INTERVIEW: Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari – O.R.k

You’ve probably not come across O.R.K before, but they’re a supergroup with a serious amount of talent involved. Formed by Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (who goes by the name Lef), the band includes members of KING CRIMSON and PORCUPINE TREE and are back with Ramagehead, their third studio album that features SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian. Distorted Sound recently caught up with Lef to discuss the new album, along with how the band came together, their upcoming European tour and choosing lead single Kneel to Nothing by means of a dartboard…

Lef, thank you for taking the time to speak to me today. Firstly, for those who may not be aware of you, can you quickly bring us up to speed on the band’s beginnings?

Lef: I did a couple of records with Pat (Mastelotto, drummer) years ago and I had this other band called OBAKE with Colin (Edwin, bass). Carmelo (Pipitone, guitars) and I live in the same city, but we’d never happened to make music together before I decided to put all the tales together and start a new rock band. So I just picked up the phone and explained my simple idea to those guys, and after a couple of weeks we’ve started working on a few rough structures and immediately the great potential of this band revealed itself. Since then, we’ve recorded three records in three years, toured three times Europe and done a few shows in South America as well.

What was it about Pat, Colin and Carmelo that made you want to work with them on this in the first place?

Lef: Even though we have different backgrounds, we share a similar approach music-wise: we don’t overthink about structures, nor do we want to show off how cool we are. We follow our instincts and luckily we seem to be on the same page

Considering the bands and outfits that the others are involved in, it would be justified to say that O.R.K is a side project for them, whilst you consider it your main source of creative output. Does this bother you at all?

Lef: Actually, we don’t see it like that. We’re all investing time and energy, and definitely consider O.R.K as a band and not as a side project. As mentioned above, three albums in three years, extensive tours of Europe and a few dates in South America, with another European tour later this year and the possibility of one in the ‘States as well; this wouldn’t be possible if we considered this a low priority project.

That makes complete sense. So, when it comes to writing an album with O.R.K, how does that work out on a logistical front? Do you find the time to meet and discuss or is it a lot of back and forth online until the time comes to record?

Lef: There’s a lot of back and forth online, but we’ve also managed to meet up a few times to improvise and work on structures.

What would you say were the main influences on yourself when writing the words and music that would become Ramagehead?

Lef: That’s difficult to say, especially ‘cause we’ve co-written all our tunes…we prefer to improvise and put our feelings in music rather than overthink about structures, styles, genres and words.

What makes Ramagehead different from the rest of your albums?

Lef: It comes after thousands of kilometres spent together in a van… that’s the perfect picture of who we are right now as a band!

Are there any songs on the record that you are particularly proud of?

Lef: I love them all! [laughs]

Fair enough! How did Serj Tankian come to be involved with the project this time around?

Lef: I did this Hypersomniac record with Bill Laswell and a few other cool guys from Norway. Bill passed a copy of the record on to Tankian, who was so impressed he then checked out all my original work, my website and other material. This led directly to Serj and I connecting and discussing potentially collaborating at some point – it was just at the time we were working on Ramagehead, so of course a suggestion had to be made.

Why did you choose Kneel to Nothing to be the lead single?

Lef: Actually, this is a great question with a great story. We really couldn’t decide, so I made anagrams of all the titles and put them on a dartboard. I invited the rest of the band to throw darts at the pieces of paper…and the clear winner was “honking notelet”; second place was “bollocks mba”! [laughs]

Amazing! You’re heading out on the road very soon, with headline dates alongside shows supporting THE PINEAPPLE THIEF. Looking forward to it?

Lef: Yeah of course, we’re happy to have a musically compatible band inviting us to join them on tour.

Always good to hear! More of a fun question, this – what does O.R.K actually stand for, if anything at all?

Lef: It’s an acronym, but I can’t really give it away!

Aw, shame – maybe we’ll find out one day! What would you consider to be the ultimate dream, as far as O.R.K are concerned?

Lef: World domination, mass adoption into our cult, extended tentacles.

Finally, any closing remarks?

Lef: I’ve seen the vinyl and the overall package is exceptional. We’re really happy to present the music in a top physical form.

Good to hear! Thank you for your time, Lef.

Lef: No problem.

Ramagehead is out now via Kscope.

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