We had the good fortune of connecting with Russ Taylor and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Russ, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Heard somewhere along the way that the most successful people in the world take about two to three big risks a year. As for everybody else, well, turns out that they also take two to three big risks a year. The point is, if the risk is unavoidable anyway, then anything you’re interested in doing is worth a solid shot! In our case, if we made music strictly just to turn a profit, then starting a Psychedelic Grunge band during a reigning era of Trap and EDM would probably be the most risky endeavor one could think of but here we are carefree because we just think the work needs to be done. If you truly believe in what you are doing, it doesn’t feel much like a risk at all.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Orange Mayfield has been continuously evolving since it’s conception during the fall equinox of 2015. Admittedly, the band has fallen apart several times but always seems to somehow revamp itself. Everybody that has ever been part of the project has helped shape the ongoing metamorphosis and because of the very diiferent musical backgrounds between band members, the music itself truly has a little bit of everything encompassed within it. In other words, throughout all the trial and tribulation, we ended up with a little something for everybody.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Assuming everything is back to normal, if we were swooping our people up from LAX, we might be inclined to B-line over to The Apple Pan for an old fashioned steak/hickoryburger with fries and a rootbeer float. If pressed for time we might settle on Tito’s Tacos or Johnny’s Pastrami before trekking it back to Long Beach to get settled, catch up and drop into 3636 later on for a night cap. The next day, brunch at Schooner Or Later in the Long Beach marina followed by a whale watching excursion with Harbor Breeze Cruises, finishing the afternoon with a few brewskis/appetizers at The Yardhouse in Rainbow Harbor and a sunset bike ride back to homebase. Day 3 would include a breakfast burrito at Tito’s Bakery on 4th Street in Long Beach on our way out to The Santee Alley where we would find a bunch of stuff we don’t need but can’t live without and try to haggle the price down throughout the next 3-4 hours before making our way towards the Los Feliz area to catch a friend’s band play at The Hi Hat then find some kind of afterparty to mingle and be merry! Day 4 would probably require some MVPs sandwiches while nursing our hangovers at Granada Beach. Then we’d probably get into a competitive basketball game with the locals at the courts in Belmont Shore. After calling everybody’s mom an astronaut we would head home to get spruced up then cruise to Alex’s Bar for live-band karaoke where we would shamelessly make the houseband play Pat Benatar’s “Love Is A Battlefield” 5 times in a row while we competed to see who could sing it better. Day 5 we would hike “The Bridge To Nowhere” and dare eachother to bungee jump (full day event). Day 6 we would head to Sidecar Doughnuts in Santa Monica for a sugar rush, then go to Venice, try on wacky sunglasses, scope the freakshow, snag some zah from Big Daddy’s, get bamboozled into buying a Harry Perry EP, visit a local dispensary, hit the drum circle and shake the demons from our soul. Dinner that night at Daikokuya, Sawtelle. Day 7 rent a .44 Magnum and pop off a few rounds at Insight Shooting Range followed by all you can eat Sushi at Ozen in Norwalk where all of our visitors get completely blitzed off saki and we eventually break the news that they’re gonna have to uber back to the airport because the band is now negative in their bank account and have no idea where their next paycheck is coming from.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Big ups to artists who don’t adhere to the status quo and stubbornly continue to make art the way they see fit regardless of what may be considered marketable or not. You are quite literally the unsung heroes of our time.
Website: orangemayfield.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/orangemayfield
Facebook: facebook.com/orangemayfield
Youtube: youtube.com/orangemayfield
Image Credits
Orange Mayfield
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