![\"\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/6cc2b05ad49f51c6dababa71e9061d7f\/tumblr_inline_nfi6t6JUzj1qztcot.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Color And Sound<\/strong> have probably crept under a lot of people\u2019s radars this year, but those eager for huge punky pop choruses and incredible boy\/girl vocals should sit up and take note. Barely 2 years old, the Boston, Mass. 5-piece have already teamed up with Black Numbers (Banquets, Sad And French) to release one of the best EPs of the year in the shape of \u2018Peace of Mind\u2019<\/em> \u2013 and it really is spectacular stuff. Containing six of the punchiest, perkiest and most brilliantly arranged pop songs of the year, The Color And Sound<\/strong> sit snugly alongside The Format and The Red Hot Valentines in making glorious pop music for people with off-kilter tastes. <\/p>\n Already Heard<\/b> spoke to Chris LaRocque about the history of the year and what has turned out to be a stellar 2014.<\/p>\n Already Heard: Hi Chris, for the uninitiated, could you give us some background to The Color And Sound? <\/strong> AH: So in terms of those two bands that you grew from, was there much in the way of similarity to what you\u2019re doing now, or is this something entirely new? <\/strong> AH: Regarding the two EPs, what was thinking about releasing \u2018Peace of Mind\u2019<\/i> as an EP? Was it simply all the material that you had, or was it a conscious decision to go with something short and punchy? <\/strong> Already Heard: I\u2019ve listened to the EP quite a bit, but it wasn\u2019t really until I sat down and gave it a real good listen about a month ago that it hit me about how much is going on. I mean, lyrically, it\u2019s quite dark in places, but it\u2019s also very poppy, which is an odd juxtaposition. <\/strong> AH: It\u2019s funny, because I have a long commute, so I tend to just listen to one album on repeat and really get stuck into it. And the initial response is to singalong, because it\u2019s so catchy, but then you realise that there are lyrics about being vulnerable and miserable. <\/strong> AH: How did you guys hook up with the chaps at Black Numbers then? They\u2019ve had a great year, but they also have a diverse roster of bands, so you seem a nice fit? <\/strong> AH: I just want to kind of follow up on something you touched on earlier, in terms of your influences, but are you all coming from the same sort of place, or are different members bring different things to the table? <\/strong> Already Heard: In terms of songwriting how does it work for you guys? I mean, I\u2019ve read a few interviews with AC Newman when he\u2019s talking about The New Pornographers \u2013 another pop band that I love \u2013 and he\u2019s said in terms of the earlier records especially, the whole focus would be on sounds and melodies and the lyrics would be dropped in just to accommodate that \u2013 so some of the songs are slightly nonsensical lyrically. But you\u2019ve got strong melodies and harmonies and your lyrics make sense \u2013 so how does that work? <\/strong> AH: In terms of the scene in Boston, where do you guys see yourselves sitting? Your background is pop-punk, but The Color And Sound sit very much to the side of pop-punk\u2026<\/strong> AH: OK, just to finish off then \u2013 what\u2019s been your personal highlight of 2014? <\/strong> AH: And what does 2015 have in store? <\/strong> ‘Peace of Mind’<\/em> EP by The Color And Sound<\/strong> is out now on Black Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n The Color And Sound<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n
Chris: Sure. So basically the band started off as a by-product of two other bands that we were in Boston, Massachusetts, and both of those bands were coming to a close, and we just started this new thing; kinda like a no-rules, have fun with it and see where it goes kinda thing. It was just a c chance to start something new and to see where it goes. We\u2019re all really good friends, so it\u2019s just an excuse for us to hang out with each other, if you will. So it was just a natural, let\u2019s see where it goes project and it has turned into something that occupies a lot of our time and what we enjoy doing. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: We had been in two bands \u2013 and I think you could chalk them down to being pop-punk bands for the most part \u2013 and it was kinda nice to have an excuse to try something different. When we started, there really were no rules as to what the band would sound like. Even now, we\u2019re two EPs in and we\u2019re writing more stuff, but we\u2019re still figuring that out a little bit. But it\u2019s good that we\u2019ve given ourselves the liberty to do that, I guess. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Chris: Well, the first EP, that was just the first 5 songs that we had going at the time, and we were like \u2018OK, let\u2019s get something out and let\u2019s get on the road in support of it\u2019. As we were writing follow up stuff to that \u2013 kind of going back to what I said about having the liberty to do what we want for writing and for style and stuff \u2013 we left no stone unturned to go through every possible idea and direction and thought we could. We definitely found out a lot about what we want to do and what we want to sound like \u2013 but it took us right up until we were literally recording the EP to figure out what we wanted to sound like. So I guess it really was a matter of necessity. We weeded out all of the songs that we didn\u2019t like to end up with what we have now. <\/em><\/p>\n
