Interview: Nigel Rojas Paints the Musical Landscape with Orange Sky

The Island of Trinidad and Tobago is the wealthiest island in the English speaking Caribbean. Some of its most noteworthy attributes include the pre-Lent Carnival festivals that take place every year, it is the birth place of calypso music (and my father for that matter), the host of this year's conference of the America's, and it is the home to one of the newest and loudest rock bands in the metal scene today! The hard rock band Orange Sky is hoping to truly put Trinidad on the map with its unique mix of metal, hard rock and reggae. The band has been around for thirteen years and they are currently on tour in the states supporting their second release Dat Iz Voodoo. I recently caught up with frontman Nigel Rojas to get a little more insight into his band.

Associated Content: You formed Orange Sky with your Brother Nicholas. How long have you been jamming together?

Nigel Rojas: My brother and I have been jamming together forever!! We have been playing music for many years. This current version of Orange Sky has been together for six years. On and off though, Orange Sky has been around for over thirteen years in one for or another.

AS: What's it like jamming with your brother? Has it gotten to the point where because you are family you know what he's gonna do musically even before he does it?

NR: Yeah man! We have a real telepathic thing going on! We started jamming when we were nine years old. When we started the plan was to run away to America and become the next Guns and Roses, HA!!!

AS: Were you both inspired by hard rock and metal at an early age? Is there a hard rock scene in Trinidad?

NR: When we were growing up in Trinidad we had only five different radio stations. Only one of them played hard rock and heavy metal. My brother and I used to listen to that particular station all the time.

AS: Have a lot of hard rock bands played in Trinidad? Were you able to see a lot of your favorite bands there?

NR: Not so much when I was growing up...you had to be really strategic and travel if you wanted to see those bands. Nowadays those bands do come to Trinidad and we have been lucky enough to open for them.

AS: Who have you opened for?

NR: You name the band, we have opened for them! HA...we have jammed with Hatebreed, 6 Feet Under, Dokken, Night Ranger...we have even done shows with The Cranberries, Ludacris, and Steel Pulse!

AS: The music made by Orange Sky is a heady mix of hard rock, heavy metal and reggae. Would you say that is accurate? Do the band members like all three genres equally?

NR: Well it's true. Our music is a mix. I don't consider Orange Sky just to be a rock band or just a metal band or just a reggae band. We are a combination of all of those things. I mean the Blues gave birth to rock and heavy metal is the son of rock...punk is the cousin of metal and reggae and punk are distant cousins also and so on and so on. As far as I am concerned it's all interconnected. The songs really just come naturally...It's really a rainbow of emotions coming through in out music.

AS: Some of your songs talk about some of the political realities in Trinidad. Do you like using music to express your take on the issues of the day?

NR: The political songs are written for anyone who can relate to or who resonates with the ideas of mistrust. We are not a political band per-say but we do speak honestly about how people, poor people in particular are living in Trinidad.

AS: Are you excited that the summit of the Americas was held in Trinidad?

NR: Well you see this is a perfect example of what I am talking about. On the one hand we are very excited that Trinidad was chosen to host this event...we are excited to welcome President Obama to our island. But because we are the hosts of this event, this has shed light on the issues in Trinidad, mainly the homeless issue. Our Prime Minister was doing nothing about the homeless situation until this summit was announced. Months before the summit out Prime Minister decided to deal with the homeless and deal with our damaged roads. Even when the government decided to deal with these issues all they did was sweep them under the rug.

AS: So in essence the government really didn't deal with these issues but rather hid them. Would you say that's accurate?

NR: Exactly! We have to shed light on these issues and do something about them, not just sweep them under the rug.

AS: Let's shift gears a bit and talk about your touring in the states. You are currently headlining now correct?

NR: Yes. We are currently on tour right now headlining small clubs...it's a real underground thing...we are playing to very small audiences. On our first record we went out on tour in the US with Yngwie Malmsteen! On that tour we were able to play in front of 2000-3000 people a night!

AS: I assume you grew up being an Yngwie fan. What was it like to tour with one of your heroes?

NR: It was amazing!! He was really good to us and getting a chance to watch him on stage every night was great...he's like Hendrix, Mozart and David Copperfield all rolled into one!

AS: What does the future hold for Orange Sky? How are you all going to try and conqueror the states?

NR: Well we have to tour and tour often in the US. As I stated we are headlining very small venues now in the US...this tour has been successful with regards to meeting people and making connections with fans...I think sometimes when the fans see us setting up, they assume we should be on a cruise ship or something but when we play they get where we are coming from real quick! We just got word that we will be on the road with King's X this summer. They are another band we admire! We are slowly planting the seeds in the hopes of picking some fruit later on!

AS: Nigel, it has been a pleasure. Thank for chatting with me.

NR: Thank you David!