Agent Orange

Ben Ward is vocalist with psychedelic punk-rock metal mischief-makers Orange Goblin. The London band were formerly, and perhaps more turgidly, known as Our Haunted Kingdom.

“We used to spend so much time at our bassist Martyn’s place, sitting around and drinking, we thought we might as well form a band to give us an excuse to sit around and drink together,” Ben says. “When we first started out we were dealing with crappy equipment loaded into the back of an old Ford Fiesta. Things have definitely improved since then and we even have some decent equipment now.”

Ben admits to being part of “the new wave of British Heavy Metal” but is very unhappy with the way Orange Goblin have been tarred with the term ‘stoner rock.’

”I don’t agree with the ‘stoner’ thing. Eminem smokes weed, but that doesn’t make him ‘stoner rock.’ We’re not doing anything particularly new. Like many others, we’re influenced by ’60s, ’70s and ’80s rock like Sabbath, Slayer, Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin.”

Orange Goblin now have three albums under their belt, with third album The Big Black released last May, which Ben describes as:

“Our defining album so far, and indicative of where the band is going. Our first album was more psychedelic, more Pink Floyd, but the last one is more ‘balls-out’ metal. Our newer stuff is faster still, more classic punk rock and it’s been drawing comparisons to bands like Black Flag. We’re really trying to distance ourselves from the ‘stoner rock’ tag.”

Orange Goblin are friendly with peers like Nebula and Unida and are looking forward to partying with them at summer festivals like Reading and Leeds.

“We’re taking Hangnail with us on tour. They are an absolutely brilliant band, but it’s like going on holiday with your mates.”

The band had the privilege of going on tour with one of their idols, Alice Cooper.

“We got to play Wembley Arena. We were like schoolchildren on a learning curve. Because we were first on, we always had to get drunk very early in the day, ‘cause we were on stage every night at about a quarter to seven. Alice was cool – he mostly kept himself to himself, although on the last night he invited us into his dressing room for a few drinks and a chat. I can’t remember a word he said – I was too in awe, but he was very chilled out.’

Although their first Dublin gig is coming up, the Goblins have played Belfast before.

“We’re looking forward to being in Ireland again. We get a lot of hits on our web-site from Irish fans, and our rhythm guitarist Pete O’ Malley is Irish,” he boasts. “There is a big demand for us in the U.S. too. We’ve supported Queens Of The Stone Age. We’ve also toured Japan with Cathedral, and we have a European tour coming up with American band, Roadsaw. We were going to record our next album in California with Scott Reader from Unida as producer, but I’ve just become a father and I don’t want to leave my newborn son for that long, so we’re going to get Scott to come over here. We’re also looking to get Jason Usted from Metallica to play some bass which will be incredibly cool.”

Orange Goblin have a well-cultivated reputation for being a wild and hedonistic, ‘fun with a capital F’, rock ‘n’ roll band. “Some people hear the name and imagine it is just pure comedy,” Ben says. “We do like to enjoy ourselves and have a good time, but you also need to put some serious effort into the music. I mean, we don’t want to be an absolute laughing stock.”