\n
Chris: It\u2019s great that you say that. A lot of the reviews we\u2019ve been getting back are that it\u2019s cheery go-lucky go-happy, but the lyrics definitely spin in a slightly different direction, so that\u2019s a great observation. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: [Laughs] I guess that\u2019s the dangerous line we were treading when we were trying to figure things out. The thing is, we\u2019re really big fans of bands like Manchester Orchestra<\/strong>, who go into those dark lyrical places and take some really drastic turns with it, but we love bands like Grouplove and (The) Naked And Famous and bands that are really fun and poppy so it\u2019s like bridging that gap really. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: So we got in touch with them through our manager Danny, at the Working Group. We\u2019d been looking around to see if anyone was up for picking up the \u2018Spring Tour\u2019<\/em> EP for rerelease or something like that and they reached out to us. And they have a great history of standing by their artists and doing right by their artists. Dave[Frenson] is in Banquets and he knows what it\u2019s like and they have such a great perspective on how to treat their bands, and we were honoured to be asked by them. So have them to ask about doing that, and the EP we just put out, it\u2019s very flattering and we\u2019re honoured. And as you said, they\u2019re having a great year. Every year they\u2019re putting out great stuff and working with better and better bands, so we\u2019re so honoured to be a part of that family. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: We definitely touch a base on a lot of the same bands. We\u2019re all great fans of solid, strongly written pop music. As I said, we love bands like Grouplove, Tegan and Sara are huge for us, Arcade Fire are huge for us. But it definitely branches out in lots of ways too. Nick [Stewart], our guitarist and Joe [Aylward] our bassist are huge classic rock fans, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles. Steve [Aliperta], the drummer, and I definitely lean more towards electronic stuff, or similar pop stuff, and Ally [Mahoney], the other singer, she covers off a whole gamut of things. She honestly loves music. She loves knowing everything about bands, and a bands history. You can bring up any band and she\u2019ll be able to tell you something about them, what her favourite CD is, all that stuff. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: For us, definitely on \u2018Peace of Mind\u2019<\/em>, everything was written in a drastically different ways \u2013 so we\u2019d be trying to figure out how to write songs together. So some we got the vocals right on the acoustic guitar, and then we just put everything else around it. So we wrote \u2018Cigarettes\u2019<\/em> just like that. But \u2018Back To Me\u2019<\/em> we had it like that as well \u2013 but Steve and I run our own recording studio here in Boston \u2013 and we just took that skeleton of a song and just produced the hell out of it. \u2018Do It Again\u2019<\/em>, was completely different again. So Nick wrote the shell, Steve wrote verses and I did the chorus and we built off that. So we tried lots of different things, but we never want to leave the vocals and lyrics to the last. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: To a certain extent I think we\u2019re still there \u2013 but it\u2019s about liking pop and punk, rather than just pop-punk, if that makes sense. The bands we were in were definitely the sorts of bands you\u2019re in when you\u2019re 18 or 19. You\u2019re still trying to get into it, you\u2019re still figuring out how you want to sound as a musician, but I grew up listening to The Ramones and The Buzzcocks and The Clash, and I just love trashy loud punk rock music, but I\u2019ve grown up to love pop music and well-written melodies \u2013 so I think we love the simplistic ideal of being a pop and a punk band. The scene we play in back home is all punk bands all in basements, and that has an influence without a doubt. But we\u2019re trying to put our own spin on it to an extent. <\/em><\/p>\n
Chris: We\u2019ve done a lot of really great stuff, but I think the highlight, for me, and it\u2019ll sound really lame, but we played this show in our friend\u2019s basement at a place called the Litterbox and it is THE smallest basement I have ever seen in my entire life \u2013 it is tiny, and there had to be 70 or 80 people there and my girlfriend was standing in the front row and you could just see this sea of people carry her side-to-side, backwards and forwards \u2013 the entire time we were playing. I\u2019ve never seen a crowd react so strongly to our music. We walked away like, \u2018man, that was so much fun\u2019. I mean we always have fun, but that show in particular, the reaction was immediate. It\u2019s a basement so we were on the floor, in people\u2019s faces. <\/em> <\/p>\n
Chris: We\u2019re gonna try and get on the road as much as possible and start bumping \u2018Peace Of Mind\u2019<\/em>. We\u2019re really proud of it so we want to take it out, get around the country and make some new friends. We\u2019re always writing and working on new stuff and trying to get better, so it\u2019s just full steam ahead to try and get things going. <\/em><\/p>\n