Orion Orient is a collective Producer-DJ from Krakow, which is starting for good on the Polish festival and club scene. Squal and Kajt talk about their current experiences and plans for the coming years.
Dominic: How much do you know each other before Orion Orient was created and what was your previous collaboration like?
Squal: Oh mother, we have known each other for 18 years – I don’t remember exactly. It’s hard to talk
about cooperation here, rather we just played various events together in various places.
Kajt : It seems to me that we have known each other for almost 20 years:) And fact; We met at various events – funk, minimal, break… I can’t believe how many different genres we’ve played together. Sometimes we were paired up to play a party together, and sometimes one would drop by to listen, laugh and talk. A long time behind us;)
Dominic: What does the name of the collective refer to?
Squal: For an interdimensional space journey, discovering unknown oriental energy deposits:)
Kajt: Hahahhaa… Squal put it very nicely into words, but a fact; There are some cosmic sounds in the music we
serve – and we try to make sure that there is also a lot of orient. Sometimes this orient
flows smoothly into sounds from South America or Africa, and sometimes from Australia. But you will find the orient
in almost every one of our sets;)
Dominic: What would you call the genres of music you move in?
Squal: We do not close ourselves to a specific music genre, although the most is downtempo and organic house. It is important that it is always oriental, organic and cosmic.
Kajt: Today there are so many subspecies and names that it is difficult to limit one. We try to play
songs in which a lot of samples of live ethnic instruments are used, and at the same time electronics that put the
listeners in a kind of trance. It seems to me that
you have to judge for yourself what these species are. Honestly, buying songs in stores, sometimes I myself
am surprised how they were qualified and on which “shelves” to look for them.
Dominic: Why don’t you play with vinyl? [joke]
Squal: We have a large collection of vinyl due to the fact that we play for over 20 years and there was no other choice, but now a lot of things come out only on digital, plus our form of playing which is such a half-liveact
, forces us to use new technology. Plus it is more convenient for us and the organizers, because whoever played with vinyl knows that it is often problematic (turntables do not like bass on the DJ very much)
Kajt: It’s true, a vinyl record is a much
“nobler” medium than other formats, but I often bought the whole album for the two tracks I played, and then I carried this album in my bag, To play these two pieces and finally it turned out that I could take something different, because it would fit better into the event. And both my case and my wallet had their limits:)
Now I buy exactly the song that I like the most and I have a whole lot of them at
every party. This does not mean, however, that I forgot how to mix discs! We still sometimes
play parties using turntables and playing back to back. After all – each of us
went through a long, solid school of turntable service – and it’s a bit like riding a bike – you don’t
forget it 🙂
Dominic: What kind of events do you enjoy the most? Festivals / Clubs / Squats / … ?
Kajt: In my opinion, festivals and all outdoor events burn me the most when it is summer. It is a wonderful experience to go to a place that is usually beautifully prepared and be part of it. To go and know that you came here not only to receive music, but also to give something from yourself. Each festival is an unforgettable adventure for me and I believe that memories of club events often merge into unity, while festivals live in the memory of each individual. However, in the colder months, clubs are a wonderful alternative; especially when together with Squale we have a longer slot (which rarely happens at festivals) and we can build a few hours of set dramaturgy; It is during club sets that you can hear our versatility best; here sometimes we start with 90 bpm, we get to 130 to finish at
70.Squal: It’s hard to answer this question unequivocally because each of these events has a different vibe and you can also play them differently. Festivals are definitely great because they are a bit of a holiday where
you stay longer, meet amazing people and you are part of it. Clubs are definitely shorter
and intense, which also gives a lot of joy. People are certainly more important than the event, because
they make the atmosphere.
Dominic: Do you think you’ve found your formula as a collective or are you still looking for something else?
Kajt: In my opinion, our team is sensational as a kind of “skeleton”, very often we have the opportunity to play with people who appear (often accidentally) and play instruments with us, or sing (or use their voice as an instrument). Same with our setup; All the time we gently expand it, which makes our sets more interesting for the recipients, and what is no less important – we have all the time what to do while playing:) So to answer your question; The formula is a great base and we are still searching.
Squal: Certainly, the formula of the collective suits us for many reasons. It’s easier to grasp everything and find a common language, moving around, etc. are also easier. But we do not close ourselves to cooperation
and joint performances with other artists.
Dominic: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far?
Squal: That after 23 years of playing in clubs and festivals, producing, organizing events, we still love it and we are very excited about it.
Kajt: Squal probably answered this question best. I can possibly add that after these 23
years people still want to come to our events and from what I see, they are having a great time.
Dominic: What would you like to achieve in the next 3 years? Any specific plans?
Squal: Certainly record a few EPs solo, as well as together with various artists, play a lot of festivals and
parties to meet at the end at Burning Man.
Kajt: Mhmm… and continue to do it with love and explore the world playing parties; best severe parties with
producers and DJs, which we eat;)
Dominic: Do you prefer herb or hash?
Squal: Haha it depends, hash is an interesting option – because it is rarely
Kajt: Depends in which part of the world. But I’m rather a supporter of green tea;)
Dominic: How do you promote the music you love?
Orion Orient: We try to do this on almost all fronts – from playing it during social gatherings in a small circle of friends and acquaintances, where it flies in the background as a background for events, through playing parties where everyone hears it and feels it as they should hear; So loud, clean and with warm bass.
Up to promotion on the radio; every week on Wednesdays from 21:00 we run a program devoted to these genres of music in Off Radio Krakow. The broadcast is called “Mirage” and sometimes we just play more interesting songs, and sometimes we play a short secika. We also try to invite producers to talk about their material, and if this is not possible, we play their songs before the premiere. Every time, whether at the house party, in the club or on the radio; When someone asks us about a song – we are very happy to share information. It’s a very cool feeling when people come back to us, they know this music better and better, they become conscious recipients who know what they are coming to, what they want to listen to. Random people are becoming less and less common. We think that this has a positive effect on the whole scene.
Dominic: Thanks for the conversation and to hear from you at the party!
Orion Orient can be found at:
https://soundcloud.com/orionorient
https://www.instagram.com/orionorient/
https://www.facebook.com/OrionOrientMusic/