What’s The BUZZ with Shanea Speidel Shanea Speidel, Video Reporter and Correspondent for BUZZTV Contributing Writer for Xombiewoof Magazine The Colourflies, I met this band almost a year and a half ago. I drove to Idaho to see what the big hype was over this band. I pulled up to a large old house that had a parking lot that was packed. As I made my way into the unfurnished grungy place pushing my way through bodies to get down some steep cement stairs where the music was coming from, this band was putting off a lot of good energy. I stood back watched and listened as the young crowd sang, danced and jumped up and down to the music. I thought this band is great. After the show they asked me to go to Denny's with them and about 25 of their fans. Of course I went so I could get a feel of who these artists were off the stage. Well the fun never stops with this band. They are just as entertaining off the stage as on. They are corky, funny, worry free and very energetic. They love to play and people love to go see them. In fact, The Colourflies name is spreading so fast, when I had flown into Washington a few months ago, they were there getting ready for a big show. Read what they have to say, their personality comes through in their answers. I think you will love them and their music.
SHANEA: What type of band are you?
MATT: We're an anything kind of band; we play whatever intensity or genre we feel like. SCOTTY: We have been called college rock, we've been called alternative, grunge, pop punk. The variety of music we play really creates a style of its own. MADDIE: I'd say we are alternative rock with pop influences. NICK: I think we are a rock band with hooks. If they played this type of music on the radio anymore, I would say that is where we would be.
MATT: I wanted to start a band, and I started playing with a drummer from my school named Josh, while demoing all the songs I would do with him, with a guy named Adam down the street and when Josh didn't want to do it anymore, Adam and I had a nice repertoire of songs already, Then I got my best gal pal to play bass. SCOTTY: a long time ago far, far away, there was this fly unlike the other flies. He was colorful. He buzzed in Harmony with 3 other flies, traveling town to town. Even with some flies getting swatted along the way, more came to join... MADDIE: Well, I haven’t been in the band for long. Less than a month, really, I know that Mayde and Adam used to be in the band, and now I’m in it. Matt’s been working really hard on it. NICK: Though I was not an original member, I did name the band. That is really the only history that is important. Unless you think the name sucks, in which case, Matt came up with it.
SHANEA: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
SHANEA: What are your dreams and goals?
MATT: My aspirations for this band are to be able to fully express myself and reach people who feel the same way I do. SCOTTY: My overall dream/goal is to successfully go across the country sharing music, and meeting more fans. MADDIE: My dream is to make it big with my voice, and make a difference in the lives of people. There are so many problems in the world that I feel too small to tackle alone. If I were to get recognition through my music and writings, and make a difference with those, I’d be the happiest person alive. I also hope to be a good person for my little sister to look up to.
MATT: We all sort of write the songs, I usually come up with the basic idea and bring it to the band, and they come up with parts and add their personality to it. Well the Songs on this record, which we're still recording, range from your typical boy meets girl falls in love, to zany conspiracy theories, and alien abduction, as well as murder, child abuse, indie superiority, sexual fetishism, and being away from a loved one. SCOTTY: Matt writes the songs, I will usually write the leads, each member will contribute to the song, and the meaning? I guess it's really up to your interpretation, why don't you tell me? MADDIE: We all contribute to writing songs, but Matt comes up with most of the main bits in my opinion. He and I recently wrote a song, and my parts are about letting go of people who weigh me down in life. NICK: Matt writes the music. What I respect about his songwriting is that he really does progress and evolve. I’ve been around since the first demos for this band were written and it is really a whole other band now. He isn’t afraid to take some off the wall chances with instrumentation and arrangement. I respect always trying to do something different. End of ass kissing.
NICK: think the easiest thing in the world is to shit all over George Bush. I don’t agree with his ideology or many of the decisions he made while in office, but he was president during an extremely difficult time in our nation’s history and he did what he thought was best for this country. I’m not one of those people that think I know the way to handle every problem that this country is faced with. I can’t imagine how hard it is to be president and to make the decisions he had to make. I respect that he stands by the decisions he made while he was in office when the easy thing to do would be to back-peddle on them after all the criticism. He has also done a lot of good since he got out of office. I’m not going to trash him, time to move on.
SHANEA: How do you promote your band and shows?
SHANEA: Describe your show, visual and musically.
MATT: Our Show is basically a you see is what you get vibe, There are nights when we suck, but we're having so much fun, that it's almost a moot point, but there are shows where we're great and all on the same page and the doves cry and the angels descend. Musically the most important thing is getting emotion across, and intensity and energy. We've been called one of the most energetic bands in our area and it kind of sticks with you for every show. SCOTTY: The shows are really just energy, the music is fun happy music you can dance or mosh to. The visual performance is a lot of jumps on stage, a lot of togetherness; we all connect on stage, that's for sure! Maddie: Energetic. Each of us brings our own energy to the shows. NICK: Energy. We don’t dress up or use gimmicks. We just play music and hopefully the energy we put into it connects with people.
SHANEA: What do you think about downloading music online?
MATT: I think that if you have people wanting to download your music, you should appreciate it. We put all of ours up for free, unless we're doing a charity thing for a single or something. SCOTTY: Sucks for the label who gets 80 cents to the dollar of the song, but I have a system of a down view on it, take the songs for free, just remember to buy the merch, and tickets NICK: I absolutely love owning the physical copy of an album whether it be on CD or vinyl. It is the experience of the whole package that really makes a great record, but that being said, I generally don’t have any problem with it. It opens up people to music that they may have otherwise not listened to. Whether that leads to them picking up the record in the store or going to see the band in concert, I think it has a positive effect. Obviously like anything else it can be abused, but I believe that people that really love and care about music come by it legally.
