San Francisco metal men Orchid grow hard ’n’ heavy
Band influenced by Black Sabbath develops a sound that’s all its own
Mark Thomas Baker laughs at the suggestion this country has in some way wronged him, that we are no friends of Orchid. But how could we not wonder? Since forming almost a decade ago, he and his San Fran heavy rock act have yet to pay their many, hairy Canadian fans a visit. Until this weekend. After a good three years of urging, begging and pleading, the Palomino has finally coaxed the thudding and thundering four-piece to make their first appearance north of the 49th for a Saturday night show.
Baker admits it was just a matter of “good timing this time,” and one the guitarist and his mates were more than happy go accommodate.
“I love travelling to places I haven’t been, that’s really exciting for me,” he says. “So I’m excited to come to a cool place I haven’t been before, for sure.”
Hopefully “cool” won’t be the operative word here, and both the weather and the city’s hard-rock aficionados will give them the warm welcome they deserve and do get the world over — most notably in Europe, where they have focused a great deal of that touring time.
“It’s where we were first accepted and where people were enthusiastic about it, really,” says Baker.
Hard not to be enthusiastic when you breathe in an iron lungful of the beautiful bong-hits of riffs and roar they’ve delivered on a pair of full-lengths and a handful of EPs, including their last outing, 2015’s Sign of the Witch.
It’s a sound that has grown bigger and more Orchid’s own since they first started — their name taken from a Black Sabbath song off the Master of Reality album and their music following that lead.
But, again, Orchid — which also features vocalist Theo Mindell, bassist Keith Nickel and newbie drummer Ted Cox — have progressed so far from that original influence, have brought so many more into things that their sound is entirely their own.
“I certainly hope that that’s how that’s perceived,” Baker says.
“Obviously, when we started out it was just non-stop ‘Black Sabbath this and Black Sabbath that,’ and that’s all we ever heard. But we just tried to work our way through it and put our own stamp on what we do.
“I’m a little older so I’ve seen a lot of rock history and just the other day I was listening to Robin Trower … and the guy was considered a straight-up Hendrix clone when he came out. And the first time I heard Krokus I was like, ‘Wow is this AC/DC?’
“What we’re doing is not unprecedented, you know. Sabbath was just a huge influence and we kind of try to cop that style and mix our own thing in with it, and old Zeppelin and old Pentagram and some psychedelic moments in there as well and some space rock.”
And subsequently they’ve been embraced by a larger metal community, including the bangers, the stoner dudes, the van lovers, the indie crowd, classic rockers and the tattoo crew.
Actually, their show on Saturday at the Palomino is a pretty good indication of that, as it will also feature an appearance by Terry Cahill (a.k.a. Dave Lawrence) from locally shot cult classic FUBAR and a book signing and poster show by an Orchid pal, Ottawa-born, Frisco-based Dirty Donny Gillies.
The latter relationship is one that’s been cultivated thanks largely to frontman Mindell’s own reputation as an internationally recognized and sought-after inker, like Gillies, who has designed and illustrated everything from incredible psych black light posters and album covers to van murals and pinball machines — including for Metallica.
“That’s our one degree separation from them,” Baker says of the band, which has utilized the work of Gillies on many other occasions.
So does that mean the next time Orchid hits the road it will be for an extensive all-over — including Canadian run — as openers for the thrash giants. Baker laughs. “Well, s--t, if that was offered I don’t think you’d say no to that,” he says.
“But we’ve played for Kirk (Hammett) a couple of times at his Fear FestEvils down here and I know he digs us. And I know James (Hetfield) has mentioned us publicly before on his social media and Theo has actually tattooed him before so, those guys know who we are.
“Whether they ask us to tour who knows … but certainly I’d love to.”
He laughs again. “Let’s put the pressure on them.” Sure. What are friends for.