{"id":168324,"date":"2026-11-12T17:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T22:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/interviews-panm360\/mundial-mtl-2026-orbital-ensemble-showcase-montreal-interview\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T17:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T22:05:21","slug":"mundial-mtl-2026-orbital-ensemble-showcase-montreal-interview","status":"publish","type":"interviews","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/interviews-panm360\/mundial-mtl-2026-orbital-ensemble-showcase-montreal-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Mundial MTL 2026 | Orbital Ensemble : steeped into vintage, but with an ear in the present"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2026 edition of Mundial Montr\u00e9al is about to take off on November 17th 2026 (and until the 21st). On the starting platform, numerous groups and artists from Quebec, Canada, and beyond will come to showcase what they are capable of and the type of music they practice. PanM360 is covering the event, of course, and has chosen to present in more detail some of the ensembles that will be present. Here, Orbital Ensemble, a multicultural group from Toronto, fans of vintage Brazilian sounds with contemporary jazz and psychedelic influences. I spoke with Felipe Sena, composer and sound designer of the band.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ORBITAL ENSEMBLE WILL BE ON STAGE ON NOVEMBER 19 AT 9 PM, AT LES FOUFOUNES \u00c9LECTRIQUES.<\/strong> INFO AND TICKETS HERE.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PanM360 : Hello Felipe. Tell me about Orbital Ensemble. What is it about? How did it start?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Felipe Sena (Orbital) :<\/strong> Orbital started as a live band. We played our first show in 2024. Before that, I also spent a few years composing music a lot on my own. The first record, I recorded most of the layers by myself and I hired two musicians to be a part of it. I played in bands for 15, 20 years with different people but I was always kind of a supporting musician. Orbital was me being like \u2018\u2019if I had a dream project with kind of a dream team of people, what would I put together?\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And working as an audio engineer, I met many people. A lot of those people that I ended up inviting to the band came through that experience, including Lazar Miric, Jon Catanus, like Emily Steinwall, who played with us in the first live iteration. And then the following people, Mei Akanuma and Jakob Leeson, our woodwind sections. And so, it was really about me trying to write music that felt very real and made me dig back to my roots. But also, how can I put the best people, the best musicians I know in the city together and have this really amazing project and band?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PanM360 : There are many influences, stylistically, in the music. Are they all from you, or other band members also have a say?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Felipe Sena (Orbital) :<\/strong> Yeah, I think a lot of it, you know, nowadays everyone has so many influences and it makes sense. Personally, I love the 70s. I think that was the sweet spot, let’s say, for, you know, composition, production, even what the industry was looking like. Because, you know, back in the day, Pink Floyd was pop music. That was like the best selling music. Led Zeppelin was the best selling artist at the time. Progressive music, you know, King Crimson. Same thing in Brazil, like Milton Nascimento, you know, Caetano Veloso, Azymuth, Arthur Verocai. All those artists were like creating music at the top of their game. And that’s what the industry wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industry wanted challenging music. It wanted music that was progressive, that was exciting, that was, you know, at the forefront of technology at the time. I feel that’s the sweet spot. Because when you get into the 80s, things kind of went too far into the tech world. And then people got lost in the sauce with all the effects and everything. Then, the industry shifted. Pop music does not care anymore about, like, progressiveness. It cares about, like, you know, selling and 15-second hooks and all that. So, long answer. But all that said, that’s why my inspiration really digs heavily into that era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a really powerful and interesting pool of inspiration for us to keep digging in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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