SHANEA: What's your outlook on the record industry today?
MATT: I don't think it truly caters to its clients, as much as it caters to fans being able to spend money for the artists they represent. I've read countless stories of labels screwing over their artists, from everyone to The Beatles, which is referenced in the beginning of Abbey Road medley cut, "You Never Give Me Your Money" to David Bowie with the "Let's Dance" record, and Green Day with their first two records. SCOTTY: The music industry can be sickening, the bands with real talent usually fall short of those with real Auto-tune, there was once a time when making music for a living was about more than money drugs and fame. Those still can't with the package, but they weren't the whole deal. MADDIE: I don’t know enough about it to really have an opinion. There are some really good companies that build up independent artists, and I like that. But for the most part, I think that the industry is too focused on one kind of sound. It’s boring.
SHANEA: What's your claim to fame?
MATT: Probably opening up for the Meat Puppets. MADDIE: My voice. I’ve been singing since I was 11, and I’m in a jazz group at my college.
MATT: I decorated my new guitar with stick on spiders yesterday, and then I fell asleep and had a dream that I lived in a basement with Hobo Spiders that would crawl around, and then My step mom drove me to go sign up for the Illuminati. I realized when I woke up that I actually used to live in the unfinished basement in my dream, and that Hobo Spiders did frequent regularly, It was all a real memory, except for the Illuminati thing. MADDIE: found out that one of my exes was going to flee the country recently, and it made me sad because he used to be my best friend. I thought about how much it scared me that he was going to make such a terrible decision, and I think that I realized in that moment that I really can’t change people or make decisions for them. It was a big shift for me. NICK: wake up, fall out of bed and drag a comb across my head. I find my way downstairs and drink a cup until I look up and notice that I’m late. Then I find my coat and grab my hat so I can make the bus in seconds flat. I then find my way upstairs and have a smoke and somebody speaks and I go into a dream.
SHANEA: What inspires you to do what you do?
MATT: The need to exceed my own expectations of what I can do, and that I love playing. NICK: I love music.
MATT: If you want to play, do it, but don't compromise, If you feel something, say it, if you tear shit up or down, do it. Don’t be pristine, because that's what everyone wants you to be, and don't be dirty just because it's cool. MADDIE: Keep trying, and stay true to your sound. Even if you aren’t popular at first, there are going to be diehards that love you no matter what. NICK: Don’t suck. You piss me off when I go see you and you suck. I know all art is subjective, but seriously, don’t suck.
SHANEA: What are some of your pet peeves?
MATT: Holier than thou, people and bands. Moreover, People that are actually calling themselves hipsters and dressing like hipsters and listening to the worst atmospheric bull shit you've ever heard, I don't care what you listen to in your spare time, but don't tell me it's cool, when you and I both know you're trying to fit in with the guy wearing a sweater vest pouring your java.
SHANEA: How does music affect you and the world around you?
MATT: I listen to music from the second I wake up, to the minute I go to sleep, it’s the gospel. Music can make people dance, cry, and laugh, and no one can ever take it away from you. There's been times when all I've had was music, and it was the only thing I had to look forward to in my life. SCOTTY: Music affects everyone; music is the only logical explanation for sanity since the beginning of homosapien creation. NICK: Everyone loves music. I met all of my friends through music. It is universal.
SHANEA: What's new in the recording of your music?
MATT: Quality! We released our first record and managed to move 500 copies, and sell out in our local record store, and I listen to it and I just feel like it's such a big embarrassment. This record is really good, and really honest, parts of it make me really uncomfortable, Like the second song on the record, "My Buddy" and a song that's out and out angry towards a specific demographic called "Causal Rock" and a song we're all really excited about called "Bat Face" also this is actually a concept record that is about 23 songs long, and called Kid Tested, Mother Approved. All the songs have a child like sense of melody as long as being written to be as catchy as nursery rhymes from you were a kid. SCOTTY: New studios. New sound, even new instruments are what you can expect for the next newest recordings. NICK: The Lineup.
SHANEA: What are the biggest obstacles for bands?
SHANEA: What's the best and worst thing about playing clubs?
MATT: The Worst thing is the space and the temperature, The best thing is the space and the temperature. When there are more people in a tiny space, the shows are more fun, also our band tends to explode in a small space. SCOTTY: The worst part about playing clubs is usually the drunken people, always telling us to play free bird.
SHANEA: Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there
MATT: Our next show is in a place called Underground 15, and we've never been there before, but we were booked by Unconfined, You should be there because, we're debuting three new songs which we're going to go record and release as a single called the Holy Trinity, The songs we'll be doing at Crabwalk studios, which I hear Slayer recorded at, are Causal Rock, Bat Face, and Nickelodeon. Stay Tuned! Thanks! MADDIE: We have a show at a new venue in Spokane on Friday the 5th! You should be there because it’s our first show with me as an official member, and it’s a new venue. And we have brand new songs that will be on our record NICK: Because Brad Pitt will also be there. Do you really want to say you missed the show with Brad Pitt?
Didn’t think so.
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Photos Courtesy of The Colourflies Facebook Page
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