Orgy Expands Sets on Tour, Debuts Songs

February 22 -- As the highly fashionable hard rock outfit Orgy began preparing for its tour to promote its second album, Vapor Transmission, the group's management sat down and explained to the quintet that a little more was expected of it since its excursions on the inaugural Family Values tour and other packages.

"For us, this will be more like real touring," guitarist Ryan Shuck says with a laugh. "We're known for only playing, like, a half hour. We're like ADD kids; we get bored watching bands. Our managers had a talk with us; they said, 'Listen, you guys, they want to see you longer.' We just couldn't believe it. But that's OK; playing longer allows us to play different stuff, do different things and experiment more and interact a bit more."

In fact, Shuck says Orgy has come up with some new material designed strictly for the live show, although he suspects some of it may eventually wind up on a future Orgy album.

"We're actually playing kind of a live drum-and-bass track — I mean hardcore drum and bass — which is normally reserved for electronica," says Shuck, 27. "I don't think that has ever been done. It's not possible with the technology other bands employ, but the technology we use on a daily basis allows us to play the music that we play that I think any other band would have to run a tape in order to get. That's the cool thing, to me. Being as new a band as we are, usually you just go out and play your songs, like on the record. We really get to expand on that a little bit."

Shuck says he and his band mates ultimately hope that this helps establish Orgy's musical reputation, which did take a second seat next to the focus of the band's glammy, futuristic fashions. That did serve the purpose of winning attention for the band, and Shuck — a former hairdresser who's founded a clothing line, Replicant, with Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch — certainly has nothing against fashion. But it's important that Orgy be heard as well as seen, he says.