Pittsburgh four-piece Code Orange bring their cathartic metalcore to Subterranean on Wednesday, January 18. Last week the band released their third full-length, Forever (Roadrunner), which explores a more melodic sound—it dials back the punk rallying cries but doesn’t abandon the aggression. In the following interview, drummer-vocalist Jami Morgan discusses his connections with Chicago, the process behind the new album, and the importance of DIY spaces as a bulwark against the ascendant alt-right.
We also didn’t want to have the “rah-rah” mosh sound though the whole record. We wanted different sounds and dynamics—peaks and valleys, like a lot of our favorite records in other genres do.
It hasn’t even been two months since the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland—a DIY warehouse space burned down, killing 36. The tragedy attracted a lot of attention, including from the alt-right—some alt-right people have been talking online about trying to infiltrate and close down these spaces. Code Orange have played a lot of DIY spaces, especially in your early days. Could you elaborate on the importance of these spaces and how the threat from the alt-right should be received? There is nothing more important than those spaces. They breed real bands. They breed culture outside the mainstream. They bred us. Most importantly, they’re safe spaces for kids. I booked my first show at a place like Ghost Ship when I was 14. There is really nothing more important than those spaces in this scene.
So for fans coming to your shows on this tour, what can they expect from the live show, since it’s new? We have a new member, actually. We’ve been working with a new member for a year now, and I’ve been keeping it under wraps—but people are going to know soon. Our current guitarist, Eric, will be playing guitar but also focusing on these electronic soundscapes he’s been working on that are eerie and aggressive. He’ll be layering these sounds with the band. Eric has an album’s worth of material outside what we’re using for our live show that we will also be playing in between bands, with the idea that it will contribute to a more full experience.
