Band history

Mike Drake, Matt Harris and Jim Lindsay knew each other from playing together in previous bands Overwhelming Colorfast and Stick Figures. They formed Oranger in 1997 with Chad Dyer of American Sensei on bass, Mike Drake providing vocals and guitar, Jim Lindsay on drums and Matt Harris performing lead guitar.

The four first performed at the San Francisco Noise Pop Festival. Dyer soon left the band and Oranger established itself as a trio. After the success at the Noise Pop Festival, they recorded their first album Doorway to Norway

Doorway to Norway (album)

Doorway to Norway is the first album by indie rock band Oranger. It was recorded on an 8-track Tascam and released in 1998 under their Pray for Mojo label.-Track listing:#Mike Love Not War#Eggtooth#Everything Goes Away#Wolfy...

. The album was recorded on a Tascam 8-track cassette and released in 1998 on their own Pray for Mojo

Pray For Mojo

Pray for Mojo is the fourth album by Mustard Plug. The title comes from an episode of The Simpsons, wherein Homer buys a pet helper-monkey named Mojo, whom he anticipates will do all his chores for him. After he introduces Mojo to fatty foods, the monkey's cholesterol shoots up, leaving him near...

 record label. In early 1999, Scott Kannberg

Scott Kannberg

Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg is a musician best known for being a founding member of the indie-rock band Pavement.-Career:...

 (of Pavement

Pavement (band)

Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...

) aided the band in re-releasing the album as the premiere release on the fledgling San Francisco indie label Amazing Grease Records.

In 1999, Patrick Main was added to the lineup and the band began recording their second album, The Quiet Vibrationland, taking its name from a lyric from The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

's rock opera

Rock opera

A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...

 Tommy

Tommy (rock opera)

Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...

". It was tracked on an Ampex

Ampex

Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...

 MM1000 tape machine previously owned by The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

. Vibrationland was released in 2000.

In 2003, Oranger released the double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 Shutdown the Sun/From the Ashes of the Electric Elves on San Francisco indie label Jackpine Social Club.

Lindsay left the group in 2004 and currently plays drums for The High Water Marks

The High Water Marks

The High Water Marks is an indie rock band associated with the Elephant 6 collective. The band has two lead creative members, Hilarie Sidney and Per Ole Bratset, who co-write the band's music.-Band history:...

.

Oranger's latest album, New Comes and Goes, was released in 2005 on Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 indie Eenie Meenie Records

Eenie Meenie Records

Eenie Meenie Records is an independent record label that specializes in signing indie pop, indie rock and electronica artists, such as The Faraway Places, From Bubblegum to Sky, Seksu Roba and Troubled Hubble...

. Also in 2005, the band's cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the 1954 hit song "Mr. Sandman

Mr. Sandman

"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard which was published in 1954 and first recorded in that year by The Chordettes. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr...

" was featured in the Xbox

Xbox

The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

 video game Stubbs the Zombie in "Rebel Without a Pulse" and in the television show "Vampire Diaries"

Current members

• Mike Drake - vocals, guitar
• Matt Harris - bass, vocals
• Bob Reed - guitar
• Patrick Main - keyboards
• John Hofer - drums

Discography

• Doorway to Norway
  Doorway to Norway (album)
  Doorway to Norway is the first album by indie rock band Oranger. It was recorded on an 8-track Tascam and released in 1998 under their Pray for Mojo label.-Track listing:#Mike Love Not War#Eggtooth#Everything Goes Away#Wolfy...
  
  (1998)
• The Quiet Vibrationland (2000)
• Shutdown the Sun/From the Ashes of the Electric Elves (2003)
• New Comes and Goes (2005)

Soundtracks

• Stubbs the Zombie: The Soundtrack (2005) song: "Mr. Sandman
  Mr. Sandman
  "Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard which was published in 1954 and first recorded in that year by The Chordettes. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr...
  
  " (The Chordettes cover)

External links

• Official website
• Oranger at MySpace.com