Orphx
ON A QUIET RESIDENTIAL STREET IN HAMILTON, ON, some of Canada’s best industrial techno is made. Who would’ve thought? Orphx duo Christina Sealey and Richard Oddie have been making music together for a quartercentury. Though they are no longer married, they’ve maintained their musical relationship throughout, using what’s now just Sealey’s house as their base of operations. And though the European club scene regularly draws them out on tour, they’ve recorded in Hamilton for most of 25 years, a fact that seems to permeate through their music.
“It’s an interesting place, because you have this industrial backdrop here that starts to become a part of the music,” Sealey says. “But then, you can go to the bayfront in ten minutes on a bike, or you can walk to the Bruce Trail in five minutes. That contrast between the core industrial aspects of the city, and these obvious natural formations, has definitely been an influence.”
While the Hammer has helped shape the overall sound of Orphx, its crumbling factories also played a more direct role in their formative recordings too. In the early ’90s, when the pair were still in high school, they used the city’s dilapidated warehouses for their own sonic explorations. “There were two blocks of the city taken up by this factory that had shut down,” says Sealey. “It was in decay, just overrun by vegetation and debris. So we’d break in, sneak around, record sounds and videos — all sorts of things.”
“The early tapes actually have sounds from that space that we recorded on a reel-to-reel, and then chopped up,” Oddie adds. “The first CD we did in ’96 has a lot of sounds from there, so it kind of made this big archive that we were able to pull from.”
Nowadays, the focus is very much on the gear in their cosy basement studio. When it comes to audio equipment, Orphx span the breadth of time and functionality. Gathering dust in the corner are old favourites like Ensoniq’s ESQ-1 and Mirage synthesizers that, along with a Yamaha, serve as a nostalgic gateway for the pair.
“I had worked on my parents farm, and when I got enough money, I bought this Yamaha SY55,” Sealey notes. “It was recommended by Trent Reznor in Keyboard Magazine. I just remember reading that and being like, ‘Oh yeah, this is the synth for me.’”
Sitting in the much loftier keyboard racks, however, are the classic Roland SH-101, a Korg Polysix, and some choice items like the Rhodes Chroma Polaris, an Oberheim OB-Xa, a Culture Vulture, and a Roland TR-808 that are all on loan from Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan.
You might be able to hear Greenspan’s vintage gear on an upcoming Orphx release for Sonic Groove, which they’re currently working on — they’ve also produced a track for Fucked Up’s new album, and are looking into projects with Ancient Methods and Ectomorph. One thing you’ll definitely hear is their ever-expanding modular setup; Sealey has been expanding her Eurorack and Frac Rak systems for the past ten years. The back of the studio looks like one of those old-timey telecommunications rooms, where operators plugged in wires to connect calls. The key difference, though, is that these wires call you back.
“The modular can have a mind of its own,” says Oddie. “We have more of a structure when we’re playing live, but the modular does have a chance element to it, and we like that balance of organized and improvised.”
Never ones to shy away from innovation, Orphx also use their modular setup to manipulate other gear into creating unique sounds. A kick drum from an 808 might be run through the modular’s wavefolder to create something more gnarly and textured than you’d get from a conventional distortion pedal, effectively putting their own stamp on traditional sounds.
Yet, for all the synths, keyboards, drum machines, and a seemingly endless string of wires, there’s one piece of equipment in the Orphx studio that’s more crucial than all the rest, and it’s at the height of Swedish engineering: “Have you seen my hydraulic Ikea table?” Sealey asks. “It goes down [table descends]. It goes up [table ascends]. It’s so great ’cause we can practice like we’re playing for a gig, standing up, and then when you get tired [table goes down], you can make it go down. Aw, yeah. This is the best purchase I’ve made. Screw all the keyboards. Who cares?”
“The modular synth can have a mind of its own.”