Ornament
ORNAMENT are a Brighton-based musical outfit trying their hand at fusing driving alternative rock with more danceable leads and pop-oriented choruses...but really they're just three friends making the music they want to hear. ORNAMENT were on the verge of announcing both UK and Spanish gig dates before the lockdown, but will now instead be planning them for later in the year due to the evolving situation.
We got in touch with Rob, Andy and Harry to see how they’re getting on under lockdown.
WHAT’S NEW WITH YOU GUYS?
Rob: We just released our new single 'Cloudy As My 99', so promoting that. Also using this time to pick up and learn all those other instruments that usually gather dust.
Andy: Currently 'locked down' in the idyllic French countryside. Feeling pretty lucky!
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY LISTENING TO?
Harry: Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel and Trivium’s What The Dead Men Say.
Rob: Noah Gundersen, John Vanderslice and Trivium’s What The Dead Men Say
Andy: I'm really into The Black Foxxes at the moment.
WHAT’S THE MOST MEMORABLE SHOW YOU’VE PLAYED?
Rob & Andy: The Natural History Museum. It was a surreal show being on stage with a statue of Darwin, looking out over the diplodocus with our sound reverberating around the building
Harry: The sold-out album launch with my previous band Moontrap at Siroco in Madrid – there was an amazing energy in the room and it was the culmination of a lot of hard work. The other would be Sonorama Festival, also in Spain, at which we played to thousands of people – pretty special.
WHAT’S THE STRANGEST SHOW YOU’VE PLAYED?
Rob: An acoustic show in a Yurt in Cardiff
Harry: Again, it was in Spain. We played at some weird bar in what I can only describe as a swamp. It looked like a place where people get murdered by skull-collecting serial killers. The crowd consisted mainly of strange staff members and you couldn’t see the floor because it was so covered in sunflower seed shells they were constantly spitting out. Either that or the time I played to 5 people in a nightclub in Crawley.
WHERE’S GOOD FOR PRE/POST-GIG GRUB?
Rob: I make as many stops post-gig as possible and eat the rest of the night away. Belgian Chips, La Choza Burrito or a Grubbs Burger are solid Brighton options that are endorsed by the whole band.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE LOCAL SUSSEX MUSIC SCENE?
Rob: I had been away from the Sussex music scene for about 6 years, so to come back to it last year was pretty exciting. A lot has changed of course, but there are some great sounding small and mid-size venues. It seems like the area is packed even tighter with a lot of talented emerging artists.
Harry: Also, Brighton is a truly magical place when The Great Escape rolls around. If you could bottle that atmosphere, I’d buy it.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE/MOST CHERISHED BIT OF GEAR?
Andy: My hands! My gear needs updating…
Harry: A Jackson guitar that currently lives at my parent’s house back in Spain. It’s the guitar I got good on.
Rob: Either my Strat or my Phillips Juicer.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ALBUM?
Rob: That changes pretty frequently, but I never tire of Kintsugi by Death Cab
Harry: I have no idea how to answer this question, but I agree with claims that Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is amongst the best ever.
IF YOU COULD INVITE THREE MUSICIANS, ALIVE OR DEAD, TO A DINNER PARTY WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE, AND WHAT WOULD YOU TALK ABOUT?
Rob: I'd prefer to just bring Paul Simon along to a sunny, lazy late-morning breakfast with ORNAMENT.