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From Michael Jackson to 'Believe' with Guitar Goddess Orianthi
by Troy Rogers
 After
working her guitar magic with such legends as
Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, ZZ Top, and taking
to the stage with Michael Jackson as the lead
guitarist on the "This Is It" tour, 24-year-old
Australian guitar goddess, Orianthi, makes her
solo debut on October 26 with the album, Believe,
a unique Orianthi recipe of pop and rock with
relatable lyrics and infectious hooks and spellbinding
Orianthi guitar riffs.
Kicking off the Orianthi debut of Believe with the first single, "According to You," Orianthi has already established herself as one of the music industry's top talents and a hidden gem for fans to discover. With Believe about to go wide on October 26, we got some exclusive one-on-one time with the beautiful guitar shredding Orianthi to learn more about Believe, the significance of the album title, how she strikes a diverse balance between guitar and vocals, what it was like to work with Michael Jackson for the "This Is It" tour, what Orianthi took away from the King of Pop believing in her talent, and the challenges of mastering the music of Michael Jackson on stage.
THE DEADBOLT: Given the success that you've already enjoyed to date, your album title is really significant.
ORIANTHI: Yes, "Believe," certainly. It's going to be released on October 26 and I chose the title because of believe in yourself and having belief in what you do and the thing to work at. I've been working on this record off and on for about three years, so it's really a collection of songs that I'm really proud of. And I worked with Howard Benson who is an amazing producer. It's a rock-pop record, with guitar solos in every song and an '80s now vibe, and it has one instrumental track, which is "Highly Strung," which I wrote with an amazing guitar player, Steve Vai.
THE DEADBOLT: At what point in your life did you truly believe in your talents, that you had something special as an artist?
 ORIANTHI:
Well, I picked up the guitar when I was six
and I was just drawn towards it. It's cyclical,
my dad's a guitar player, so there are guitars
all around the house. I used to pick it up all
of the time because I wanted to keep on learning.
It's something that I sort of got, you know?
I have a lot to learn on it. It's something
that I just got more than anything else at school
or whatnot. So I just felt that was my path
to walk down and play music and play the guitar
and try to keep on getting better at it. It's
definitely a journey and I just love playing
it.
It makes me really happy and I'm having a great time and I just love it. So, hopefully, I can inspire more kids to pick up guitar and girls to keep at it, because it's a guy thing to play guitar. But if you love it as much as they love it and you keep at it, believe in yourself and stay persistent, things work out in the end. You put that energy out in the universe, so for that reason I love it so much.
THE DEADBOLT: As a female guitarist, what are some of the obstacles you've encountered in such a male dominated field?
ORIANTHI: You know, going to the same auditions when I was younger. It wasn't easy going through school for me, being a female guitarist, because so many guys play guitar and they're looking at you like, "What are you doing?" They would look at me as a male ballerina, I guess. I don't know. You just practice a lot and love it as much as they love it and don't let the negativity get you down. I did a few times [get] bullied through school, so it wasn't an easy time for me. But sort of just being in your own world at the same time, I love it so much. I have a passion for it. So I'm so happy I get to do it.
THE DEADBOLT: With "According to You," how challenging was it to strike the right balance between vocals and guitar to allow more of you to come through as an artist?
 ORIANTHI:
We were really careful with putting [it together]
when it came to recording the guitar rock songs.
You don't want to put too much in there so it's
crowded. Also, when I'm singing and playing
it live, it's sort of like I'm able to do it.
I don't want to put too much guitar playing
so I'm not able to sing and play at the same
time. So there are actually some melody parts
that go through the choruses, which the other
guitar player takes while I'm singing.
But the solos and all of the main parts, I'm playing, and we wanted to make sure it was the right balance. I had lots of conversations with Howard Benson about it and we wanted to do what's best for the song, which is very important. So people who don't play guitar, they hear it on the radio and it's catchy. The guitar is not distracting or anything. So that was sort of the goal and I hope people dig it [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: On your website, I thought it was interesting with the acoustic version of "Untogether". It starts out in a Clapton-esque kind of manner and then it evolves into country. Can you talk about how the guitar gives you more options in terms of diversity?
ORIANTHI: Yeah. I mean, I love all styles of music, so I listen to everything. My iPod is really diverse and I love country music. I love blues, rock, jazz, funk, I love everything. So yeah, when it comes to writing songs, I usually just write. I don't think, "This is that sort of style and I'm going to head out to write a country song or a blues song." Usually it's just whatever comes out sitting in a room with a bunch of people and we're writing a track or a riff that I come up with or whatnot.
I think with all of the tracks on the record, they're all pretty different but yet they're pretty similar in the way they're set up, especially the guitar parts. So hopefully they're balanced and people see that and I'm always making sure the chorus is catchy and everything. And when I write the guitar solos, there's a beginning, middle and ending. With "According to You," I decided to put a capping guitar solo in a pop-rock song. So I just think people will think that is a little different.
THE DEADBOLT: How did Michael Jackson's belief in your talent change you as an artist and musician.
 ORIANTHI:
You know, during the opportunity to play for
him the first time, when I got the e-mail through
Myspace to come in and audition from Mike Bearden,
the musical director, I thought it was just
pretty crazy. I didn't think it was for real.
Then I went in and I played for him. And then
M.J. came in and I played for him. I played
the "Beat It" solo. I turned up the speakers
and I was praying to God I got it right. He
really liked it and seemed really happy. He
came over, grabbed my arm, started walking up
and down the stage area, and said, "Can you
play that song while walking and follow me at
this pace?" I'm like, "Totally, I can," and
he hired us all that night.
