ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

OMD were one of the first bands to take the sound of the synth and create perfect pop songs with it. Here, founding member Paul Humphreys looks back over four decades of musical innovation: “We started out making computer music, just without computers!”

- Paul Humphreys

Over, yes count them, 40-odd years, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark have always embraced music production technology. Back in the early days they used it to replace unnecessary humans on stage – famously playing live with a four-track tape recorder called Winston – and used synths like the Korg M500 Micro-Preset synth on early hit singles like Electricity and Messages. They were also early adopters of sampling technology, used across albums like Dazzle Ships and Junk Culture, and now, of course, use the latest plugins for writing and all the latest synth hardware when touring. In fact, they haven’t just welcomed technology, they’ve made it a huge part of their (and we hate to use the word, but will) ‘journey’.

And what a journey it’s been. We mention four decades and there have been quite a few ups and downs over that period. After huge early success with albums like 1981’s Architecture & Morality and the singles Joan of Arc, Souvenir and Tesla Girls, there was acrimony when the original duo of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys fell out in 1988, and it didn’t get much lower than the band being wound up by remaining member McCluskey in 1996. However, they reformed in 2006 and while Winston and the Korg ended up in a museum in the band’s home town of Liverpool, the band themselves are as active as they’ve ever been – well, okay, as active as any band can be given the current world situation.