Orchestroll is a curious ambient, experimental electronica duo formed by the musical partnership between producers Jesse Osborne-Lanthier and Asaël Richard-Robitaille. The music is sometimes slow and wave-like, and other times, maniacal, and always unpredictable. It’s akin to being on an everlasting rollercoaster but never quite reaching the peak or drop. Always sounding a bit like walking through a decaying Euro-bloc, the duo’s two albums—Hyperwide Lustre and Tintinnabulation ChXss (a collab with Feu-St-Antoine at the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival) are unique entities made to be explored live.

We spoke to the Orchestroll duo ahead of their performance at MUTEK, about their origins, recent residency in Stockholm, and fascination with psychedelics.

PAN M 360: How did Orchestroll start?

ORCHESTROLL: By force of circumstance. We’ve been good friends and collaborators for a long time. For years, we’d dreamed of creating a project that was entirely our own, unencumbered by outside constraints or influences. We wanted an experimental space where we could explore and develop our most intimate ideas, a canvas on which we could express the affinities, subjects, and concepts that nourish our artistic and friendly relationship. Orchestroll is also a kind of multi-dimensional project, a space where we recycle musical ideas sketched out during productions for other artists, ideas we felt we hadn’t fully exploited. This project matured for around five years before finally being unveiled to the public.

PAN M 360: You recently attended Stockholm to be part of the Elektronmusikstudion residency. What was that experience like?

ORCHESTROLL: The EMS residency experience in Stockholm was brief, but extremely intense and productive. We arrived in Stockholm around the summer solstice, during the phenomenon of the midnight sun, after a journey of around 20 hours. Our sleep rhythms were completely out of whack due to the combination of a long journey and the incessant light of the day that never sets. We slept in a sort of attic, with little protection from the light and the constant birdsong, resulting in strange, interminable days at the studio. We’d nap for a few hours before locking ourselves in a windowless studio all day, only to emerge “at night,” disoriented, to find the sun still shining as bright as mid-afternoon. That said, the setting was extremely stimulating creatively. We were lucky enough to collaborate with a long-time friend, visual artist, and musician “Visio” Nicolas Tirabasso, who was also in residence. We recorded material for several albums currently in preparation. In addition, we had the incredible opportunity to work with the Halldorophone, a rare instrument that had been at the EMS studio for a year. As luck would have it, we arrived the day before it was due to leave, so we were able to use it for a day.

PAN M 360: Your music is very surreal, almost hypnotic. Can you speak to that?

ORCHESTROLL: We like to create pieces that provoke intense sensory states, experiences that we would also like to be confronted with as an audience. We’re drawn to the coexistence of elements that, at first glance, shouldn’t necessarily come together, creating a sense of destabilization. Some of the most interesting and revealing musical moments, for us as listeners, are those that have left us perplexed as to their creation, prompting us to question the how and why of such a sound or music. We seek to recreate this kind of experience for others. However, it’s also essential for us to create a gateway to our music, something that immediately grabs your attention, which may explain the hypnotic quality of our compositions. We want our music to be both catchy and deep, earworms that take root and resonate with the listener for a long time.

PAN M 360: How do you name your songs?

ORCHESTROLL: There are many ways in which our song titles take shape, but one aspect remains essential: the title must evoke something stimulating, directly related to the specific feeling of the piece. Sometimes it’s narrative, sometimes aesthetic, descriptive, or even political, but it’s always tinged with playfulness. The titles are clearly in the “naming convention” tradition of Jesse’s solo albums; but this time, they are perhaps infused with an aesthetic or meaning shared between the two members of the project. We often talk about worldbuilding, and it’s crucial to us that a certain folklore emerges, not only through the music but also in the visuals and overall concept.

PAN M 360: What is the live performance like? Much room for improv?

ORCHESTROLL: Orchestroll’s live performances are profoundly adaptable, evolving according to the venue, the available equipment, the setting and the sonic territory we choose to explore. Our shows have taken place in a variety of venues- concert halls, clubs, churches, warehouses, and galleries—each environment bringing a unique atmosphere to the performance. The nature of our performances is varied and unpredictable. Some concerts take an electronic approach, rooted in experimental or rhythmic and/or dance music, while others are more improvisational, emphasizing live instrumentation, band configurations, and ritual elements. These performances often involve guest musicians and are accompanied by immersive visuals and elaborate set design. In addition to playing as a duo, we often expand our trio formation during collaborations with Daniele Guerrini (Heith). Together, we create hybrid interpretations of Heith and Orchestroll compositions, as well as collaborative works, fusing our distinct sounds into something difficult to disentangle, even elusive.

PAN M 360: What is Orchestroll’s relationship with psychedelic drugs? I only ask because the physical album of Tintinnabulation ChXss with Feu St-Antoine is pressed with LSD?

ORCHESTROLL: We are no strangers to psychedelic drugs, and it would be a lie to pretend that our perceptions and appreciation of music have not been influenced or transformed by psychedelic experiences. These experiences have undeniably broadened our understanding of music, opening us up to otherwise inaccessible sonic and emotional dimensions. When we compose, we usually do so in a sober or stoned state. Our aim is often to achieve or recreate this state of expanded consciousness, not through the direct use of substances, but through the evocative power of sound itself. We see music as a vehicle capable of transporting the listener to these altered states in a natural way, playing on textures, rhythms and moods. The album, Tintinnabulation ChXss, is in some ways a nod to these influences, but also a way of celebrating the transformative potential of sound art. We aim to create compositions that, even without drugs, can evoke that feeling of transcendence, where music becomes a bridge to unexplored inner worlds.

Orchestroll plays live during MUTEK’s Nocturne 5 – TICKETS HERE