Runaway Orange wants your soul but will settle for your attention.

The band, a group of high school friends, formed in 1999. Over the past eight years they have toured the USA several times, played Warped Tour and have shared the stage with many familiar names. They are slated to appear on the FOX television show Fearless Music this fall. Their debut CD, The Cutting Room appeared in 2003. Over the past 4 years the CD has sold around 5,000 copies. The band is currently touring and working on their new record. Songs have been written and demos recorded. Plans are in place to begin recording their second CD in the fall. Runaway Orange's mid-west tour begins July 7.

Singer/guitarist Denis Lipari spoke to Gearwire.

Patrick Ogle: What sort of guitar do you use? And why?

Gibson Les Paul Classic (vintage burst) I'm a fan of the thick tone. I believe each song needs to be approached with complimentary/layered guitar tones and for most of our songs the Les Paul provides that for the rhythm guitar.

How about your amp? Tell me some details.

Orange Rockerverb 100. It's stubborn, unapologetic, and downright dirty. Has a small range of sounds but that's fine because it's all money. I run this baby through a four x 12 Marshall Cabinet (Celestion 25 watt speakers). I never crank the gain past four, keep the treble and mid at about five, and the bass at eight. Plain and simple I love this amp.

Your band is a four piece. Tell me a little about what the other guys play and how you try to get YOUR sound together live?

--Ed Solomon (lead guitar)- a black PRS and occasionally a 1980's era red Gibson Les Paul Standard, a Marshall JCM2000 Duel Super-Lead 100 watt with Orange cabinet (4 x 12 Fane speakers) and a tube screamer (for main distortion and hits channel switch to unleash the lead from amp for solos), a Line 6 delay, and a Boss Chorus/Reverb.

--Nate Izzi (Vocals/Bass)- American Fender Jazz Bass(with smooth orange finish) Acoustic 360 Head with Ampeg Classic cabinet (two 10" and one 15" speakers). Nate loves incorporating his Russian Big Muff distortion pedal into our songs.

--Joe Lipari (Drums)- Premier custom 5 piece (maroon finish) Zildjian cymbals Yamaha 13" snare.

Are you particular about live vocal mics? Do you use whatever the venue has or bring your own? Either way--Why?

We bring our own mics on tour for hall shows specifically. Since we have three-piece harmonies sometimes there aren't enough mics at a small venue to accommodate so we have to use our own. Although we are about as particular about vocals as any artist can be (they are the main idea of Runaway Orange) we usually do use the mics provided by the venues.

Do you have any tricks or tips on dealing with sound when touring to small venues?

If you can sing and think you have meaningful lyrics then keep your equipment as low as possible so that the vocals can be heard. So many bands turn up as loud as possible and try to rattle people's bones. If you wrote a sincerely entertaining song then there is no reason to cover it up with distortion and gut-wrenching bottom end. A tip for hall shows is that you need to cut out a lot of the bass EQ on the guitar amps and crank up the treble. Also there is little need for amp reverb since the hall provides plenty of that.

What is the worst live sound dilemma you have ever had to deal with and how did you sort it out?

Over the years we've had to deal with plenty of equipment related dilemmas but the one that takes the cake would have to be a show we did at a church hall in Massachusetts circa 03'. There were 5 bands on the bill and NO P.A.!!?! One local band tried to rig what appeared to be a VCR up to a mic and it was about as loud as a Wendy's drive-thru intercom. The idea of lip-synching to our cd was tossed around but ultimately we ended up playing a 3 song instrumental set with us just mouthing the lyrics as if we were shooting a music video.