012 album ‘Tumult in Clouds’ won the Mercury alternative the Dead Albatross Prize in 2013 and her work has won her admirers in The Pastels, David Lynch, Thurston Moore and Ian Rankin.

My first instrument.

It was violin. Stradivarius actually. Size 1/8. It read inside “Anno Domini 1890”. It smelled of resin and for a while I believed there is a little family living inside it. My mum made me a shoulder rest from an old towel – not very stylish. 

I am sure the violin had a great potential to sound wonderful, however, the only magical power it had, was making my family vanish from the house during my practicing hours. My second choice instrument was piano and later I picked the guitar. Now I am pretty much only using my midi keyboards and synths. But it is my vocal which is the most important instrument and probably the only one I know how to use. I was trained by a few opera singers in Poland. One of them, Olga Szwajgier, discovered I have quite unusual range while she was working on my speech difficulties. She was the one who encouraged me to sing. 

When I lived in New York I would go to MET or Film Forum and be instantly blown away.  

Whenever I am in London I always go to TATE Modern or Whitechapel Gallery… Nothing compares to those two cities. In Glasgow, where I live, I go to my favourite record store, Monorail and always come back home with something amazing. At the moment I am listening to Flying Lotus, Andy Stott and Polish artist Zamilska – I love everything that Awesome Tapes from Africa puts out. I have a few "cultural Willy Wonka” types of friends, who keep sending me music, inviting me to see great movies or texting art recommendations. So I am bombarded with ideas without even trying to find them. Internet can be great for that. When it comes to my music writing, Howie B opened up a whole new perspective into my creative process. Last but not least, without the support of my friends and family I would have given up long time ago; they gave me a proper, wholehearted kick. 

I work from home, so being disciplined is quite a challenge.    

I usually make a plan and try to stick to designated hours. I try to work Nick Cave style. No pyjamas in the office. I start with one or two (or three) espressos. I used to chain smoke but I quit five months ago, so my studio doesn’t smell decadent anymore, just Fabreeze or Dettol now. I spend about ten, twelve hours every day working in the front of the computer and my synth. Sometimes longer… Sometimes way longer.  I often get my groceries online, so I don’t waste time on going out. I see people maybe twice a week these days. I have a lot of projects but also I have to prepare my live show which makes me sleepless. Next week I am moving to a rehearsal studio, so that will be me, being forced to fit all in eight hours. 

I make a ton of notes, which I can’t understand the next day. I get carried away by listening to one little detail over and over again. Sometimes I will leave one beat on the loop until it brings in the tune or until it makes me sick. I truly hope my neighbours can’t hear it. I often hoover during the breaks, which is a great way to clear my head from sound clutter. My space is pretty organised, and I like to keep things very simple. I am not a gadget hoarder. I rely on a good software, which gives me endless opportunities. Having Howie B as a producer makes my life easier, but also there is a higher quality demand. There is no half-baked project bullshit with this guy. We are already discussing the next project. Considering my TV and film work, my workload is kinda bonkers.   

Music is…    

Feeling safe while feeling feverish. I am quite awkward and uptight at times, but music lets all my guards go to hell. Some people take drugs to make music, but to me music is like all the drugs people are talking about, it makes me fly and trip and have nightmares and hear voices. It makes me mad and it makes me serene. It gives me the reason to wake up in the morning and stay up until the next day. 

Ela Orleans

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Easy Riding with Action Bronson

Ahead of the upcoming launch of his album Mr. Wonderful, New York rapper Action Bronson released the single Easy Rider last summer much to the delight of hip hop lovers everywhere. 

Sampling from Mazhar ve Fuat’s 70s psychedelic rock track Adımız Miskindir Bizim, Easy Rider makes for a great chill-out tune with the power to transport its listeners  to a land of desert sunsets, warm evening breezes, and motorcycle road trips much like those portrayed in the track’s eclectic music video.

Speaking behind the scenes during the filming of the music video, the big man himself described Easy Rider as a culmination of all his thoughts and feelings. With help from photographer and filmmaker Tom Gould, we are taken on a crazy trip through Bronson’s mind.

Set for release on the March 24, Mr. Wonderful has become one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2015; with the likes of Mark Ronson and The Alchemist featuring as producers, the albumpromises to take Action Bronson from his current status as promising music industry up-and-comer to fully fledged hip hop deity.