Interview: Superorganism

Superorganism has not been together for too long ‘officially’, but have gained such a traction and following already, it is clear to see that the supergroup are on to big things in the future.

The members’ origins span England, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Harry, the guitarist, explains that despite the band being in its infancy, there has been a “slow convergence over many years, and an incubation period of about a decade.”

Harry goes on to describe origin story. Initially, they had all met on internet music forums and had experimented in recording projects with some of the members before. It wasn’t until 2015, however, whilst touring with a previous band in Japan, where Orono came down to watch and introduced herself. They all began to chat and Orono took them to the Zoo and even went to get burgers, this would be the beginning of their friendship and kept in touch, sharing their projects and ideas.

Fast forward to 2016, and Harry is embarking upon another recording project, but instead of involving just a select few they decided to involve everybody that they knew. The group asked Orono if she would like to be involved and sent them what they had. To their surprise, within an hour she had written and recorded the lyrics and sent them back ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D’. Harry laughs and says that it was then where everything clicked and kicked into gear, and from there on out it snowballed. The group began to start writing and recording for another six-seven months and remained anonymous whilst doing so, and when they did finally reveal their work “the floodgates just opened.”

Now that all the members of Superorganism live together in the same country, they all hang out and share music in the kitchen, “as long as it’s something catchy, it’s something we will all be into”. Their music is often inspired by things like science, space, and nature, and how everyone is connected. The lyrics that Orono often draws from her honest observations of the world, which she notes down on her phone.

It’s quite rare these days to have so many people in one group, so to highlight everyone in the band and what they do, here’s a rundown and introduction to everyone in Superorganism, it must also be noted that their roles are not the be all and end all, they all merge, cross and contribute.

• Bee, Ruby and Soul — Live band, backing singers, dancers and general all rounded greatness
• Toucan — Drummer
• Emily — Keys
• Harry — Guitar
• Orono — Keys and Vocals
• Rob — visuals, music videos, and staging

Harry emphasises how important visuals are for them when they perform live, which is funny because initially, they weren’t sure if they would ever play live. Some of the group already coming from bands who have performed but accept that this is totally different. “There’s something so pedestrian about four dudes in a rock band, we wanted to create this whole world.”

When on stage, the experience they create is meant to be somewhat of a “mushroom trip”, it can be slightly overbearing and overwhelming at sometimes, but in contrast, it makes you “laugh and think, it’s fun and playful as well as being distorted and broken”. It’s a night that you should come to with an open mind.

Superorganism will release their debut album on the 2nd March 2018.