You grill CODE ORANGE’S Jami Morgan and Reba Meyers.
…and other things you guys deemed necessary to ask Jami Morgan and Reba Meyers from Pittsburgh’s favourite trailblazers, Code Orange
THIS YEAR HAS
been one for the books for Code Orange. Seeing their latest album release almost shatter beneath them from an unexpected lockdown, they had to act fast. Launching themselves into the digital world at rapid speed, the Pittsburgh natives proved that they’re prepared for anything – especially when it comes to questions from Hammer’s own readers.
How much of an impact do you think releasing on the cusp of COVID-19 impacted on you as a band? Would you do anything different with the release with hindsight?
Mark Baker (Facebook)
Jami: “No, we wouldn’t do anything different. I’m hard on ourselves and everyone in this group knows it, I think we handled it the pinnacle of how a band could handle it. Are we the biggest band in the world? No. But are we handling it the best? 100%, no fucking question. The record is very much about the society we’re living in. It’s the soundtrack to a world that’s going further and further to being lived screen-to-screen, there’s a lot to unpack on this record about these cold, distant, plugged-in times where we’re all so close, every word and everything is watched with a microscope, but we’re all so distant.”
Reba: “It’s hard to see what could have been but I’m proud of what we did. It showed how this band is different and it put that spotlight on us. We were the first ones to have such a good livestream event and it was really special, I think all our fans agree and had a really good time. We can still have moments that are important, new, fresh, and we can still create. I wouldn’t change anything.”
How did it feel to be asked to record a WWE theme for The Fiend?
Chris Mcdonald (Facebook)
Jami: “It was cool! They didn’t ask us, we just did it on our own. I just talked to Bray Wyatt [AKA The Fiend] and he said, ‘Just fucking do it, we’ll bring it and try to pitch it.’ So we made it on our own, pitched it and they said no. Two days before, they said yes and that was it!”
I love the way your music themes and imagery are often interwoven between releases. When you released Only One Way back in 2018, was it always your intention to rework the ideas into The Easy Way for the Underneath record?
Joe Heaton (Facebook)
Jami: “Yes! That was one of the intentions of that song. It’s all been plotted out for a long time. It kind of annoys me when people say it’s a remix of Only One Way, absolutely not. The Easy Way chorus creeps into the end of Only One Way and it only happens once then it’s the basis of this song. I got notebooks on notebooks, it’s all interwoven!”
When and where did you guys first form up as a metal band? @Awesomeantho91 (Twitter)
Reba: “Well, we were really first more of a punk band but we met when we were really little. Me and Jami met when were in sixth grade when we were 11 or 12. We were first playing music as friends, not really in a band setting. Then we started getting into heavier music in high school and just finding new bands, going to shows, and touring right after high school. It’s always been Code Orange; a lot of people have that first band, but for us it was this band.”
Will you do a European tour? And will you visit just Barcelona in Spain? @olivercrisol (Twitter)
Jami: “I’ll visit fucking everywhere! We are gonna do it all as soon as we can.”
Reba: “We’ll be back for sure! And yes, hopefully. I love exploring and playing new places we haven’t played a lot, it’s really cool to see the excitement of kids who’ve been waiting years to see your band play, as opposed to America where they might have seen you four times in the same year.”
“IF WE KEEP FOCUSING ON OLD MUSIC, THAT’S NOT GOING TO GET US ANYWHERE”
REBA MEYERS