Orgy Biography

Orgy is an alternative synth rock band from Los Angeles, California. Their music has been self-described specifically as "electro-pop".

Orgy was formed in 1997 by vocalist Jay Gordon and guitarist Ryan Shuck once of Jonathan Davis' original band Sexart, assisting in their eventual signing to Ko?n's label Elementree Records.

Bassist Paige Haley (b. May 10, 1966, in Oakland, California, U.S.A.), guitarist Amir Derakh, and drummer Bobby Hewitt (b. November 13, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) soon completed the lineup. All were veterans of the late '80s/early '90s L.A. "hair metal" club scene. Derakh had previously gained some fame in the 80s metal band Rough Cutt, and Hewitt was a former member of Electric Love Hogs. Gordon and Derakh were also experienced producers. They produced Coal Chamber's self-titled CD.

They claimed the name of the band was not a sexual reference, but instead pointed to the "collage" of different styles in their music. Within six months, they were signed to Elementree Records. They had yet to play a single live show.

In 1998, their debut album, Candyass, was released. Gordon described the subject matter of the material as "...bullshit...lies and fairy tales." Their cover of the New Order song "Blue Monday" was a breakthrough hit. While many people believe that "Stitches" was Orgy's second single, it was actually their first but did not gain extensive airplay until after "Blue Monday".

Orgy made their live debut at EdgeFest, an annual radio show in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1998. They also appeared on the Family Values Tour with Ko?n, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, Incubus, and Rammstein. They were featured on the live compilation album of the tour, released in 1999. Other tours with Love and Rockets and Sugar Ray followed.

Their second album, the science fiction-themed Vapor Transmission, came out in 2000, with "Fiction (Dreams in Digital)" and "Opticon" as singles.

In 2001, Orgy release the song "Faces" for the soundtrack of the film Zoolander. As of 2006, "Faces" is unreleased on any of their studio albums.

After the release of Vapor Transmission, Orgy left Reprise Records and had already severed ties with Elementree. Gordon started his own independent record label, D1 Music. The band's third album, Punk Statik Paranoia, was released in 2004 through D1. Although no plans have been made for a 4th album, Orgy is very much still together and taking some time off to do independent projects.

In late 2003 guitarists Shuck and Derakh formed a side project, Julien-K, as an outlet for electronic material they had come up with during the writing process for Orgy. They are currently working on their first album, tentatively titled Death to Analog, and producing Chester Bennington of Linkin Park's solo album, "Snow White Tan." Jay Gordon also remixed the Linkin Park track, Points of Authority for their album, Reanimation re-naming it Pts.of.Athrty.

Roughly a year or two before Orgy was formed, Jay Gordon made some contributions to the recording of Deadsy's album (providing back-up vocals on the track seagulls, as well as bass on a few other tracks) however, he was strictly a studio musician and was never a member of the band. Obviously Deadsy existed before Orgy, however their sound, although similar in many respects, is also very different. Many people thoroughly enjoy both bands, and although people still argue about Jay Gordon "ripping off" Deadsy, this is not really an issue anymore. Were it of concern to any of the band members, they probably would have re-recorded his contributions with their current members, when those same tracks were used on the 2002 release of Commencement.