Northwest CanCon

In this edition of Northwest CanCon Headliners, Derek and Rory MacDonald of The Orchid Highway talk about the band, comparisons to The Beatles, and the challenges they faced in recording their first full-length album.

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They say in music there’s no such thing as an overnight success, and every band talks about how long they spent toiling in obscurity before they became famous. But the Orchid Highway take the struggle to make it big to a whole new level.

Brothers Jamie, Rory, and Derek MacDonald created the band in Winnipeg way back in 1994. From there they relocated to London, then to Vancouver. There were a couple of EP’s along the way, but it took 14 years to release their first full-length album. After all this time, the result is a well-polished product, both on-stage and on your sound system.

We’ve never had any ambition but to [make albums] extremely well, and it’s taken a long time. —Rory MacDonald

Now, if you like the Beatles, you’re either going to love or hate the Orchid Highway. You might love the album because it sounds like you stumbled on some previously undiscovered material from the Beatles’ archives. Or you might hate them because they’re somehow contaminating the work of pop’s most celebrated quartet. Either way, the dichotomy is likely to haunt the Orchid Highway throughout their career. They are not trying to recreate the Fab Four, but their sound is clearly derived from the British invasion, of which John, Paul, George and Ringo were the archetype. And they don’t try to hide it, either: the video for “Sofa Surfer Girl,” for example, echoes a 1960s music press conference, shot in black and white with the band sitting side-by-side at a long table dominated by an array of microphones in the middle. The good news is that, like the Beatles’ work (or most of it, anyway), the songs are good. They have catchy hooks, hum-able tunes and understandable lyrics. And they stick with you.

I’m learning geography by stations that are playing us. —Derek MacDonald

In contrast to most of the bands on the Canadian indie-music scene, the Orchid Highway play an unabashedly pop-flavoured brand of rock’n’roll. But you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a hell of a lot more genuine than some teenage singer-songwriter whining about how they lost their wife and home.

Our orange juice tastes better than the leading band. —Rory MacDonald

In August the Orchid Highway played in Portland for the first time, at the International Pop Overthrow. Northwest CanCon was at the East End to photograph the show, and interviewed Derek and Rory outside the venue after the show. Click here to see photos from the show.

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