After meeting in choir practice, Orchid Orchestra formed to play joyful pop.
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Orchid Orchestra Be Lucky EP release
When: Nov. 22, 7 p.m.
Orchid Orchestra is a Vancouver quartet whose harmony-heavy brand of heart-on-the-sleeve indie pop tune-smithing is gaining a fervent following in the local music scene. The group is releasing its second EP, titled Be Lucky, this week at a show with Anna Katerina and Nessnost.
The Mount Pleasant studio space is a membership-based contemporary adult pop choir facility where singers of all skill levels can gather to belt out everything from Rihanna hits to country classics in a supportive and collaborative environment. For many, it’s a place to get started in making music.
For Hudson, it was a way back into a creative outlet that he had abandoned years before living in South Carolina.
“I’d been in bands since I was 18, ranging from a small acoustic hip-hop band to a larger one, eventually finding my way to New York City,” he said. “There I worked for a band on the rise for a year, going to all the fancy parties, meetings and touring. But I found myself really depressed after that and needing to address my mental health, so I went back home and started another band to began healing.”
That didn’t seem to do the trick.
After taking a 10-day Vipassana meditation course, Hudson came to the realization that he needed to completely separate from music and pursue a very different life path. Relocating to B.C., he lived at a meditation centre for two years, eventually attending university. He’s presently finishing a Masters of Counselling Psychology at the University of B.C.
“I took four years away from writing, singing and even listening to music,” he said. “But I found my way back through the caring and encouraging environment at the Chorus Studio and making music with Orchid Orchestra. I felt that my past projects were more geared to gaining fame and fans and this group places more importance on crafting something genuine and real.”
The results of this approach to music-making are clearly stamped on both of Orchid Orchestra’s EPs. Be Lucky’s trio of tunes builds on the promise of its predecessor, as the band leans into its strengths. Perhaps no track better showcases the group’s pairing of soul-baring lyricism with a healthy dose of disco-fied fun than Nothing.
What begins as a slow ballad with Hudson declaring in a broken voice about there being nothing but silence and being inside out suddenly blasts off into a funk vamp and falsetto chorus that gets toes tapping. Featuring groovy brass breaks and a soaring second lyric line from Racinsky, the song is a crowd fave in concert.
Given that the entire Chorus Studio choir often turns up at shows, the singalongs at Orchid Orchestra gigs can be many notches above the standard. All told, there are four choirs of 70 singers, which adds up nicely for a ready-made fan base.
“I didn’t know much about harmonies when I started this band, but Brianne and Isabella are both great at it and our keyboardist Jackson is a composition major,” said Hudson. “It would be my dream to perform with a whole choir behind us someday.”
For now, Orchid Orchestra is a quartet that hires add-on players when needed. This can range anywhere from a violin to a brass section and more. Hudson says the key driver is to make pop music that resonates all the way to Swifties.
“I genuinely love pop music and Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and others are my favourite artists,” he said. “The emotion that these female pop singers bring to their music is something I’m very drawn to and don’t hear that much in other music. I guess I try to imitate it when possible to some degree and always dreamed of having a second female voice in a project.”
With members all actively involved in studies and careers, Orchid Orchestra isn’t pursuing the path of playing as much as possible. Hudson is in his practicum year of his degree and has started an online therapy group for musicians where topics range from rejection and burnout to what it’s like to be a woman in the industry, and other pressures.
“I put it together and … I kind of wish I was in it rather than being the counsellor,” he said. “It’s a really great group of musicians located in Vancouver and Victoria and it’s extremely fulfilling that I can use my 12 years of experience in the industry to inform my work on this.”