Superorganism perform in The Current studio
by Jill Riley and Brian Oake
March 28, 2018
Some music fans are surprised to learn the band Superorganism formed over the internet. "I was actually surprised that people find it surprising that we're an internet band," says Superorganism lead vocalist Orono Noguchi. "I assumed that's the way everyone made music nowadays, because why wouldn't you do that? It's the most logical way."
Comprising band members from England, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, Superorganism are a musical collective now based in the East End of London. Having recently played SXSW in Austin, Texas, Superorganism were in the Twin Cities to play a show at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis when they stopped at The Current for an in-studio session hosted by Brian Oake and Jill Riley.
Superorganism had actually been morphing for some time before the group coalesced in their present configuration. "Some of us met 10 years ago over music forums," explains guitarist Harry (aka Christopher Young). "It's just something that's kind of happened over the years: you go online and you find like-minded people and you pull together and end up pooling resources. Even if you're living in different cities or even different countries, it's a great way to meet cool friends and musicians."
That's how the nucleus expanded to include members like Orono Noguchi. "It's the YouTube algorithm," Noguchi explains. "It pointed me in their direction for some miraculous reason."
Synth player Emily (aka Mark David Turner) describes exactly how Noguchi was recruited. "We were just sending files back and forth to each other and we were just like, 'Oh damn, Orono's really good at singing; that'd be cool'," he recalls. "And on a whim, we sent her this file and Orono sent it back straightaway and she'd done all the singing and written all the lyrics to SFYM, just in her dorm room at high school and we're just like, 'Damn! This rules!'"
"There was no master plan or anything," Harry adds. "We just decided to share some music together with each other, as a group of people, like 'Hey, let's rope in everyone who's a talented friend of ours and see who's keen,' and here we are."
Clearly the members of Superorganism are good friends and enjoy one another's company (use the audio player above to listen to their playful chemistry in the studio). All except Soul — there simply wasn't space for him — live together in one house in London's East End. "We've got one shared space which is the kitchen, where we all eat and listen to music and congregate," Ruby says, prompting The Current's Jim McGuinn to draw a comparison to the Monkees.
Could a sitcom be next? The crowd-surfing story Noguchi shares with Oake & Riley would certainly be an episode highlight.
As their namesake suggests, this Superorganism will continue to evolve.
Songs Performed
"It's All Good"
"Everybody Wants to Be Famous"
"Something for Your M.I.N.D."
All songs from Superorganism's debut self-titled album, released March 2, 2018, on Domino.
Hosted by Brian Oake and Jill Riley
Produced by Anna Reed
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Jules Ameel; post-production by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor
Resouces
Superorganism - official site
