Orfila – Hittin’ The Ground Running 

Three children from the same Kent family take a liking to country influenced music and form an ensemble. Ahead of their Country 2 Country Festival appearance we had the chance to run a few questions past the trio and can present their entertaining responses: 

Which one of the ensemble is always late?

To be honest we all have our moments so I think we’re gonna stay diplomatic here and say we’re all as bad as one another!

Name a country album by any artist that you can listen to all the way through? Any favourite tracks?

Matt: There are so many amazing country albums but one that springs to mind is Sinners Like Me by Eric Church. Every track on that is fantastic and has some cool story to it. My favourite tracks are These Boots (what a great concept to write a song about boots and how they accompany you on your life journey), Two Pink Lines and the title track. It’s just an awesome album all round.

Lou: A tough question as I listen to so many country artists and albums. At the moment I’d have to say Little Big Town – Painkiller. I LOVE the song ‘Good People’.

Abi: For me, Taylor Swift – Fearless and my favourite tracks would be You Belong with Me, Breathe and Forever and Always!

Describe your home town in five words?

Touristic, lively, cultured, historic, Southern!

Favoured stage instruments and why?

Matt: Guitar! I’ve had my Gretch resonator guitar a few years now and I love it so much…it’s been through a lot with me! I’ve also recently been given a Yamaha acoustic which I’ve been using a lot recently. It’s got a real nice sound to it.

Lou: I love playing my guitar but Matt plays lead so I also play the tambourine… it’s very country-inspired with ribbons and a rose attached to it. I like to play that as it adds an extra layer to our sound, along with when Abi plays the cajon.

Abi: Grand piano of course! The piano was the first instrument I learnt so I love to play grand pianos whenever I can!

Which of your own songs finds you at your a/ most reflective ? b/most spirited ?

The most reflective song we’ve written is a song called Raise A Glass, which is the last track on our most recent album. We wrote it about our grandpa after he passed away. We got home from his funeral and decided to write a song that celebrated life and how you shouldn’t be sad when someone you love passes away because they’re ultimately in a better place.

Our song Fine Tooth Comb is quite sassy, energetic and spirited. When we were writing it we kinda wanted to write a song that you could imagine the Band Perry or Carrie Underwood singing and the song just came out. When we recorded it we turned it up to 11 and made it quite rocky, which definitely went well with the lyrics.

Pete Sargeant

(Many thanks to Orfila and all of the team at Sonnet Music for help with this interview)