Orchid-Star was put together by Pete Ardron at the start of 2005, initially as a vehicle to perform music he had written for DJ sets, mostly for chill-out rooms.
The sound is lush and colourful with a strong world music influence – Indian, Arabic, Celtic, African and more fused with everything from psychedelic chill and dub to drum & bass and funk. Part electronic, part live – vocalists – Myo and Samanta Ray, guitar & bass – Pierre Luigi, electric fiddle – Kait Farbon, full-size marimba – Becky Dell, percussionists – Jon Bongly and Becky keyboards - Pete, dancers Diane Everitt and SandRa and occasionally more.
Orchid-Star have featured an increasing list of guest performers from here and abroad, vocalists, instrumentalists, dancers and visual artists, giving a real variety to their shows, performing with anything from 3-10 people on stage.
Both core members and guests have diverse musical roots, several with classical training and members with backgrounds in rock, reggae, soul, funk, jazz, world and other fields, having played with people as varied as Tim Finn of Crowded House, True Life Confessions, Basement Jaxx, Soul2Soul, Hallucinogen and Stomp.