Interviews: Colour Me Wednesday

In this new occasion we had the great opportunity to interview the Pop Punk/Indie band Colour Me Wednesday from UK. We have nothing more to say than enjoy this interview and like their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that? 

Harriet: Came up with it when I was a teenager. Just liked it. Like the word Wednesday. Sorry its not more interesting haha.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Jennifer: Depends what genre you think we are I guess. Ska?

H: Originally

J: I just love ska, brings all races together. And its great to dance to and drink beer and cider mixed together. Actually, just joking, take that off the record haha.

Carmela: I didn’t really decide to play this genre. It was more the type of music I was listening to I guess.

H: The genre just comes out of you like a fart

J: It is the one true genre. Punk and indie pop music is a good middle-ground between chart pop which we grew up on and the kinda indie/grunge music we grew up on in early 90s. So trying to make it catchy as possible but with distorted guitars and DIY handmade sensibilities.

C: When I first heard Colour Me Wednesday it was catchy pop tunes but with lyrics that were political, talking about things that were relevant.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

J: I knew Harriet since the day she was born.

H: Since I was a hairy little monkey.

J: Yeah since she was a hairy little monkey. I used to wash her in the sink. I will not wash dishes, but I will wash little monkey babies. And Carmela, I still don’t know her. She’s a void but she’s very calming. A calming absence of matter. Anti-matter. And you can never truly know anti-matter.

C: Well we met playing a gig.

H: One of those shit gigs y’know?

C: With a band I was in at University. And then Colour Me Wednesday’s old bassist got in touch with me

J: Like “would you like to replace me?”

C: So I properly got to know everyone at the first band practice in 2012.

4. Each band member favourite band?

H: Too hard 

J: So hard… Carmela’s favourite is PJ Harvey 

C: Yeah if I had to pick one 

J: Me and Harriet love anything Juliana Hatfield was involved in, Blake Babies, Lemonheads. Other stuff from that era Belly, Throwing muses. More recently, really love Waxahatchee, Lemuria, Hop Along, Laura Stevenson, Chvrches. That’s enough for all of us, we all like the same 

H: Bringing it back to more chart pop. Also love Little Mix, Sia, Ariana Grande, Craig David.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

H: All the music above! And when I’m pissed off about something

J: A lot of songs on our first album… H: Were about being pissed off….its what we should’ve called the first album J: Yeah stuff that’s pissed me off and its given me the drive to write something. Sometimes I just think of clever word play, words that rhyme with each other and then build a song around it

H: I don’t know how people write about happy stuff 

C: I have to be fairly happy when I write, but won’t write about happy things. But when I’m upset in the moment I can’t write at all. I’m not drawing on happy things when I write.

J: If I’m upset or something happens to me in my life- a big life changing sad event it has to sort of be over before I can write about it. 

H: Yeah in hindsight, that’s when you’ll articulate it best. 

C: I’m not one those people when something happens to them they immediately go write about it

J: Is anyone like that? I feel like it’s kinda a myth

C: People say people like Amy Winehouse would write like that…immediately autobiographical..

J: Maybe she had some distance from it first though

C: Daniel versus the world maybe does? 

J: I guess he wrote five by five when he was sad.

H: I just got shivers thinking about his song writing.

6. Where was your last gig?

H: Spain! 

J: In Madrid, we headlined the Friday night of Madrid pop fest and it was really great

H: So fun! And so many men in turtlenecks. Some were the good type of man in turtleneck, some the bad.

J: The turtleneck has just been invented in Spain. They’re several decades behind us cos of fascism. But finally the turtleneck is allowed back in Spain.

H: One man we met only quoted lines from films “Are you talking to me?” and “show me the money”. We also ate asparagus and vegan mayo sandwiches on white bread.

J: Albino asparagus

H: 250 people were at the gig

J: All loving it! Took loadsa pics with people.

H: Old man sucking a heart shaped lolly-pop wanted an autograph

J: So amazing, I wanna draw him.

7. Where would you like to act?

C: Madrid was our first European gig. We’re really excited to play more of Europe.

H: Which will be happening in August

J: So exciting. I really want to play Milan.

H: Also want to go back to the US one day.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

H: I’d like to play with Paramore. I wrote it on twitter once and it got like…10 retweets, wow. 

J: We want to play with Lush and we almost got a slot with Belly. And The Sundays if they ever reform. 

H: If you mean feature on a song with, easily Craig David. 

J: Jerry Seinfield

9. Whom not? 

H: Anyone who is problematic I guess?

J: Not with Chris Brown H: Not with any of those pop punk pervs... not that all of them are pervs. You know the ones.

J: No cool, aloof hipster bands who can’t loosen up or unclench cos they’re too busy trying to pick the right grubby vintage t-shirt with the right stains on it. 

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright?

H: Used to. Now I get happy nervous. Used to feel like all the men were judging my guitar playing, now I don’t care.

J: Some of our early gigs I forgot lyrics to songs, really early gigs. Some people don’t notice. And I still get a fear I’m going to forget lyrics, but they just come out of my mouth like I can’t control it.

C: I get more nervous when I have to sing. But when I started playing bass again, it was awkward not having a mic in front of me, didn’t know what to do with my body.

J: But Carmela looks really cool when she plays bass, at one with the bass.

H: Effortless

11. Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

J: Use the energy in your performance. Do a lot of stretching. I’m a bit stiff.

H: Jog on the spot before you go on.

J: Yeah to activate the energy. Don’t look at your feet.

H: People think drinking makes them less nervous and play better, but then if you watch a video back of yourself you realized you were shit.

C: Just remember that the crowd are just people, not just a scary mass.

J: Look into the crowd.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

J: There’s a guy who proposed to his ex girlfriend- not marriage- just proposed to be together again using a Colour Me Wednesday CD or tape.

H: Wait a minute…

J: Did you have to write a letter to them or something?

H: Yeah they were broken up…

J: Harriet had to write a letter…what did it say?

H: Well they emailed asking if I would send them a letter with their merch as they were going through a tough time as their girlfriend left them and they were really sad. I wrote them a letter saying something like… “thank you for getting in touch, and things will hurt for a while, but it’ll stop and you’ll move on” 

J: Then I think he gave that package to his girlfriend to try and get back with her

H: Well if I knew that I probably wouldn’t have written “move on, you’ll find someone else” Oh no! I was trying to give them a pep talk. 

13. What do you think of your fans? 

J: Cliché, but the best people.

H: What I like about them is, things they write about us on online they don’t always tag us or contact us. But if you self-search- like everyone does. You find all these little posts from introverts with blogs, typing up our lyrics and how much they relate to them. So nice.

J: I think they get a fuzzy feeling. Finding something that really resonated with them and take it personally.

14. What do you think of our site?

J: Your site gave me spyware. Just kidding.

H: Our website has been hijacked by the porn industry. Your website is very professional, already spotted a woman on the front page too- good sign. Interview, reviews, news. I’m jealous of it.

J: Its great!

H: Really well put together, a lot of band features. 

15. Something to add?

C: We’re releasing a new EP. It’s self-produced and we’re co-releasing. And it’s nice to have new songs out!

H: We haven’t released anything in almost 2 years.

J: People think of an EP as not as good as an album in quality. Even though its only 4 tracks, it’s low quantity and high quality. Every song is great and every song is different. We recorded it ourselves and we did a really good job. 

H: Out on KROD Records, Dovetown and Wiener records this Spring/Summer yay!!