The Colours of Kings

Archive for September, 2013

“My Heart is a Drum Machine” Review from The Indie Place

“It is always a treat to come across a band that obviously puts a lot of thought into their music. Such is the case with up and coming band The Colours of Kings. Forming over drinks in a pub, the trio quickly put their ideas into action and began recording their debut EP in a basement studio. Consisting of members J. Bishop (vocals/guitars/keyboards), Chad Steward (bass/keyboards/vocals), and Graham Chamberlain (drums/programming/vocals), they are ready to introduce the world to their music with their first single “My Heart is a Drum Machine”.

“My Heart is a Drum Machine” begins with a simple but prominent drumbeat and synths which continue, unfaltering, throughout the track. Including a little electric guitar in the bridge, this forms the entire instrumentality of the song, bringing to it a natural and magical feeling. The band counts Radiohead and The Postal Service among their influences, and it is evident that those bands had a particular impact on this song’s sound. The track’s lyrics and melody, however, are more reminiscent of Death Cab for Cutie or Owl City. Yet, this electro-rock song still manages to maintain its uniqueness. That uniqueness is found in the lightness of the lyrical content and the vocal subtleties of singer J. Bishop. At its core, “My Heart is a Drum Machine” is about finding one’s other half, the person that makes them a better version of themselves, and celebrating that. The Colours of Kings brings those feelings to life with every note they play, making this song truly infectious.

“My Heart is a Drum Machine” is a strong introduction from The Colours of Kings that showcases their individuality while still providing a nod to the music that has inspired them. This song displays the band’s potential and it will be fascinating to hear what they’ve created for their new EP ‘Up’. The Colours of Kings still have a lot to prove, but, as this song has demonstrated, it’s a challenge they are more than ready for.

‘Up’ will be released on September 24th. You can preorder the album now on bandcamp and receive a free download of “My Heart is a Drum Machine”.”

– Elizabeth Tolbert , September 27, 2013 on The Indie Place

Interview in EyePlug

The Colours of Kings formed, as often bands do, over drinks at a local pub, where discussions became heated and ideals were solidified. Although, this felt more like and uprising, like the beginning of a revolution. With a punk attitude, new-wave synth pop sounds and indie rock lyrics, The Colours of Kings are music’s new Tom Sawyer.

Whatever the cause, the outcome is a band whose first EP has been called, “subtly genius.” The band may often disagree over politics, beer choices or “Absolutely Fabulous,” but there’s one thing that they can agree on and that’s kept them going, If at first you don’t succeed, make your own rules. Their new “Up EP,” recorded in basement studios and living rooms, written in pubs and alleys, whose sentiments are felt across the world, proves to be a monumental start for the band. Their new EP is described as “Pet Shop Boys meets Postal Service.”

01 How did you get started in music?
Chad: I think each of us started at a pretty young age. J and I were in band in middle school. We became music nerds and wanted to play instruments like the bands we listened to. Graham was kind of the same. We all learned different instruments on the way, just kind of an obsession to get into every part of music.

02 Where did your direction come from?
Graham: It comes mainly from following our instincts and drawing from those bands that inspire us. We just kind of open up and let the music kind of happen.

03 Who were your major influences and inspirations and who do you despise?
Graham: I’m a Mick Fleetwood guy. Old Fleetwood Mac was a big inspiration for me. Um, I despise the Mumford Brothers. Or Avvett and Sons. One or both.

Chad: Pet Shop Boys, The Sundays, The Weakerthans… There’s a lot of fake musicians locally that I can’t stand.

J: I guess The Beatles and The Stones, together and separately started it. Pink Floyd and The Sex Pistols added some musical flare and attitude. Like Chad said, we really don’t like fake musicians who do it just for money or girls or free drinks or whatever.

04 What inspires you to make your current type of songs and sound?
J: Mostly emotions. We rely pretty heavily on what we’re feeling and then let our influences sort of fill in the gaps. Lyrically, it’s absolutely emotionally driven.

05 What can someone who has never seen you live before expect from your live shows then & possibly even now?
Chad: We try really hard to let our emotions come through in our live sets, so there’s a lot of moving and shaking. Occasionally if the mood strikes, we’ll change things up in the songs or vamp a bit. I think the audience should expect to see a lot of emotion.

06 How do you begin your songs? What types of themes and subjects do you deal with?
J: A lot of it comes from personal experience or things that I see first hand. There’s not really any theme or subject that’s off limits. I think on this EP, the main things I was dealing with were love, and losing it and seeing how fake people can be sometimes. Or how things in our hometown are based more on popularity rather than merit.

07 How did your music evolved since you first began playing?
Chad: I think when I first started playing I tried desperately to sound like the bands I was listening to. I wanted to sound just like them. As I grew older, I was more interested in just being me and being unique. That’s true for J and Graham as well. That’s why we’re doing what we do. Also, I think we’ve all become better players and listeners and we don’t stand in the way of the song.

08 What has been your biggest challenge? Were you been able to overcome this? If so, how?
Graham: I think our biggest challenge at this point has been ourselves. Since we, with J, recorded and mixed and produced our Ep, obviously we wanted it to be great. There was a lot of overproduction. There was a lot of overplaying. We each have pretty big personalities and opinions to go with it, so we conflicted regularly. I think at one point Chad said, “Look, I just want to do whatever will make the song sound great.” We readjusted after that, and stuck solely to doing the best for the song.

