Code Orange avoid pigeonhole trap

Code Orange drummer Jami Morgan has revealed the band scaled back Reba Myers’ vocals on latest album I Am King to avoid being pigeonholed.

He says they were unhappy being tagged as “the really heavy band with the female vocalist” so they made a conscious effort to bring the guitars to the fore on the follow-up to 2012’s Love Is Love/Return To Dust.

He tells this month’s edition of Metal Hammer: “We shared vocal duties more this time and we wanted to push Eric Balderose’s guitars towards the front. We didn’t want people just to focus on one thing and that one thing not being the music.”

They released a hard-hitting promo for the album’s title track earlier this year – and the drummer says they enjoy making people feel uncomfortable.

He continues: “We’ve always taken comfort in making people uncomfortable. We’ve never felt part of a scene. We’ve toured with great bands like Nails and War Hungry but always feel different to everyone around us – that’s a positive thing.”

For more, see the latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine, out now.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.