College years can often impede on creativity, whether it’s from hard work or boredom. For Portland trio Orca Team, it was the latter. As a solo artist and a college student, Leif Anders recorded songs under the name Orca Team hoping one day to make it with a band who would take on the name. It wasn’t until December of 2008 that his dream became a reality.
“It was during that time that Jessica Baldauf and I had began making music together,” Anders said. “Initially Jessica was playing bass and I was playing guitar but it sounded too much like a wonky garage band. So we traded instruments.”
The band has always been a trio but has struggled to find a steady drummer due to hectic schedules and injury. Ami Taylor is the band’s current percussionist.
Orca Team started with many songs Anders had written in college, but now the music has become more of a group effort—both instrumentally and lyrically.
“More songs have been collaborative efforts from all of us,” Anders said. “I end up writing the lyrics but usually Jessica gives me prompts for each song so I have a subject to work with.”
Orca Team has released two albums, the first of which was a demo recorded by Anders in August of 2009. Their second album, Let It Go, was recorded at the end of February. The new album has excited not only fans, but the band itself.
Anders excitedly described their sound as “a post-punk beach party,” though that may be a hard description to classify. Their simple melodies and layering has audiences interested and comfortable in the live show environments.
“Whether or not people are into our music, we don’t force people to move close…or dance on command,” Anders said. “We usually react as much as an audience allows us to…like coming into contact with a wild animal. Chances are we are more afraid than you.”
Moving forward, Orca Team looks forward to changing their style a bit while keeping what has made them successful intact.
“We want to move towards more Motown/girl-group oriented songs while keeping our minimalistic aesthetic in the near future,” Anders said. “We are always looking for novelty shows too. Just to make sure people don’t get bored of watching us in clubs and bars.”
No matter what, Orca Team has some steam as they look down the road toward more opportunities. Audience members can count on simple music in a comfortable environment from the band and the venue.