SECRET COLOURS

1.0 How did Secret Colours come together as a band? We all grew up in the same town, pretty much.  I had a hand full of songs I had recorded but didn’t have a band to play them out, so I asked my friends if they would play them with me. Dylan and I had been jamming together since early high school. We met Dave and Justin later on in high school. Dave had played in other local bands and Justin hung around the crowd affiliated with Dave’s bands.  Once Dave left his previous band, he decided to start the band with me. About a month after the band started we brought Margaret in to play keys and sing backing vocals, to fill out our sound. – Tommy

2.0 How does the writing process work for you guys? Tommy usually brings in the structure and vocals of a new song. Earlier on in the band he wrote all of the songs, but now sometimes he’ll bring in just a chord progression and lyrics and we jam on it, as a group, until we get it where we like it.  We’ve progressed into a much more collaborative effort now.  We’re all finding our place in the band, and know how to compliment each other in the right ways. – Dave

3.0  If you had to pick a seminal influence for the band, who would it be? The Beatles.

4.0  What were your favorite bands growing up? The Beatles, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Blur, Gorillaz, Dandy Warhols, Spacemen 3, Stone Roses, Oasis.

5.0  Is Chicago a part of the bands sensibility? We love Chicago, we grew up with it, its our home. – Tommy

I think you can hear in our sound that we’re from Chicago, or at least not from the typical areas you’d find this style of music.  I think it’s evident we’re not from the West-Coast, or from Austin, or even from across the pond.  We’ve lived here our entire lives so I think there’s a certain quality to our music that reflects that Midwestern, dreary or droney sound. – Dave

6.0  How do Secret Colours approach playing live? We are pretty conventional as far as instrumentation. We are open to trying new things but we just can’t really afford to get theatrical, yet. – Tommy

7.0  How do you feel before shows? Depends on the show but for the most part exited. Its the most fun thing to do in the world. I used to vomit before every show but not so much any more. – Tommy

Drunk. – Dave

8.0  You have been singled-out as “a band to watch in 2011,” what are your plans for the new year? We have tons of shows to play as well as a few festivals. We are going to record a new full length album in the summer. – Tommy

Yea, we got invited to officially showcase SXSW this year, so we’ll be down there, and we’ll be playing a couple really exciting day parties as well.  This summer we’ll be bumming around Chicago recording, so we’ll probably stick close to home, but we’ve got some exciting shows already lined up for the summer time. – Dave

9.0  What’s your favorite SC song? Im not sure…it varies. I would have to say Love because it was the most collaborative song we did from our record. Plus its fun as hell to play live. – Tommy

You haven’t heard it yet! – Dave

10.0  Does a band have to get along well to succeed? Yes, unless you’re Oasis. When a band doesn’t get along it makes you feel like its pointless to keep going.