411 Music Interview: Orianthi
Posted by Michael Melchor on 11.12.2009
Michael Jackson's guitarist talks to 411 about her rather extensive history as a guitar player, the challenges of being a young woman in the business, working with Michael Jackson, and what she hopes to accomplish with her solo album.
She became the buzz of the internet – and then the world – when pictures of her rehearsing the "This Is It" concert shows with Michael Jackson surfaced. What may surprise many is just how long she's been at this.
Orianthi, at the age of 24, is a tested music veteran at this point. By the age of 18, she had already played with such luminaries as Carlos Santana and Steve Vai. The latter of who has returned the favor on her new album.
Believe, which was released on October 26, is Ornaithi's coming out party. The objective was for the guitarist to see its release after the ill-fated "This Is It" shows had already happened. With the passing of Jackson, however, the time has come for the young virtuoso to strike out on her own.
In this interview, Orianthi was gracious enough to discuss her rather extensive history as a guitar player, the challenges of being a young woman in the business, working with Michael Jackson, and what she hopes to accomplish with Believe.
Michael Melchor: Going back a bit – to the beginning, really – I've read that you started playing guitar at age 6? Is that right?
Orianthi: Yeah, I started playing guitar when I was 6. My dad's a guitarist; we had guitars all around the house. One day I picked up and wanted to strum, so my dad taught me how to strum. I went to a bunch of different teachers. When I was 10, I studied classical and then, at 11, I started learning electric. I told my dad then that I didn't want to play classical anymore – I wanted to play electric like him. After that, I got an electric guitar and dedicated my time to learning rhythms and solos.
MM: Now, you started playing shows and things like that when you were 14. A year later, you were playing with Steve Vai, who's also on the album.
Orianthi: Yeah. He's one of my idols. It was an honor to work with him. I actually supported him live when I was 15. I was quite nervous. Getting to play before him and then watching him play after I did – I was blown away. He kept in contact with me and was really encouraging. I looked up to him and getting to work with him on the record was just awesome.
MM: Excellent. So, you opened for him at 15 and then jammed with Carlos Santana at 18.
Orianthi: Yeah, pretty crazy! [Laughs]
MM: [Laughs] I'd imagine! Now, being female and starting out that young, was it difficult coming up in this business under those circumstances, or was everyone you came across supportive, for the most part?
Orianthi: You know, being a female guitar player is almost like being a male ballerina. It's a "girl's thing" and playing the guitar is a "guy's thing". Not everyone's accepting of it, but the thing is if you love something in life, you should go with it. If you have a passion for it, it doesn't matter. Don't let negativity hold you down. You should believe in your dreams and do what you love – whether it's math or science or whatever you choose to do in life, just go with it. Don't let other people's words of negativity hold you down because then you can't be creative and you can't move forward. I just love it so much that I don't really care anymore. If anyone has anything negative to say – if it's constructive, then you listen to it. If it's destructive, then you just block that stuff out.
MM: At this point, you've probably heard it all, so it's like, "Okay, that's nice. Come up with something new." [Laughs]
Orianthi: [Laughs] Yeah! By now, it's the same-old stuff. Yeah, I'm a girl and, "she's just here because she's a chick, " or, "I don't like what she's playing," or, "she can't really play." The usual stuff. [Laughs] It's like, "you don't like what I'm playing? That's fine – go listen to something else." I just like to play. I like playing with my band and we have fun. It's also important to me to keep on learning and evolving and aspiring to create. And just keep on moving – I think that's really important.
MM: That's an excellent way of looking at it. The first time you really came out in public – where everyone saw you, stopped, and went, "wow, who is that?" – so to speak – was playing with Carrie Underwood at the Grammy Awards. How did it come about that you joined her on stage for that?
Orianthi: She actually invited me – which is awesome. She heard my stuff and wanted me to get up there with her. I'm a big country fan and I'm a fan of hers, so it was a lot of fun and just really nice of her to do that. It was wild looking out from that stage and seeing rock royalty. It was a great night. I was super-nervous but we went out and had a great time on stage. She's an amazing spirit and a really nice person.
MM: Excellent. Moving on from there, I've read that Michael Jackson found you by seeing some of your YouTube videos? Is that correct?
Orianthi: Yeah! He saw some of my YouTube videos and he saw me at the Grammy Awards. He actually reached out to me through MySpace. He asked me to learn "Dirty Diana", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin' Something". He saw my videos, contacted me through there, and wanted me to come in and play for him. That's how it started. I got the call that Michael liked my YouTube videos and wanted me to come in and play – I was freaking out at that point like, "are you serious?" [Laughs] I was almost done with my record at that time, but you put that stuff on the side when you get an e-mail like that. [Laughs]
MM: Right! [Laughs]
Orianthi: It was a real honor to work with him. I learned so much. I was a fan going in, but an even bigger fan afterward. He was such a perfectionist – he knew what he wanted. But, at the same time, he had fun with it. It was going to be the biggest show on Earth, you know? No doubt about that. Getting to work with someone who's the ultimate entertainer, it makes you step up as a performer. It definitely made me step up as a guitarist, especially a rhythm player. Going in to it initially, I thought it was going to be a bunch of leads and stuff, but it was a lot of funky rhythms and being right on the time. It was amazing – in the band, we felt like a family.
MM: That's very cool. My next question was going to be how it was working with him wanting to get these shows down-pat and perfect.
Orianthi: He's very particular about his sound. He also wanted us to play with attitude – he didn't want us to be stuffy. [Laughs] He didn't want the fans to feel cheated – he wanted them to hear it as it was on the record, the way he wrote it with more energy on the stage. He wanted to hit the highest notes. He gave me extra solos and room to go with him because he can sing really high. Like, in the movie "This Is It", he sings this really high note, and he wanted me to reach it. Thank God I found the note. [Laughs] But he was so fun and so giving. He gave me extra moments and told me, "I really want you to have this time." He could envision me standing, playing to the audience and hitting the highest notes. He knew what he wanted and it was going to be incredible.
MM: Very nice. To close out, are there any particular goals you have in getting your record out there? Anything you would like to see happen as a result of it?
Orianthi: Totally. I would love to inspire more female guitarists. That would be awesome. To get more of them to keep at it that have already picked it up. I think "Guitar Hero" is awesome, but why not pick up a real guitar? [Laughs]
MM: [Laughs] Yeah!
Orianthi: We actually shot the video for "According To You" that way. Kids nowadays are in to "Guitar Hero" – I just saw a South Park episode about "Guitar Hero" and how it's the newest and best thing. I thought it was funny. When I got the treatment for "According To You", we got the idea to have the guitar neck in the video kinda sticking out of the camera so people could try to play the song. That way, people can learn to play "According To You" and I thought that was really cool. It's all about the guitar.
MM: I noticed that watching the video. I like that – kind of like a "how-to" instructional video along with the actual video.
Orianthi: Yeah, I kinda thought that would make kids excited. It's all about the guitar for me, and hopefully that comes across.