Getting to work with him for the past three months was just an amazing experience and definitely made me believe in myself more, that he actually chose me to be part of his band and tour. He's such a perfectionist and such a musical icon. I'm such a big fan. So getting to work with him - He's such a wonderful person, too, and it's a dream come true to be able to work with him and so devastating what happened. The last song we rehearsed with him, he was in such good spirits. So we didn't think anything was wrong and it was just really devastating and we were all in shock.
THE DEADBOLT: How do you look at that opportunity now even though the tour didn't happen?
ORIANTHI: I was just grateful to be able to play music with him and it was an amazing journey. So it's devastating that he can't be around to put on the show for all of his fans, to see their faces light up on the first night and how we felt watching him with us in rehearsals. To see his fan's faces, especially the front row, that would've been awesome. That would've been really cool. But with this movie, his fans are going to be able to see how much work went into it and how excited he was about the tour and for us it's going to be really hard to sit through.
For me, I was so focused on the music that I was kind of unaware sometimes that the cameras were around. So I don't know what they filmed and what's going to be in the movie. But it's definitely going to be very hard to watch it and sit through it. But for the fans, I think they're going to see how much work went into it and how excited he was. It's going to be a good thing for them to see it, because the message behind it was so positive and wonderful, the dance routines, everything.
THE DEADBOLT: Can you talk about some of the challenges you had onstage working with his material, like "Dirty Diana" and "Black or White"?
 ORIANTHI:
They're all a lot of fun to play. I love playing
those songs. I actually went through ten different
amps trying to find the right one when I first
got it, because my amp actually blew up. So
that was really unfortunate. I went through
a bunch of different amps and I finally settled
on the Engl amp, which I'm really happy with.
And what's really great about the amp I use
for those songs, and all of the songs I play,
is it has a built in noise gate, which is great.
When you try to get those tones for the leads,
the amps can get really noisy. But this amp
had a noise gate in it and it was just perfect.
I just had to watch him all of the time. Sometimes
I'd look down at my guitar when I'm playing
but I had to watch M.J. because he was moving
about all of the time. For "Black or White,"
I had to watch where he was going and follow
him around, and "They Don't Care About Us".
The choreography wasn't fine tuned, actually. I was going to work with Travis Pain the next day, the choreographer, to make sure everything was fine tuned for the tour. So everything is going to be in the "This Is It" film. It is loosely based on what I was going to do. "Beat It" was timed when I came out, when I started at the beginning of the solo. When M.J. was coming down off of this cherry picker thing and he was walking down, I had to meet him in the middle. So to think, "Okay, I have to get to that point there and make sure I make it in time and start the solo." There were quite a few things to work on and make sure I got right apart from playing the music.
It definitely is performing and projecting that energy and making sure it is the best possible, because that's just what he wanted out of the band as well. It was so cool, being able to do that, to be able to follow M.J. around instead of just playing guitar next to him. I practiced so much. I knew the songs like the back of my hand. So when M.J. was next to me, I didn't freak out and go, "I'm so excited right now, I totally forgot what I was supposed to play." It was definitely an amazing experience and I had so much fun. There were long days and it felt like a family, everyone that was there, and I actually stay in contact with everybody. They're just wonderful people and I'm just so grateful.
THE DEADBOLT: What did you see of Michael Jackson as a person and as a musician that the public doesn't get to see?
ORIANTHI: He loves to joke around.
THE DEADBOLT: [laughs] Really? That's cool to hear.
 ORIANTHI:
Yeah, he'd always joke around with the M.D.,
Mike Bearden. He would sort of tease him and
M.J. would start laughing. He loved it. It was
just a great environment. His make-up artist
and designer, he'd be joking with them. He just
had to have fun. I mean, he was a perfectionist
of course, and wanted to make sure everything
was perfect. When he would say things, he would
say it with love. That's just the type of person
he was and just super nice. I look back at it
as one of the most amazing experiences of my
life, being able to be part of that.
One time, straight after I auditioned for him, I was walking down a corridor in the rehearsal space, and M.J. was coming towards me with his bodyguard. This was early days, so I didn't know whether to say hello or run to the nearest room and hide behind a box. I was like, "What should I do?" So I was like, "I'm just going to say hello and see how it goes." So I went up and said, "Hey, how's it going?" And he said, "Hi, how are you?" He grabbed my hand and he was like, "God bless you and I'll see you in there really soon." I was just really happy that he was so personal and nice and kind. Some people say weird things, like he didn't like to shake hands and whatnot, but he was super nice and not like that.
THE DEADBOLT: On a side note, since you're from Australia, have you played with Angus Young?
ORIANTHI: No, I haven't. But that would be awesome.
THE DEADBOLT: Since you guys are countrymen, you know?
ORIANTHI: Yeah, I'm a big AC/DC fan. I actually saw them out here at the [L.A.] Forum. I think it was December of last year and they were amazing. Really loud, but an amazing show.
THE DEADBOLT: If you could boil it all down into one philosophy, what have you been learning from all of the legendary guitarists that you've worked with?
 ORIANTHI:
You know, it's a lot of hard work and you never
stop learning. That's the thing, they're always
evolving and branching off and doing different
things with they're music and the way they play.
Watching Steve Vai and Santana and seeing how
they sort of changed where they're going musically
and everything, I just look at different musicians,
or just guitar players, and see how they approach
their playing and sort of pick up on how they
do it and kind of learn from them. I think everyone
is so different in the way they play, so you
keep on learning.
THE DEADBOLT: Since you're just beginning your career and already conquered the guitar world on many levels, what other areas of guitar do you want to explore?
ORIANTHI: I love country music. I actually went out to Baltimore and played at a benefit for the John Hopkins One Cause and Johnny Hiland was there and he was playing. He's just an amazing country player. Just the way he picks and everything, I kind of want to do that. One day I'll teach myself. Well, now I actually watch YouTube videos and try to do that. But that would be awesome. Maybe I will one day [laughs].
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