This year saw the welcome return of everyone’s favourite torch glass-wearing band of brothers, Orbital. Widely regarded as pioneers of live dance music, fans were suitably thrilled to learn that Paul and Phil Hartnoll were reuniting after their second split, to take their rightful place at the top of the bill at festivals worldwide (including a sure-to-be-incendiary headlining set at Forbidden Fruit). When we catch up with Paul, he tells us that he too is pleased about Orbital’s resurrection.
“It’s great being back together,” he beams. “It’s good to get the old job back, you know? Phil and myself hadn’t spoken for years after we fell out and that was really nasty. It was one of those things that was always in the back of your mind. I knew I had to deal with it or I’d regret it, so it was really nice to sort it out.”
Officially announcing they were “hanging up their iconic torch glasses and parting ways for the final time” in 2014, in reality Orbital weren’t on speaking terms since 2012 and the band had been broken up for a while. After spending an enjoyable period working on movie soundtracks, Paul tells us that a snap decision inspired him to go back to his first love.
“I’d been doing a lot of composing for TV and film,” he recalls. “I was five months into doing this period drama and all of a sudden, within a two week period, they just gave me the sack. They were like, ‘We don’t want you anymore. We’re off.’ So I was going, ‘Okay, that’s not very nice’ – and that was the moment I realised I wanted my old job back. It wasn’t because I needed the money, it was more about getting back to a world where I was appreciated, and where I could do my own thing, live my own way. The only thing stopping me was that we weren’t talking, so I decided to be the bigger man and go and sort it out.”
Now back in action and celebrating five years of music (with more to come – they’re working on “30 demos” right now), Paul reveals he’s intrigued about checking out the current crop of dance music stars during festival season.
“I haven’t really seen many of the new school, but I’m hoping to catch more of them over the summer,” he enthuses. “I mean, I don’t know what to make of the current crop. Their sets seem to be very structured and we’ve been more about feeling our way through a show and allowing ourselves to be a bit wild. What I don’t like is when things become safe and sound exactly like they do on record.
“I think that’s boring and I don’t like watching people do that. But hey, whatever floats your boat. If that’s the way someone wants to do it, that’s entirely up to them. I’m not saying they should do it like I want them to, but I do like the wildness of having all the analogue synths onstage and just messing with them.”
Though he’s far too modest to admit it, we’re sure Paul is also itching to teach the new school a thing or two during the festival season, and we’re fully expecting Orbital to deliver the goods at Forbidden Fruit.
“I love playing festivals,” he beams. “I love my own gigs as well, but there’s something about the challenge of trying to convert people who mightn’t have listened to you before. I love it. We fly by the seat of our pants and it’s really exciting. I don’t worry too much about people’s expectations when we headline. All we can do is put on the best show possible. I was doing these solo shows for the last few years and it was like going back to my roots, doing small tents with the audience right in front of you, and that was great fun too.
“It was really helpful to find out that people get the music without having all the videos and the light show. But we’re very excited about coming back to Ireland. It’s always been one of our favourite places to play and it’s amazing that we’re still wanted after all these years. We feel very lucky.”