Being human is hard. It’s comforting when you can listen to someone’s music and realize the artist is also human. And that’s exactly what clickedwhen I first listened to Oranje Space’s music—the inherent humanness that reverberates through all his songs. It’s obvious when listening to his songs that, while he does make music, he’s as much a person as he is an artist. So I was excited when I got the opportunity to talk to him recently and get to know more about the person behind the music.
Oranje Space is a 24 year old artist who was raised in Imperial Valley, California, but is currently based in Los Angeles. He’s been involved in music since his early school days, from being in school marching bands to playing both guitar and piano. When it comes to actually producing his own music, he’s made music for “the better half of 7 years now.” It’s only in recent years, though, that he began going by the name Oranje Space. Wanting to instead go by something that would better fit his sound, he dropped his real name and went by the new moniker. He recalls, “The name Oranje Space was originally the title of an old song I had and I just loved it enough to make it my artist name.”
Oranje Space finds himself gravitating toward honesty more as he gets older. When talking about his biggest influences, he said, “Artists like Dijon and Frank Ocean to me are so influential not only by the music and the melodies but the way they can be so so honest in their writing. [They weed] through all of their experiences to find one story to tell.”
That type of honesty doesn’t come easily. Oranje Space takes as much time as he needs between songs, never forcing anything out. For him it takes ”a genuine experience to write about” before he can sit down and create.
Two of Oranje Space’s most recent songs, “Union Station” and “Sweet Peach,” are perfect examples of this approach he takes to songwriting.
“Union Station” was started around half a year before it actually came out and gave the artist a lot of trouble while making it. Going through idea after idea for the verses and melody, eventually he landed on the final version. The song itself is split into two parts. The first half feels like a direct letter to someone you don’t deserve, with the chorus repeating, “Please don’t follow me/I’ll never let you go.” The second half transitions into a more stripped down sound, almost as if he’s singing to an empty room where someone once sat with him.
“Sweet Peach” was a similarly difficult song for Oranje Space, not knowing how heavy he wanted it to be. The lyrics see someone admitting their foolishness and trying to prove to another that this foolishness is for them. He, at the same time, is battling that it’s okay to have faults, and he’s changed since those days.
Oranje Space is able to put into song the words you wish you could say to the people you cherish, the feelings you can’t quite put into words yourself. The honesty and genuine experiences behind each song help craft stories that feel endlessly relatable. It reminds me that the artist I’m listening to is grounded..
Oranje Space’s just released a new song, “The Go Around,”, and it’s a favorite one of his. The song is about longing for someone you haven’t seen in a while. You can find “The Go Around” along with the rest of his music below.
You can follow Oranje Space on Instagram.
