The world’s first ever Yorkshire/Oklahoma-based band, Colourmusic deal in deliciously heavy euphoria, with front man Ryan Hendrix coming on like a cult-leader: spooky, uplifting and ever so slightly odd.

Signing to Memphis Industries, home of The Go! Team, Field Music and many more, the band have spent the past year hard at work, crafting an immense, monstrous, chaotic, kick ass record that takes in agnostic gospel grooves, hip-shaking R&B, acid-drenched pop and psych rock. Colourmusic been described by British press as “a psyched-up stonker” and “…like The Beta Band backing The Flaming Lips.

Recently, Bestnewbands.com caught up with Hendrix to rap about the definition of the band, what it’s like to work with Memphis Industries and the band’s plans for 2011.

Daniel Kohn: What’s it mean to be a ‘Yorkshire/Oklahoma’ band? Is it a British western sound?

Ryan Hendrix: Well, in the history of all time, there has never been a Yorkshire/Oklahoma band.  So the official “Yorkshire/Oklahoma” sound will be whatever the hell we decide it’ll be.  In the end, I hope we contribute something new.

DK: How has working with Memphis Industries helped the band get its sound out?

RH: They have done really some cool things for us; we’ve been played on BBC and got us working with some cool people.  I don’t really know what happens behind the scenes because they go to work when we go to bed.  We have a kind of message in a bottle relationship.  They’ll send us a message, we get it the next day, reply, then a day goes by and they receive it.  If we ever call them, we have to pretend we know what they are talking about, cause they have pretty thick accents.

DK: What has been like to be getting praise and recognition from many important outlets? Does it keep you focused?

RH: I prefer praise, but praise doesn’t really last because you forget about it quickly. Usually we move forward through fear and loathing.

DK: Are you planning on doing any shows before SXSW?

RH: We have some shows planned in Oklahoma, just to warm up.

DK: What does the new album sound like? What were you listening to as you were recording

RH: We wanted to make a metal album that asked what would metal sound like it Black Sabbath had been a band of women instead of men.  So I think what we did was an album full of round textures and shapes.  When we were making the album, we weren’t really listening to anything in particular, but we were watching an excessive amount of Blade Runner and Stanley Kubrick films, over and over again.

DK: What cities are you looking forward to playing to this tour? Are you playing any new cities?

RH: Dublin, Glasgow, London, but I’m also really excited if we play Birmingham, Alabama.  The Bottletree is an amazing place.  I also love to play Little Rock, Arkansas at Sticky Fingerz; the best sound guy in the world is there. His name is the maestro.

DK: What are the band’s goals for 2011?

RH: We are literally recording another album at this exact second.  So finishing it in time to be released for 2012.  We are hoping to be touring for a few years.

 

With an exciting showcase at South by Southwest, expect to hear from these unique newcomers in the near future.