09 Do you play covers? If you could pick any song, which would you like to cover most and why?
Chad: We keep talking about working one up. I think we’d have a hard time agreeing on just one! J would pick “Road To Nowhere” by Talking Heads, Graham would pick a Fleetwood Mac song for sure, “Albatross” or something. I would pick maybe “Virue the Cat Explains Her Leaving” by The Weakerthans.

10 Where did you envisage being in five years time?
J: Hopefully, we’ll have put out a few more records and be touring. I mean, we’ll still be making music regardless of what happens.

11 Who would you most like to record with?
Chad: Dave Grohl, for sure. He’s got the Sound City board and he just seems like a cool guy to hang out with.

12 What should we be expecting from you in the near future?
Graham: Our new EP “Up!” That comes out September 24th 2013, so I imagine we’ll play some shows, do some promotional stuff, hopefully it will propel us into the spotlight. Ha ha! Seriously though, we love what we do and we’ll be doing it the best that we can to share our new EP.

Check it out on EyePlug.

Up EP Mentioned in Supajam!

Our new Up EP got a mention in Supajam, calling it “halfway between Death Cab for Cutie and Owl City: bright synths, a delicate vocal, pop attitude.” Check it out at here on Supajam!

Interview in Vents Magazine

So why don’t you introduce yourself?

We’re The Colours of Kings. There’s 3 of us, J. Bishop (guitars, keyboards and vocals), Chad Steward (bass, keyboards and vocals) and Graham Chamberlain (drums, programming and vocals). We’re an indie rock, synth pop band.

How did you guys put this band together?

Chad: We were out drinking at one of our local pubs and J was talking about music which led to a discussion about who were the true founders of current popular music and their relevance today, which led to an argument, which led to more drinking and at the end of the night we were at J’s place listening to a new project of his and starting to sort out parts for each of us in the music.

So what are those “colours” exactly?

Graham: It kind of came from the idea of the seven Chakra colors. How each main chakra of the body is associated with a color. That idea is important to us since we feel music in our body. So each part of the music that you can feel in each different part of your body, like when you feel that bass drum pounding on your chest, can represent a different color. And since we’re all kings of our own bodies, we put the two together and used the old English spelling for colors since we associated it with Kings.

What are your music influences?

Graham: I’m a Mick Fleetwood guy. Old Fleetwood Mac was a big inspiration for me.
Chad: Pet Shop Boys, The Sundays, The Weakerthans…
J: I guess The Beatles and The Stones, together and seperately started it. Pink Folyd and The Sex Pistols added some musical flare and attitude.

So you guys consider yourself music’s new Tom Sawyers?

Chad: We’ve always liked Tom Saywer’s character. He has a good heart but enjoys a bit of anarchy once in a while. And he’s not shy about speaking his mind. I think we all kind of identify with that. We’re not always going to do things by the book, actually we prefer not to! But we think we’ve got good hearts.

My Heart Is A Drum Machine. Can you tell us more about the song?

J: We had been recording a lot and I’d gotten this idea in my head for this song about the heart being a drum machine and constantly beating for someone. I was dealing with a break-up and as I was in the studio trying to work out the song, it clicked. I was dealing with love and music gear and recording and it just all came together. So the song’s about your heart beating for someone who may not ever be there again, and does it eventually stop? Or does it go on?

What’s your songwriting method?

Graham: J usually brings an idea and we sit down with it and flesh it out. Sometimes he’s got ideas for lyrics and sometimes it takes getting the music settled before he writes anything.

Up. How was the recording and writing process?

Chad: That fateful night at J’s place, we listened to snippets of tracks, like 10 – 20 seconds of pieces as J tried to tell us what the final version might look like. That’s kind of how we did everything from then. It really clicked that way. So we’d sit in living rooms or basements and work out the songs until we liked the arrangements. Then we went into J’s studio and began tracking everything. I think once we started recording, it took maybe a week to wrap everything up. We’d already settled on the arrangements, so we just had to perform the parts on tape.

How you came out with the title?

J: We’ve, the three of us, had a pretty rough year. It seemed fitting to name our first EP after the only way we could go from here, Up.

What was the inspiration, lyrically speaking?

J: Well, I think, seeing as it’s been an emotional year, there was a lot of emotion that came out. There was the break-up I was dealing with, which came into play a lot with “My Heart…” and also “We’re An Archipelago.” And then with the other two, I was dealing with some frustrations in our town. It seems a lot of things are based on popularity there as opposed to actual merit. I’d been seeing that a lot and trying to cope with it, so there’s a bit more bite and sarcasm in those other two, “The Colours of Kings” and “This Year’s Hometown Hero.”

What’s next in TCOK’s world?

Chad: Well, we’re hoping for good things with this EP. All we can do is put it out there and hope people like it and share it and spread it around. We’ll play some shows to support the EP, do the promotional stuff and hopefully be able to go back into the studio and make another record.

Where can we find more about your music?

Graham: You can go to www.thecoloursofkings.com for more info. You can (and should!) pre-order the EP at thecoloursofkings.bandcamp.com or find us on some social networking sites like, www.facebook.com/thecoloursofkings and www.reverbnation/thecoloursofkings.

Read the interview on Vent Magazine here.

First Press for the New EP!

We’ve gotten our first post about our new EP! Properly, it’s on weirdomusic.com. Check out the post, and then check out the rest of the site. There’s some awesome stuff on there.

http://www.weirdomusic.com/2013/09/04/for-your-ears-the-colours-of-kings-up-ep/

-tCoK