Orianthi
When we think of rock'n'roll guitarists we're likely to think of Jimmy Hendrix, Slash, or Carlos Santana - all of whom are men. However, one woman is making a name for herself with her newest album Rock Candy.
Orianthi is an Australian born guitarist who now lives in the USA. Over the course of her career as a rock'n'roll guitarist Orianthi has become a platinum selling artist & has performed alongside many of the names mentioned previously. Speaking to Pario recently Orianthi told us how she feels to be inspiring a new wave of female guitarists & how she created her new album, Rock Candy, in record time.
For Orianthi the journey to become a highly sought after guitarist began back home in South Australia as a kid.
"Growing up my dad had guitars all around the home & I kind of grew up in a time warp, so I'd sit in our living room listening to vinyl records by Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Ray [Vaughn] or BB King," recalled Orianthi. "I didn't think there was anything weird about that, until I went to school & realised there wasn't a lot of girls playing guitar."
Sadly, Orianthi's passion for guitar saw her experience fairly extensive bully at school. So much so that at 15 years old she would leave school to start a band & chase her music dreams.
"When I left school I started 3 cover bands & played in those until I made my own record in a studio in Australia, which then got me a record deal with Interscope in the US."
With her dream taking off after signing that deal Orianthi made her way across the Pacific to make America her home for the past 17 years. Making this move opened up a plethora of doors for Orianthi to collaborate with new artists & find new inspirations every day.
"As I make more & more records of my own I'm inspired by the musicians that I get to jam with, hang out with or perform with," explained Orianthi. One such person who has inspired Orianthi greatly is her latest collaborator, Jacob Bunton. Together Orianthi & Jacob created her latest record, Rock Candy over the course of just 14 days!
"We wrote a song a day & recorded a song a day," Orianthi told Pario. "I wanted to experience a different challenge because usually a record takes about half a year & you stress about it the whole way. With Rock Candy though we wanted to just go in & make a record which was inspired by how I was feeling right now in the present moment. It was pretty much a diary entry of that period of my life & the lyrics came out really fast because I was going through quite a bit at the time."
As mentioned earlier Orianthi has had the opportunity to perform alongside some of the biggest names in rock'n'roll over the course of her career. However, during our conversation Orianthi really glowed when speaking about her experiences as a mentor & role model for younger female guitarists.
"On my social platforms I see a lot of young girls picking up guitar now, which is amazing. I've been able to meet & jam with quite a few of them here at Rock Fantasy Camp & there are so many great young players coming through, which makes me really happy."
Looking ahead, although Orianthi has ticked off the greats of rock'n'roll she has one rather unexpected dream collaborator she'd love to work with.
"This might sound weird but I'd love to do a song with Post Malone," Orianthi revealed to Pario. "As far as popular music goes these days I really dig what Post Malone does because he really means everything he says. So I'd love to do a song with him."
Follow Orianthi's Creative Journey on Social Media: @IamOrianthi
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