Orange Tour

Named after a secret tour of rooftops and tunnels, Orange Tour has been writing music together since 2009. Drawing inspiration from new wave luminaries The Cars, Talking Heads, and The Police, Orange Tour also channels more recent influences including Phoenix, The Sounds, The Raveonettes, Stars, and Cut Copy.

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Orange Tour is Asad Aboobaker (bass), Amol Dixit (lead vocals), Tom Gilbert (keyboards / piano), Mike Ingebritsen (drums), and Chris Mitra (guitar). Chris formerly played in the Berkeley-based indie-pop group Hungry Hungry Hippos, veterans of noisepop. Amol previously sang in Black Cat, Rubik’s Groove, and now OT. Tom was guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in Madison-based Moziak for nearly 8 years. Asad’s background is diverse, including playing bass in Minneapolis funk phenom Nice Work Leroy. Mike’s extensive experience includes drumming for Twin Cities legends The Domo Sound, where he played on Late Night with Conan O’Brien as winner of Late Night’s College Band Search in 1998.

OT injects a surprising number of references in their songs to the Twin Cities — somehow managing to capture in 4-minute pop vignettes the frustration of Prospect Park stoplights, the melodramatic sorrow of suburban teenage girls, and the displacement of famous tourists in local coffeeshops. The group’s inventive lyrics serve as counterpoint to the pop sensibilities that permeate the tracks of the 8-song debut disc, REALITY SHOW, which was released at the end of 2010.