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Max: What are some of your favorite cities to tour in and why?
Orell: Well, you gotta love Boston. Playing in Boston is awesome cause you got your family and friends there. Also, I love Australia...anywhere in Australia; its really nice over there. Umm...all over the place...the west coast...I'm trying to think where else...of course Minneapolis (laughter). I don't know, basically that's it. Anywhere.
Max: Who are some of your favorite bands to tour with and why?
Orell: We're trying to go on tour with Andrew W.K.
Max: Oh yeah, I just saw him two nights ago.
Orell: Yeah, he just played here...well, not here. Where did he play?
Max: He played at The Quest. Its just a couple blocks from here.
Orell: Those guys rule. They're cool guys
Max: That would be a sweet show. How do you feel about file sharing?
Orell: You know, there's two sides to that story. There are the people that download the whole fucking album...albums upon albums...and they'll rob, well, basically just take music. Then there are the kids that just listen to a couple songs, and they're just trying to get the vibe of it. Me, I take pride in buying my albums. There's albums that I already have, but when I look at the record store I'm like "Oh, I'm gonna buy that again! That's a good record!" There are two sides to that story, you know? You can't really pick and choose.
Max: Do you have any pre-show rituals that you do, on or off the stage?
Orell: Uhh...beer. Budweiser brand beer. We usually, right before the show, we all just put our fists in the middle and make sure we're all on page one. Basically make sure we're all in the same ballgame, make sure we're all on there.
Max: If you could play with any musicians, living or dead, who would they be?
Orell: Living or dead...Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones; he's kind of both (laughter). I'd love to play with Angus Young, he's a great guitar player...Brian Setzer...every time I go into a record store there are so many things, I always have a fucking brain fart, like "ahh, I don't know," but there are plenty of people. Like Keith Richards, Angus Young, Bruce Springsteen...he's a fucking good dude.
Max: What do you think you would be doing if you had not become a musician?
Orell: Working at Blockbuster Video still. That's where they picked me up.
Max: What sort of music did you grow up listening to?
Orell: I grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen. My parents always were really into that. Later I got into AC/DC and stuff...The Clash...Rancid...
Max: Did you have any bands that inspired you when you were first starting out?
Orell: Bands that inspired me, I don't know... (someone whispers "Wallflowers")...Ha, Wallflowers...Well, I saw a movie. I saw Back to the Future and I wanted to play guitar ever since I saw Marty played "Johnny B. Good." I was like "Oh, that rocks! That dude is like kicking over stuff and shit!" I always thought that was really cool; that really inspired me to pick up guitar.
Max: Have you ever requested anything out of the ordinary from a venue?
Orell: Oh, I'm not that much of a brat. I don't need anything. Anything out of the ordinary...nothing really. We'll take anything, you know, we'll just make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I'm happy there. Just as long as I can eat. Beer, that's about it. Over in Europe..."American Budweiser brand beer"...That's pretty out of the ordinary for them.
Max: Do you have a favorite song that you like to play at every show?
Orell: I dig the "Worker's Song." Its really strong, with the [bag]pipes and stuff. It's really an anthem that all the kids can sing and get involved with...It's cool.
Max: Do you try to send a message to the people who are listening to your music? What do you want someone to take away at the end of a show?
Orell: Nah...just to have a good time. We're not all about standing on a soapbox and preaching to everybody. We're just about...when we write the lyrics it's like this is just our life, this is what we live with, this is us. We're not like "oh, you should do this. When you go home you should make sure you do this and that and that..." You do what you want. It's your life; this is ours.
Max: What is your favorite part of being a musician?
Orell: Playing music...(someone whispers "chicks")...yeah, chicks...drugs...no, just playing music, playing to people, playing live music to people and making sure they have a smile on their face.
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