BIO

Hiya! My name’s Ian Orth, I live in Austin, TX and since 2011 I’ve been writing, performing, producing, and recording music under the name Orthy. Most times when I tell people the name of the project they say “Did you say Dororthy?” or “Orgy?” or “huh?” It’s a pretty silly name for sure, but one that I got way back in the year 2001 when I was interning at a record label called Tiger Style, but that was another life and another story.

Anywho, Orthy began in earnest after a few edits I made to DJ out at a dance party I’ve been throwing since 2004 called Learning Secrets ended up in the hands of Tim Sweeney of Beats In Space. He in turn played a couple on his radio show, which tickled the ears of one Roy Dank who, at the time was running one of my favorite labels called The Wurst Music Co. Dank took me under his wing, and along with the help of Nick Chacona we shaped some demos of original material into the three songs that would become the 'Sueños’ EP, which was released in October of 2011. I quickly put a band together with some of my best buds. I had no idea how I was going to turn these songs into something that worked live, and I credit the help and patience of Jeramy Neugent, Alec Padron, Markus Diffee, Rachel Scherr, and Michael Zawodniak.

Fast forward a few years and Tim Wagner from the NYC label Dither Down overheard a batch of demos Chacona was helping me clean up. Wagner and I hit it off and quickly worked together to release the ‘E.M.I.L.Y.’ EP in 2014. The live band had shifted around a bit with Jordan Johns filling in on drums for a bit, and ultimately landing on the insane rhythm section that is the duo of James Jones (drums) and George Garcia (bass). It was a fun time filled with a handful of great Texas shows with Holy Ghost!, Neon Indian, and Matthew Dear to name drop a few. In 2015 I released a reworking of Tom Petty’s “Listen To Her Heart” which was supposed to be a nod towards the direction of the upcoming full length. There was some exciting momentum and in January of 2015 we entered Cacophony studio in Austin with James Jones in the engineer / co-production chair to start fleshing out songs for the full-length. Then life took a few unexpected turns, and anything that didn’t revolve around family, work, health, and purely staying afloat as a human being took back seat. Oh right, and the external hard drive that housed the first draft of Fable Living blew up.

In hindsight the best thing that could’ve happened is that external hard drive joining the big computer in the sky. It forced me to completely rethink and reimagine Fable Living from the top down. Coupled with a series of fucked up and unfortunate events in my personal life, and a handful of truly amazing things as well, I took the next 4 years to take my time and channel the anger and confusion I felt over life events I couldn’t control into 10 songs of love and loss, with love ultimately winning in the end.

The bulk of Fable Living was written, performed, and recorded between my home studio, and long-time friend and bandmate, James Jones’ Austin-based Twin Creeks Studios, where Jones ultimately mixed the record as well. A personal hero of mine, Bob Weston, mastered the album at Chicago Mastering Service. Fable Living will be released on my own imprint, Hollow Sound Music on January 24th, 2020. I wanted the album to sound like an obscure record you’d discover in the back of the dollar bin, laced with hidden gems that stick with you for days. LinnDrums ran through the AMS RMX16. Thick shuffling bass lines that are simultaneously at home with fans of French Touch and Lagos Disco Inferno. Guitars and synth so crystalline it would make Scritti Politti blush. The result is a disco-tinged, heart-gripping collection of bedroom pop inspired deep grooves that will grab fans of early-80s Roxy Music, mid-80s 4AD Records, and early-90s INXS. 

Contact

Live and DJ Bookings: booking@orthymusic.com

PR: ian@orthymusic.com | Radio: dawood@terrorbird.com