Indie tribute: Orion Simprini

This is the first post in a series I plan to write about independent musicians. I've been in and out of the music scene for over 20 years now and I would like to use that experience to share information about artists and bands who I feel deserve special attention. Sometimes I'll think of an old band and be surprised to find there is almost no presence on YouTube or that I can't find the album art for an old CD. To begin, I would like to recognize one of my all-time favorite songwriters, Orion Simprini (Kitty In The Tree, The Orion Experience.)

I first heard Orion (yes, that's his real name) as frontman for NYC-based Luna Lounge regulars Kitty In The Tree, while recording their masterpiece full-length debut Hello Kitty in the basement New Jersey studio of friends and producers Bob O'Gureck and Randy Staley (Fossil, Probe!) in 1999. I was hooked immediately. [Note: I still prefer Bob and Randy's original album sequence, which opens with "Free" and closes with the reprise of the same. The song order was changed for the official release on Rob Sacher's Luna Sea Records. Expect another feature on Bob and Randy sometime in the future.] From KITT, Orion went on to form The Orion Experience, who experienced some success both online and internationally. That led to the crafting of a full-blown indie-rock opera Children Of The Stars in a brief off-Broadway run. Sadly, plans for a longer residency and tours to other cities never materialized and we're left with dreams of what could have been.





Orion writes brilliant pop songs in a way that's both immediately accessible ("Obsessed With You") and yet incredibly musically complex. His melodies inevitably contain that ear-worm that hooks you in ("Galaxy Holiday"), but underneath is a supporting chord progression with a complexity more at home in a jazz standard than your usual pop song ("Together"). Lyrically, Orion's songs are clever without being condescending, and manage to convey themes both simple ("I Love Girls") and sophisticated ("E.S.P.") with relative ease. He also writes some of the most musical guitar solos I've ever heard ("There's No Love In February") and knows how to sculpt a bass line that locks down the rhythm while adding the perfect tasty riff over the top ("NYC Girl").

Let's take a quick look at some of those lyrical bits that are so particularly genius. Here's the second verse of "Together" from Kitty In The Tree's Hello Kitty:

Hey you, saw you just the other day / It was early morning on the A
The silver chain you wear / It caught my-
I know, you knew I was there / You pretended not to care
Your reflection in the window / Gave you a-
Way you've got about you / Girl, it's so unfair
'Cause you've got something I could not ignore

He does it again in the bridge of "N.Y.C. Girl", leading each line with the title's initials for each soundalike word:

(N) And when you walked by me
(Y) Why did I turn away
(C) See, I've been looking for a girl like you for
(N) an eternity
(Y) why can't you be next to me
(C) See, I would make you my girl forever more
(N) An emotion running through me
(Y) Can't I just talk to you
(C) I can be the one to make you smile So New York City girl please tell me why

It's a simple device but it works perfectly in the context of the song. And it's so painfully clever without ever feeling forced.

All the technical brilliance in the world means nothing if a song isn't enjoyable. And there, Orion really hits home because his tunes are ones I come back to again and again over the years. They are timeless; time capsules that take you back to a point in time ("living it up in the New City, 1999!"), while remaining fresh and modern no matter what year you're listening.

I'll admit this entire post was sparked by a playlist, as I was trying to catalog my favorite Orion tunes from all his different incarnations. And since no discussion of artistic merit is complete without a Top 10 list, so here is my personal selection of...

The Top 10 Orion Simprini songs, as chosen by me:

1. Together (Hello Kitty, 2000)
2. There's No Love In February (The Orion Experience, 2005) 
3. She's My Heroine (Hello Kitty, 2000)
4. Obsessed With You (The Orion Experience, 2005) 
5. We All Just Want To Be Loved (Space Race EP, 2002)
6. Galaxy Holiday (Hello Kitty, 2000)
7. N.Y.C. Girl (NYC Girl EP, 2011) 
8. Free (Hello Kitty, 2000)
9. E.S.P. (Hello Kitty, 2000)
10. I Love Girls (demo, 2001)

Further listening:

• Starfucker (Hello Kitty, 2000)
• New City (Hello Kitty, 2000)
• We Are The Ones (Cosmicandy, 2007)
• The Cult of Dionysis (Cosmicandy, 2007) 
• Adrianne (Cosmicandy, 2007)
• Rollercoaster (NYC Girl EP, 2011) 
• Electric Moves (Children of the Stars, 2013)
• Nipon Ga Da Ski (Cosmicandy [Japan Release], 2005) 
• Children of the Stars (Children of the Stars, 2013)
• King of the World (demo, 2001)
• C'mon (Hello Kitty, 2000)

Note: Credit also goes to Orion's many collaborators, including his bandmates and producers from Kitty In The Tree through The Orion Experience. I know that Linda and Reef and Dan and others have been heavily involved in creating this catalog.