FROM THE TOP SARAH YULE I ORANGE
IS THIS A MARKET ORANGE WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN? We’ll always continue to champion innovation across everything we do. Our heart is still firmly in amps for musicians, but we’re working on our total product road- map. The important thing is for anything we do to stay true to our brand identity, so sometimes innovation takes a different shape. For instance, our Pyramid amp cele- brates not just our obsession with quality in design and engineering (as it’s built to the golden ratio), it also fea- tures the Orange Hieroglyphics. We were the first to use iconography on our products to make them truly global.
I’m honest. There’s always a need to try to listen and absorb as much information as possible in a new situa- tion. Therefore, I tried to spend some of this initial time with every single member of the team, as well as visit our global office locations and get out in the market to visit some of our retailers, too. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE? I’m a very open person and can be quite direct, so I try to be as clear as possible around what I’m looking for and my
expectations. I’m definitely not a micro- manager. I like to give team members freedom to implement their ideas, to learn, to sometimes fail and to be able to own their achievements, too. Having said that, I like to make it known I’m al- ways happy to assist and advise wher- ever needed. I’m not afraid to roll my sleeves up when required either. I’ve no- ticed some leaders lean more towards numerical and data-led management, with some it’s very word-based and fluid. I think I’m somewhere in between. ORANGE HAS BEEN EXPANDING
“OUR HEART IS STILL FIRMLY IN AMPS FOR MUSICIANS, BUT WE’RE WORKING ON OUR TOTAL PRODUCT ROADMAP.”
AWESOME. SWITCHING GEARS A BIT, WHAT’S THE LAST BAND OR SONG YOU STREAMED? The last song I streamed was a track called “Sirocco,” which is a new re- lease by Red Snapper. The last band I streamed was congratulations. They have a track called “Get 2 Me” that I was mini obsessed with last month. They’re definitely worth checking out. I listen to everything, though, from rock to dancehall, pop, house, drum and bass, country, soul and disco.
ITS AUDIO OFFERINGS LATELY WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE O TURNTABLE. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE AUDIO SEGMENT TO THE FUTURE OF ORANGE? What a lot of people don’t know is that Orange actually has a rich history in the broader audio world, although we’re known for amplifiers, when Cliff started the busi - ness, it was much more than that. Orange started as a recording studio in a basement in New Compton Street in central London. To help fund the studio, Cliff started selling his used instruments upstairs. Due to the fantastic location, and proximity to the music scene of the late 1960s, the equipment sold almost immediately. Cliff continued to buy and sell used guitars and then wanted to start selling name brand amplifier equipment, but the big companies of the time refused to sell to him. Drawing on his engineering background he decided to make his own amps, thus giving birth to Orange Amps. Alongside the studio, Cliff also ran a record label, music publishing, music management and a tour company. He also built a wide array of audio equip- ment that he used in his studio and for touring, including a record deck, a tape machine and P.A. equipment. So, for Orange, it’s always been about the broader music ecosystem. We definitely want to respect our heri - tage on that and continue to inspire music lovers to both perform and playback. We thought a turntable is a great way to do that as it has a beautiful story back to when Cliff was pressing vinyl record releases.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONCERT? My first concert was actually when my mum was un- able to get a babysitter, and I ended up at a Sigue Sigue Sputnik gig at about age five. I went to quite a lot of festivals, too, as a child, including Glastonbury when I was 12 — which was incredible. Rage Against the Machine, Transglobal Underground and Orbital were all pretty memorable moments for me. WOW, I BET THAT WAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. ARE YOU A MUSICIAN YOURSELF? I’d love to be a better musician. I did take flute lessons at junior school but stopped when I was about 10 years old when free music lessons stopped in the U.K. I also dabbled in some piano, violin and operatic singing lessons when I was much younger — and was even London’s youngest church bell ringer at age six. After that, I got more into the tech and engineering side, so, although I did do grade five music theory, I can only play a few chords on the guitar or keys. IF YOU WEREN’T WORKING IN THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT INDUSTRY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’D BE DOING FOR WORK? It’s hard to imagine doing something else, however, if pushed I think I would have loved to have been a physi- cist either researching astro or quantum physics. MI
30 I MUSIC INC. I JUNE 2025
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