Orbital receive PRS for Music heritage award and talk to Rockol.com
The DIY (do-it-yourself) indie spirit is alive and well for Orbital, the pioneering UK electronic-dance duo who were graced with the PRS for Music heritage award in London today.
The award, in the form of an engraved plaque, is given by the UK copyright organization PRS for Music to recognize the first live-gig venues of iconic music acts.
The plaque for Orbital was unveiled at the London music venue The Garage, which was known as Town & Country II when the band played their first live show there on 18 March 1990.
Paul Hartnoll and his brother Phil formed Orbital in 1989 and became leading lights during the UK dance music’s seminal period in the 1990s. Their portfolio of releases include eight studio albums (such as the highly acclaimed Snivilisation in 1994), two original score albums, several compilations, live-session albums and hit anthems like Chime and Satan.
The act disbanded in 2004 and reformed six years later. Since then, Orbital’s stints have included their live performance during the 2012 London Paralympic Games’ opening ceremony.
Orbital had initially produced their own records before being signed to indie label FFRR Records, now part of Universal Music Group subsidiary London Records, during the 1990s.
After Orbital’s 2010 resurrection, the Hartnoll brothers decided to work closely with their management company Mondo Management (which includes David Gray and Damien Rice on its roster) and booking agent Value Added Talent to produce their own recordings in-house and use third-party distributors.
Hartnoll says Mondo’s expertise in helping acts to self-produce was inspired by its experience with Gray, who launched his own label IHT Records to produce the 1999 breakthrough album White Ladder. It has sold more than 7 million units.
“We parted company with FFRR and now do our own thing,” Paul Hartnoll explains. “These days, indie bands can do that if they have the right infrastructure and distribution deals in place. Thanks to David Gray’s White Ladder (album), our management company effectively learned how to set up indie labels for the artists they manage.”
So what prompted the 2010 comeback? “It was a call to the wild. Sometime after we called it a day with Orbital, I started listening to Pete Tong and The Chemical Brothers and went to see them live. I discovered that every single person at each gig knew each record. I then realized that it takes 10 to 15 years to build up that (kind of repertoire) and needed to go back to do more,” he adds.
“I also kept hearing other dance music that I felt wasn’t being done right. So, a couple of years later, I irritated myself into action and we started recording again.”