ARTIST OF THE MOMENT: Orion [Delayed x Paradise City]

It's hard to believe that we didn’t interview our long-term friends from Orion yet! We featured Nicolò and Simone’s music multiple times on the blog and their Delayed with… Orion is one of our most listened podcasts with 40k plays. And rightfully so. The two Italian DJs and producers seem to always strike the right balance between joy and melancholia, depth and drive and - and, one quality I admire most in artists: they do THEIR thing. We still soak in the warm memories from our Pintai x Delayed party in Amsterdam in March, where Orion played a beautiful live set. They also shared the stage together with their friend Ateq as Pale Product, their mysterious collaborative project. Now, they will perform at the Paradise City Festival in Belgium - a festival that is not only known for its sustainability but also for expanding its curation more and more. This year, Orion will perform on the Sweet Spot stage, beautifully set in front of a castle with many other friends of Delayed.
So, as it is about time that we chat with Orion, we took this occasion to dive a bit deeper into the Orion universe.

I’m so excited to see you play a live set at the Paradise City festival in Belgium in a few weeks! It’s the first time I will see you at a festival, and I'm really curious how this environment changes the feeling of the music compared to a club night. How do you usually approach the different settings?
Hey, thanks for inviting us! We're stoked to have the opportunity to perform at this festival surrounded by nature. We'll be bringing an unreleased version of our live set, which will definitely have more "open-air" influences. It's both exciting and challenging to explore new sounds for this special live performance while staying true to our vibe.

Paradise City covers a wide artistic range, from well-known crowd-pleasers to house legends to ambient newcomers. What do you look forward to seeing in this broad spectrum of artists yourself?
First off, we're thrilled to meet some familiar faces in the lineup (Martinou & Hame), but Saturday will definitely be exciting with artists like Voices From the Lake and Ron Trent, who are definitely huge inspirations for us. Honestly, the lineup is so diverse and huge that we’re excited to be surprised by new artists all over the festival.

Paradise City Festival 2023 photos by bayny

Usually, Orion is rather taciturn on the media; you let the music and the pictures speak. In your bio on Resident Advisor,  you put out two words: Techno Freedom. It is self explanatory to some extent but would love to hear what it means to Orion?
When we started working together in the studio, specific labels and artists definitely influenced us. But since we came from different electronic music genres, we tried to mix things up. It was like a promise to keep experimenting endlessly. Plus, those are two words that just sound great together :))

How was Orion actually born?
When we first met, we were both making music under different aliases. Simone came from the House scene while Nicolò had a more Techno background. We spent the first few months swapping our favorite tracks, talking about artists who inspire us, and dreaming about distant planets. After a year in the studio making music together, we've picked out our best work.

Around the same time, we met Ateq, who supported us and gave us advice on starting our own label. From that moment, we started cooking a lot of pasta together and taking long walks in the park. A few months later, we dropped our first EP and recorded a live set for Smoke Machine, which turned out to be a “manifesto” for our vision of electronic music.

Orion is not just the name of the project; it's also the label, which continues to have a strong connection to vinyl and remains highly sought after by collectors. Despite challenges like rising postage prices, shipping delays, and increasing production costs, what motivates you to stick to vinyl?
When we started collecting music for our DJ sets, we enjoyed digging in record stores around Europe. We both have always bought records and shared the same love for digging. We're into the idea of sending our records across Europe, knowing that someone will stumble upon them among others. Regardless of the financial side, it's still a romantic format that we enjoy daydreaming about.

I sometimes feel Orion musically and aesthetically is an entire mood. It's deep, with a good dash of melancholia, some undertones of resistance but a strong connectivity between people and it's certainly not forceful or rushing. How would you describe the Orion vibe yourselves?
The main goal for our label is to create a sound with many facets that can be presented in different contexts. We're all about exploring different vibes and rhythms. We get how important it is to vibe with the situation we're in, so we always switch up our style in a live set or DJ set to fit different scenes and settings. Honestly, we can't really describe our vibe, but "timeless" is something to strive for.

Together with Ateq, you form the project and label Pale Product, which has a strong visual and musical focus. It's hard to box (thankfully)! What are your major inspirations for this collaboration?
Pale is a special place for us. We combine different visual and musical elements - all the material is sent back and forth. This kind of process determines a lot about the result and can be very inspiring ツ.

Pale Product

You two play live as well as DJ sets, how does the synergy change between the two for you depending on DJ or live?
Playing live and performing your own music in front of a crowd is always something special. When we started out as "Orion" in our DJ sets, we were mostly dropping our own tracks, and eventually, we just felt like putting together a live show. We think the fundamental difference between the two is just logistics. Live sets require different preparation and have unique risks (tech doesn't always cooperate). You never know how it's gonna turn out, but you know if you enjoy doing it. Ideas start flowing, and you start getting excited about stuff.  Then you're having a great time in the doing, and that's what it's all about.

Orion will play at the Paradise City Festival on Saturday, 29th of June. Get your tickets here.