Explode Into Colors Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 9th 2010 8:16AM by Rebecca K. Pointe
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The Portland, OR band Explode Into Colors is a three-piece experimental indie group put together with players from other bands such as Thunder!Thunder!Thunder!, Hornet Leg and Japanther. Claudia Meza, Lisa Schonberg and Heather Treadway were recently voted Best New Band by a jury of their peers in local rag the Willamette Week, named an artist to watch by XLR8R and one of the top 10 bands of SXSW 2009, according to the NME.

Describe your sound.

Our sound is a lot of drums, kind of spooky and dance-y. Definitely a lot of drums. Oh, and some heavy bass.

How did your band form?

Well, Lisa and I have known each other a long while. We both played together on the sly. We moved to Portland together a couple of years ago and our schedules allowed us to make this work out. When it came time to make it happen, we invited Heather to join us. We actually all met in Olympia. We all went to Evergreen, a liberal arts school. Lisa and Heather were both in the percussion club and learned to play together.

What are your musical influences?

Heather is really into West African drums and fun pop like Boyz II Men and New Kids on the Block. Lisa loves '90s grunge rock. She learned how to play drums to Led Zeppelin albums. I'm really into Liquid Liquid. I love John Cage, Steve Reich and Laurie Anderson. Oh, and Tom Tom Club.

How did you come up with your band name?

I actually came up with the name. I was having a conversation with some friends about how we wanted to die. They asked how I want to go and I said I wanted to explode into colors. Like a cartoon or video game. I presented it to Lisa and she was totally into it.

What's in your festival survival kit?

We call it the "Sad Bag." It has all kinds of things, like tea, honey and Emergen-C. We also have pantyhose and breath mints. You know, just in case we need them to help us find a place to stay for the night. We start out all healthy and with good intentions, but it doesn't last. Our Sad Bags get more perverse and the jokes get sadder as the tour goes. That's why we call them "Sad Bags."

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced on tour?

One of the craziest things happened recently on tour. During a song, the PA caught on fire. Then it put itself out and kept working! I didn't really know what happened. People kept coming up to me talking about how we set fire to the speakers. I thought it was some different language or slang. When I found out what happened, I told the friend we borrowed it from that I was sorry and he was like, "It's fine. It works."

If you could choose one song (not your own) to represent you on the soundtrack of your life, what song would it be?

I would choose 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now' by the Smiths. It talks about how he wants all these things and once he has them, he hates it. That is exactly what I'd be like.

Most played track on your iPod?

Right now, I'm listening to a lot of Best Coast. I just discovered them a couple of months ago and I'm really into them.

If you weren't creating music, what job would you want to try?

I imagine Lisa to be doing something with entomology. Heather is a fashion designer, so she'd be doing that if we weren't in the band. I'd want to be a really pretentious video artist.

Who would be in your ultimate music super-group, your all-star Olympic team of rock?

Dig this! I think I would really love Zac Pennington's voice with Einstein on the Beach. Another great supergroup would be Liquid Liquid fronted by Sister Nancy. That would be kind of sick.

Rebecca K. Pointe is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.