MICHELE MARTINI
VIA GRASER, 15
38068 ROVERETO (TN) – ITALY
michelemartini@rockharditaly.com

ORBITAL HOTEL BAND – ROCK HARD ITALY IDENTITY CARD

Interview in Rock Hard Italy Interview in rock hard italy
Year of foundation: 2014
City/Country: Vienna, Austria
Line-up: Guitars, Bass, Percussion & Drums
Genre:Post Rock
Website: www.orbitalhotel.net
Last Release: Missing Link

Band Members:

José Luis Preza: Guitars, Synth, Drum machine, Vocals

Teo Ponomariov: Bass, Guitar, Synth

Tamer Aykac: Percussion, Drums

Experimental sounds rich in pathos, dictated by flows, algorithms and strings transformed into sequences of notes: this is what the Austrian band Orbital Hotel gives us, authors of Missing Link and led by the volcanic José Luis Preza.

How did you develop such a varied perspective, one that combines space rock, progressive tensions, and various experimentations?

I grew up listening to what is now considered classic rock, but also a lot of classical music. I imagine most of the influences and ideas come from there. When I started learning to play the guitar as an adult, I dedicated myself for a while to grunge and prog rock, but playing covers bored me, so I started creating original melodies. That is the direction I consequently developed, without thinking about it too much.

How did you develop such an amazing perspective, combining space rock, progressive tensions and various experimentations? Is it the result of a spontaneous convergence of ideas or is everything panned in details?

I grew up listening listening at home (as a kid) to what is now considered classic rock, but also classical music, I guess some of the influences and ideas come from there. When I started learning to play guitar as an adult, I was trying some grunge and prog rock (pearl jam, alice in chains, soundgarden, pink floyd, yes, santana) but it got boring playing covers so I started making my own melodies and this is the direction I took automatically, without much thinking. Most of the ideas come spontaneously while practicing new sounds and melodies.

When did you start thinking about/working on your latest album, "Missing Link"?

At the end of 2024. After releasing Time Travel and Infinito in 2024, I had the opportunity to travel about 6 months around the world, some ideas for Missing Link came from this trip.

What inspired the composition of the songs?

The inspiration comes from multiple places, including Life on Earth, Experiences, Theories, Physics and Nature. Also work related experiences and thoughts. Each piece has its own story. For example: Wavefront and Exchange are related to particle physics. A Molecular Cloud is the birth place of galaxies. Square (as I thought of it) is a concept of Mathematics.

Is this scientific perspective something you share with the other band members?

We all like to talk about science, data, the universe, physics, and even about LLMs (AI systems related to language, ed.), and about how everything, in the final analysis, influences us as human beings. In our daily work, we handle data, so we talk a lot about this subject. There is no particular reason behind our musical perspective, other than the idea of filling space and time with new sounds.

Could you explain the meaning of a title like "Missing Link"?

I had been thinking for a while about writing a song with this title; then, a few months ago, while visiting some websites, I discovered that the links weren't working, so I decided to write a song in honor of all missing links—whether they are the transitional forms in the evolutionary chain or simply erroneous HTML references.

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