28-year-old Orlando Hotopf has been playing in different bands since he was 13. He has been touring and sharing stages with the likes of Ásgeir, Bombay Bicycle Club, Young The Giant and Grant Nicholas (Feeder) in Europe, as well as working as a session musician.
When his last band broke up, he decided to leave London and escape to Stockholm to start working on his solo project, recruiting a new band made up of Anton Hedlund (lead guitar) Eric Olsson (drums) and Freyr Flodgren (bass).
Orlando has now finished writing his debut album with first single 'Confessions' which was released on July 10th.
We had a chat with him on the release and more...
Introduce yourself!
"Hey! My name is Orlando and I am a songwriter from the UK living in Stockholm. I have been playing in bands and working in the music industry since I was 13 and my debut single for my solo project is out on the 10th of July 2020."
Where are you from?
"I am from Benhall Green in Suffolk, a tiny village of about 500 people 10 minutes from the coast in South England."
How did you start your musical journey / When did you get into music?
"I went to the democratic free school Summerhill. We got to choose how we organised our time and what subjects we wanted to study. We had a great music studio there (where Ed Sheeran recorded his first E.P) and I guess I kinda just fell into it…After school, I moved to London to study at The British Academy of New Music and at an arts college in East London, but had to drop out of the art program due to time constraints with music.
Since then, I have been working in the music industry as a songwriter and session musician and it has been great. I really love seeing the creative process behind music and the people I have met through it and the places I have seen whilst touring!"
Who’s your biggest influence, either musically or in life?
"In life Haruki Murakami, who is my favourite author. I read all his books and he has a beautiful way with words and blurs the everyday with the surreal…"
Can you sum up your sound in one sentence?
"I am still trying to figure that out haha, ask me in again in a year!"
What would you be doing if you weren’t making music?
"Something in the arts. I came close to being a painter and I spend a lot of time writing stories. I also have a little dream of being a Marine Biologist off the Gold Coast in Australia."
What artists are you listening to right now?
"Angus and Julia Stone, Michael Kiwanuka, Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker, FREYR (who plays bass on Confession and who I play guitar for live) and Linn Koch-Emmery, who shot all my photos and supported me as a friend though the release."
What would be your dream venue or place to headline?
"I played a sold out show at the Copenhagen Koncerthuset on the first night of a two month tour supporting Ásgier. It is a classical music venue and the acoustics are incredible. Aesthetically its the most beautiful venue I have seen and I really want to play another show there."
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
"Career wise hopefully touring my second album doing some more songwriting for other artists and having finished my book The Garden."
You've just released your debut single 'Confessions'. Tell us a little about the track!
"The song is the first single from an album I wrote after moving from London to Stockholm and is the first one with my new band made up off Anton Hedlund (lead guitar), Eric Olsson (drums) and Freyr Floodgren (bass).
The track was recorded, produced and mixed in Stockholm by Zebastian Swartz, who just finished an album for Shitbaby Mammals, he also played synth and did backing vocals for the song. Confessions was then mastered in America by Greg Calbi, who recently won a grammy as a sound-engineer and has worked with some of my idols including David Bowie, John Lennon, Muddy Water, The Strokes, Blondie and Arcade Fire, to name a few. In essence the song is about the feeling of being conflicted in a relationship and trying to fix it even when you know you should walk away."
Do you have a favourite lyric from the song?
"I really like the first verse as it sums up the story for the whole song and sets the mood…"
"We meet every Friday night, when it seems that your getting low
We do our best to hideaway from the nights but they won’t go
Cause I know your holding on, trying to get the best of the past
And I know the fevers gone and we’re not gonna last"
Is there anything or a message you would like people to take away from the track?
"Take care of the ones you love and keep them close."
Whats the next step?
"Get back in the studio to record my second single Growing Pains and hopefully release it this Autumn!"