THIS IS COLOUR

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM CRONIN
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/thisiscolour
COUNTRY: United Kingdom STYLE: Metal / Thrash

EXCUSE THE PUN BUT LOOKING AT THE BAND’S MYSPACE AND “IMAGE”; IT IS A LOT MORE COLOURFUL THAN OTHER BANDS IN YOUR GENRE?

Yeah man! We're all happy people and as far as we're concerned - the brighter the better. A lot of bands try to be all dark and larghan life. We want to stay as far away from that as possible.

YOUR WEB PAGE DESCRIBES YOUR MUSIC AS METAL / THRASH BUT LISTENING TO YOUR SONGS ONE HEARS A WHOLE BUNCH OF INFLUENCES. DO YOU EVER HERE MUSIC AND THINK, “HEY! WOULDN’T IT BE COOL TO DO IT THIS WAY…” AND THEN YOU COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT SOUNDS REALLY GREAT?

Well, trash metal is probably of our most favoured genre's and we seem to have been lumped in with that so we rolled with it. We're not really bothered about being under a certain or single genre as we don't really fit into anything inparticular. Apart from HEAVY FUCKIN METAL!!! Haha

I LIKE THE TITLE FOR YOUR FIRST EP TITLED “A BRIEF DEMONSTRATION”. IF YOU HAD TO COMPARE THE EP TO YOUR DEBUT ALBUM “NO BRAINER” ARE YOU EXITED WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH PROGRESS THE BAND HAS MADE MUSICALLY AND WHAT YOU COULD STILL POSSIBLY COME UP WITH?

Writing both we’re really fun as we weren't under any pressure and I guess that works with us. Yeah, we can always feel our self progressing really. And yeah, being in This is Colour we're not really restricted to anything. For example we could write an Indie song and we'd still make it fit on an album somehow. Plus the fans we get won't disown us if we did something like that which is also fairly cool (not that we'll be writing any indie anytime soon).

“A BRIEF DEMONSTRATION” CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR FREE AT: http://www.mediafire.com/?8cxtxm0zxm1. THERE SEEMS TO BE AN OVERWHELMING TREND TO MAKE EP’S AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD THESE DAYS; HAS IT PAID OFF FOR YOU GUYS?

Yeah man! Definitely. We all know how much it sucks having no money and to be honest, someone hearing the stuff, liking it, coming to a show and buying a shirt tends to make it worth it in the end anyway! Plus, no one pays for music anymore anyway. We woulda put the album out for free, but we spent way too much time and money on it I'm afraid!

ONLINE YOU MENTION THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THE BAND USES IS POWER TABS TO SHARE IDEAS. DO YOU USUALLY START WITH THE GUITARS FIRST WHEN WRITING SONGS?

We used to! I guess it’s just a more up to date version of bands demo-ing riffs on a tape player and sending them to each other to add to etc. And yeah, we used to put guitars first I guess. But recently we try to play/write new stuff together and we're putting more thought into the rhythm side of things. We do love our widdly guitar bits though haha.

NOT MANY BANDS ACTUALLY MAKE THEIR TABS AVAILABLE, WHY DID THE BAND DECIDE TO DO SO?

I guess it's just another way of interacting with the people that care about our band. We like to give as much back as we can. Plus it's pretty cool seeing people from thousands of miles away learning our songs and putting it on Youtube.

WITH THE DIFFERENT “STYLES” YOU COVER IN YOUR MUSIC I MUST ASK WHAT GEAR AND TUNINGS YOU USE TO MAKE EVERYTHING SOUND LIKE IT FITS (IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)?

We keep it real man! There's so many bands coming around over complicating things and just making it difficult to understand, but if that works for them that’s cool I guess. Live we did put a lot of time into different guitar tones for different parts so they sounded a bit more authentic, but most of the time we just try to keep it simple and loud!

“NO BRAINER” WAS RELEASED IN MARCH. DO YOU ALREADY HAVE IDEAS FOR YOUR NEXT RELEASE OR IS THE BAND MORE FOCUSED ON PLAYING AS MANY LIVE SHOWS AS POSSIBLE RIGHT NOW?

Yeah we have many many many ideas for our next whatever it is we'll release. We tend to write as we go! Playing as many shows as possible whilst writing isn't really an issue. Write in the day, party and play at night haha.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST “HEADACHE” FOR THE BAND CURRENTLY, WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWS?

Its frustrating playing a show no one knows about. We've had people comment our page saying "COME PLAY MY TOWN!" and there's been cases where we'd be like "We played there last night!" Myspace and all that stuff is cool for promoting your music and getting bands heard, but a lot of promoters tend to think they can rely on it as a tool for promoting shows, which in some respects it is, but you still gotta flyer and poster the shows. We can't complain too much though, without sounding cheesy, as long as we "stand out" or make an impact for the few people at these smaller shows then it’s always worth it.

THE BEST “MOMENTS / MEMORIES” FOR YOU BEFORE, DURING OR AFTER A SHOW SO FAR?

There is so many I could go on about. We've been doing this for about 3 years now and we're all best friends (I duno if there is a manlier way to put that ha) so of course there's a lot of mischief going on all the time. Be it getting naked, making our drummer Nick try foods he doesn't like or just taking the piss outta each other. Some of the more "serious" highlights would include going to other countries and having people sing along to our songs, making friends all over the place. So to shorten that; Playing Music, Travellin' and hangin'.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME OF THE SMALL MISTAKES A BAND SHOULD TRY TO AVOID WHEN STARTING OUT?

Don't get cocky or picky, take everything you're offered. A lot of bands don't think they have to work for a "fanbase" and they'll sulk and fall out because they don't get instant success.

DO YOU GO OUT TO WATCH OTHER BANDS OFTEN AND IF SO, DO YOU USUALLY LEAVE A GIG MORE INSPIRED TO BE A BETTER MUSICIAN?

Yeah man, we'll go to shows when time and money allows. It can be a bit difficult to have that luxury as we're all working and studying and use any time we can get off to play our own shows! But yeah, I mean after going to see Metallica, Dillinger Escape Plan or Mongoloids, how can you not want to play guitar and learn new stuff when you get home?

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

We currently have a competition on our page to win some free merch that we're doing ourselves and we have a few tours being booked / announced soon! We'd also just like to say check out Audacity, One Step Down, Get Fuckin' Dead and any of the other rad bands in our top friends on Myspace.