Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Upon the arrival of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs' - aka Orlando Higginbottom - new EP, it's clear that he’s sensibly sticking with what he made his name on; high levels of quality production combined with the bassy playfulness that is his signature sound. But ‘What does a totally enormous extinct dinosaur sound like?’ you may ask. It can be broadly labelled as fun, wobbly and ‘boisterous’ - all the while having this distinctive, informed, forward-thrusting momentum to it. Genres dissolve and BPM’s fluctuate but it's all part of Orlando’s focused folly of a journey. Although with only three tracks on the Household Goods EP, we’re left carnivorous for more. What else to expect from a Oxford-born producer brought up on a musical diet of Holst and Jungle with a guise like that? Well, we asked.

Dazed Digital: Having listened to your new EP, we have to ask, what the hell were your musical influences growing up? Listening to your iPod on shuffle must be an experience in itself…
Orlando Higginbottom: The first music I remember listening to was classical. I learnt how to put CDs on and would play Lego to the sounds of Holst's The Planets. Then I got into Jungle. But really I was just listening to everything that came my way, apart from stuff with heavy guitars, that's where I drew a line. 

DD: The name you perform under is certainly 'unique' - Where did it originate from?
Orlando Higginbottom: I just wanted to have fun with a project rather than be concerned with street cred. I never expected it to go anywhere near this far. 

DD: You regularly perform in a dinosaur costume. Can you see the variety and detail of said costumes becoming more elaborate as time goes on à la Deadmau5? Just think - a tyrannosaurus one-piece covered entirely in Swarovski crystals...
Orlando Higginbottom: Exactly! Yes the costume has developed and will continue to do so. I quite want a fake Louis Vuitton print or old-school Moschino. Swarovski crystals would also be good. Though I'd never want this all to go as high tech as Deadmau5, I'm more about big costumes than huge LED screens.

DD: How did your single release party at CAMP go the other night?
Orlando Higginbottom: There was a really great turn out and lots of old friends came. Which made it all the more worse when my computer crashed for half an hour before my set. First time in two years and it picked that night! But the show was fun, if a little tainted by a bassless soundsystem.

DD: You play the piano too - Have you considered doing anything in that vein?
Orlando Higginbottom: I was writing classical music in my teens, and it is still a part of what I do. I have always dreamed of scoring a film so when this all falls apart I think I might have a go again. But I don't see a massive difference between the two, the process is basically the same.

DD: What was the last thing you did that could be described as 'totally enormous'?
Orlando Higginbottom: Flying to Japan for a mini tour?

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs' Household Goods EP is out today on Greco Roman Redcords