ORIANTHI On Working With MICHAEL JACKSON - "I'm So Grateful To Have Had That Time With Him Because He Pushed Everyone To Be Better"

October 5, 2020, 4 years ago

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ORIANTHI On Working With MICHAEL JACKSON - "I'm So Grateful To Have Had That Time With Him Because He Pushed Everyone To Be Better"

Platinum-selling recording artist and world class guitarist, Orianthi, will release of her new album, O, on November 6 via Frontiers Music Srl. This will be Orianthi's first new studio album in seven years and her first new music as a solo artist in six years.

During a conversation with Ultimate Guitar's Justin Beckner, Orianthi talked about joining Michael Jackson's band back in 2009 for the late singer's This Is It concert residency. A string of 50 shows was booked at the O2 Arena in London between July 13, 2009, and March 6, 2010. However, none of the concerts took place due to Jackson's unexpected passing in June 2009.

UG: You did rehearsals for that tour and we missed out on it, unfortunately. What did Michael have in store for that tour? Were there some surprises that we, regretfully, were never able to see?

Orianthi: ""There were a lot of surprises. Obviously, we had to sign non-disclosure agreements and I don't know if they still stand or if I can talk about everything freely these days. But there were a lot of things that were going to be pretty epic. It was going to be one of the greatest shows on Earth. That's for sure."

UG: What did you learn from working with Michael, as far as being a musician and being a professional on that level?

Orianthi: "I learned so much. I can't even really... there was so much I learned from him. It was truly an honor and I'm so grateful to have had that time with him because he pushed everyone to be better. He would tell us to step into our light and reach higher. He would tell me to reach my highest note, keep pushing, and be the best performer you can be. He was so precise about everything - from the dancing to the sounds. He had this photographic memory for every part of every one of his songs. It was pretty incredible working with him like that."

Read more here.

Pre-order Orianthi's new album here. Get autographed bundles at the US or EU stores, here.

Orianthi recently dropped the second single and video, for the track "Impulsive" Watch the clip below.

"'Impulsive' is a fun track, I wrote it pretty fast with my friend and producer Marti Frederiksen. The video was was a blast to make at the Dollhouse in Los Angeles with the great director Jim Louvau," says Orianthi.

"The album O is a very inspired album... kept things pretty raw and didn't overthink it. Marti [Frederiksen, producer, mixer, songwriter] and I wanted to create a unique sound and vibe with every track and we experimented a lot with synths and different guitar tones. Lyrically, a lot of this record comes from life experience and other people’s stories. It’s going to be so fun to play these songs live!," says Orianthi.

In addition to her album release with Frontiers this fall, Orianthi also has a signature acoustic guitar being released in partnership with Gibson Guitars with first-of-its-kind engineering that will be revealed later this year.

Tracklisting:

"Contagious"
"Sinners Hymn"
"Rescue Me"
"Blow"
"Sorry"
"Crawling Out Of The Dark"
"Impulsive"
"Streams Of Consciousness"
"Company"
"Moonwalker"

"Sinners Hymn" lyric video:


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