Photo By Mat Miller
All the members of Colourmusic—every single one of them—insist on going by the name "Roy." Warning to readers: do not attempt to figure out who the real Roy is.
"We'll sneak into your room at night and slit your throat. Okay, Roy's just kidding, we'll only beat you... severely," Roy said.
"Roy" (G Biv) is a reference to both the colors of refracted light, skittles, and the rainbow, according to Colourmusic. It is also a reference to a "real" member of the band named Roy G. Biv who is, apparently, a descendant of Isaac Newton.
"It is also the pseudonym used by the founding member of this band to disguise his true identity. You see, Roy is a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton, the creator of the theory of relating colour to music," Roy said.
"Roy enjoys his anonymity, so when he decided to take his musical venture on the road, he knew he needed a band. All the members have since taken a vow of silence to never release which member is in fact the true Roy," he added.
Is this story true? I can only guess that it probably, absolutely and most certainly isn't, but that's not important. Colourmusic likes their shows to be an experience—they have all received haircuts on stage, and had their sets and costumes painted during the course of the performance. They recently told fans it was their last show as a rock band, and that they were changing their name to Cullermusic.
"[The Cullermusic show] was basically a ploy to get people out to our show on the weekend Jesus died. We figured if we told everyone it was our last show ever and we were turning country, that they might show up," Roy said.
Their gamble payed off, the show was packed and the fire marshal made a stop by to check out the crowd. Did they need this ploy to boost attendance? Probably not.
They kept the joke going and at their next show, they traded in their matching white running suits for Wranglers, button ups and Cowboy hats.
Colourmusic recently appeared on Late Night with Jay Leno during a segment about the SXSW music festival hosted by Flaming Lips front man, and Oklahoma native, Wayne Coyne.
Despite the successes , they do have one major obstacle: they have a bandmate who lives abroad.
"Well, first of all, time zones, and the metric system, issues about who won the revolutionary war... you can't bring that up with him at all," Roy said. "But also playing shows, it's been really tough to get him here, and we are constantly looking for new ways to get Roy a touring visa."
As one can expect frustration must exist in not being able to play shows as often as they would like, with one member persistently absent. Never worry, they always have a solution.
"Well, we have made a cyborg in the likeness of Roy and we are able to do shows without him now. In the past we have done shows via satellite, but the delay is a bitch... it's just not the same, though," Roy said.
Their songwriting process involves "a lot of coffee," "humming," and thus is based on the Colour philosophy band is currently working on. "The lyrics and the musical mood of the Yellow EP is related to birth or infancy, of being a kid, so the simplicity of the 'Circles' lyrics is related to big truths that a child would know. The music ideas are kid ideas, like, let's write really simple melodies, and let's do dumb things like stack chords on top of each other and see what happens. It's experimental, but experimental in the way that a kid would be experimental, where the result is it should feel fun," Roy said. Their musical influences include Brian Eno, Spinal Tap, Sesame Street and Sly and the Family Stone, and when hearing them say those names, it all makes perfect sense... Even if they are only kidding.
Like their music, Colourmusic is interesting in that way. It may appear ridiculous and amusing, but the sincerity and seriousness is certainly there, remember it may only appear ridiculous (but in a good way).This dichotomy allows them to be more than just another group of local musicians that enjoy playing together. It allows them to be the zaniest group of musicians they can be, while remaining completely sincere about their collective life philosophy.
Or, I could be completely wrong, but they certainly make it fun to play along.