Seventeen and signed to Hellcat Records, JOE DENMAN from ORANGE has a bright future waiting for him in the punk rock world.  Now, if only he could get the rest of his band to quit high school so ORANGE could go out on their first tour…

For DENMAN, the world of ORANGE currently revolves around playing local Hollywood clubs like the Key Club, the Knitting Factory, and the Troubadour, at least until next summer, when school lets out again.

“No, no, we’re still too young to tour,” DENMAN said to REBEL NOISE, speaking with a noticeable English accent.  “We’re definitely going to do a summer tour, where we go out for a few dates on the Warped Tour, and then out on our own.  That will probably take up half our summer.”

Being unable to tour to promote their debut album, WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF… ORANGE, has left the band in an awkward situation.  Although they are all under eighteen, DENMAN is no longer in school while the other members of ORANGE—MIKE VALENTINE, JACK BERGLUND, and ZAK GLOSSERMAN—are still full-time students.  High school and budding rock stardom have seemingly affected the band in different ways, and parts of ORANGE have had a better time fitting in than others.

“MIKE is like ‘Mr. Popular’ at school now,” DENMAN explains.  “He has done really well, socially.  The kids at MIKE and ZAK’s school respect what we’ve done.  Since we signed with Hellcat and released the album, they’ve made a lot more friends.“I left school, though.  The whole ‘school’ era of my life was really shitty.  There wasn’t anybody at the high school I went to who liked what I like.  The kids there were very [jealous] and acted stereotypically.  What I would say to them is this: ‘Fuck you!  I don’t care!  I like what I like, and that’s it.  Like it or lump it!’”

Once all of ORANGE is finally out of school for good, DENMAN would love to eventually take the band to England, where he was born and spent his early childhood.  Unlike so many Americans who sing in punk rock bands, DENMAN is not trying to “sound” English.  DENMAN assures REBEL NOISE that his “accent” is totally for real.“I’ve seen comments on MySpace.com complaining that my accent is fake,” says DENMAN, laughing.  “And, it’s not.  It’s one hundred percent genuine.”

Interview date: Nov 8, 2005

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