Superorganism (band)

From left to right: B, Ruby, and Soul performing at a Superorganism concert

Superorganism initially started as a casual recording project with members based in multiple countries, across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.[16] Most of the members of Superorganism had met online in music forums and via mutual friends over a number of years.[17] At the time of Superorganism's formation, the majority of the members had been living in London since 2015 and decided to embark on a musical project together.[18]

Four of the members – Mark Turner (Emily), Christopher Young (Harry), Timothy "Tim" Shann (Tucan), and Blair Everson (Robert Strange), had previously met Orono Noguchi when they were touring Japan in another band called The Eversons. Noguchi, at the time a high school student from Maine, had first discovered The Eversons via her YouTube recommendations, thereafter becoming a fan of the group. During a 2015 summer trip to Japan, Noguchi found The Eversons to be performing a gig nearby and attended. It was there and then that the group became friends,[19] bonding over their shared interest of internet memes.

External video
Example of Soul participating in interviews while living separately

After discovering Noguchi could sing (she had been regularly posting covers on SoundCloud),[20] the group then sent a message to Noguchi, asking if she wanted to add lyrics and vocals to a demo they had been working on at the beginning of 2017.[21] Collaborating on their project remotely, Noguchi received a GarageBand instrumental file and sent back to the band her deadpan vocals recorded using built-in microphone of her MacBook laptop.[22] The demo came to be Superorganism's first single "Something For Your M.I.N.D.", which was later featured on the soundtrack of FIFA 18 and in the season premiere of the third series of “Legion”, in which the band have portrayed themselves.

After graduating from John Bapst Memorial High School[23][24] in June, seventeen-year-old Noguchi relocated to London. "Ever since I was little I had two big goals," says Noguchi, "One of them was to be a musician or an artist of some sort, and the other was to go to college in the States. That’s why I made the decision to go to Maine by myself when I was fourteen." In regards to college, she said, "[Forming Superorganism] was a really big decision but you don’t get to decide when opportunities come. So I'll do this, and I can go to college any time I want."

While Ruby and B are known for their roles as background singers, they are also capable of playing instruments. For instance, Ruby is competent on the strings.[25] Robert Strange is Superorganism's visual artist.[18] As of late 2017, seven out of eight band members live together in a large terraced house in the East End of London that doubles up as a live-in, 24-hour studio.[26]

The eighth member, South Korean New Zealand background vocalist Soul (Earl Ho[27]), is the only member to live apart from the group, residing in Sydney, Australia.[18] An enlarged image of Soul's face often takes his place in group photographs. Going by the project name "CHI", Soul has also released material to a Bandcamp account of his own, playing the guitar and keyboard himself.[28][29][30][31]

In June 2018, Superorganism covered Utada Hikaru's "Pakchi no Uta" (パクチーの唄, "Coriander Song") as promotion for the release of her album Hatsukoi (2018).[32]

In October 2018, Superorganism embarked on a tour of the UK and Ireland with Japanese band CHAI as their support.[33]

In January 2019, The Eversons were dumped from their record label due to allegations dating from 2012 against Mark Turner (Emily), that "became common knowledge among the New Zealand indie music scene". The label released a statement saying they were against sexual misconduct and apologised unreservedly for not acting sooner.[34][35][36][37][38] Some songs by the Eversons were controversial in New Zealand for their misogynistic and offensive content.[34][35][36][39][40]

Superorganism contributed the song "Hello Me & You" to the soundtrack of the film The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, released in February 2019.

The group consists of members from England, USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. They create original internet-age electronically-tinged indie pop music.

Describing the creation of Superorganism's songs, Orono Noguchi says, "It usually starts with us listening to music and talking about music, art, and all kinds of stuff in the kitchen. Then, one of us would come up with a very basic idea for a song. We'd then send the file back and forth among the group and add on some random ideas that we have. We'd keep working on it until we have a final product."[19]

"We've got the guy making the videos downstairs, mixing in the other room, [and] singing going on [elsewhere]," Harry says in regards to their live-in studio. "We've created this kind of warped version of a pop production house."[18]

There is evidence on Soundcloud that their radio-friendly hit "Night Time" was written by using the song "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John (2006) as a reference track.[41]

• Orono Noguchi,[42] also known as "OJ"[43] – vocals, writing, painting
• Emily[44] (Mark David Turner) – writing, production, synths
• Tucan,[45] or Dr. Tucan Taylor Michaels[45] (Timothy "Tim" Shann) – writing, production, mixing, drums
• Robert Strange[46] (Blair Everson) – visual arts, staging
• Harry[47] (Christopher Young) – writing, production, guitar
• B[48] – background vocals, background dancing, background musician
• Ruby[49] – background vocals, background dancing, background musician
• Soul[50] (Earl Ho) – background vocals, background dancing, background musician

• Official website