Interview with Secret Colours' Dave Stach and Tommy Evans

Secret Colours

As I sat at a table in the back of Bottom Lounge, I could feel the drone that seamlessly ran through each song during Secret Colours’ Record Store Day set. This wasn’t my normal show-going experience of listening and responding with applause.  Though the only substance I indulged in was a few overpriced Heinekens, I could definitely feel something running through me that most likely connected me to the rest of the standing audience.  This leads me to a question I’ve posed a million times to my friends.  Why are stoners and takers off other hallucinagens  so prone to jam bands as musical accompaniment?  Sub-par singing and predictable jams that go no direction that Phish hasn’t already exhausted long ago seem like a pale substitute to what I felt at the Bottom Lounge.

Anyway, read on to see what Tommy and Dave have to say about the recent buzz surrounding their band, their SXSW experience, and what makes their perfect mixtape.

Crowd at Secret Colours' SXSW Set at Emo's. Photo Courtesy of Lenny Gilmore (Red Eye)

1. How do you guys handle all of the press that seems to have happened so quickly?Dave:  Sometimes it gets pretty overwhelming.  But so far we’ve gotten mostly positive reviews for everything.  It’s definitely easier to sleep at night knowing people are digging what we’re doing.  

2. I saw some pictures from your SXSW show at Emos.  What was it like to play for over a thousand people?  Were you nervous at all?

Tommy: That night was indescribable.  We were a lot of things that night.Dave:  Best feeling ever.  That’s easily the biggest crowd we’ve played to.  The cool thing was, everyone was digging it.  It felt phenomenal.  We got to share the stage with bands that we dig so much, like Christian Bland and the Revelators, Shapes Have Fangs, and The Night Beats.   What else could you ask for?

3. You’ve been together for about a year and a half, yet you have a full length and 3 singles already released and you’re going into the studio to work on a new full length album this summer.  At a time in music where bands seem to be taking more and more time between releases, why do you feel the need to be so prolific?

Tommy:  We’re just trying to do as much as we can with the time we have on this planet.  

Dave:  We’re just doing what we love.  We have songs done, so why not share them?  Since we’re all still in school, we can’t really go on tour or anything like that.  So we just bide our time by putting out releases. 

4. BJM or Dandy Warhols?
Tommy:  LSD or Ecstasy? 

5. Digital or Vinyl?
Tommy:  Convenience or Quality?

6. Are there any Secret Colours traditions?
Dave:  Well, we practice back in the suburbs where we grew up.  We usually go back on a Saturday, party all night, then wake up Sunday and practice all day.  I guess that’s kind of our pre-practice ritual.  

7. What 5 songs make the greatest mixtape?
Tommy: Damn, that’s hard.  I Am the Walrus - The Beatles, I Am the Resurrection - The Stone Roses, Mellow Song - Blur, Dry the Rain - Beta Band, and Boat Song - The Black Angels. 

Dave:  Vicious - Lou Reed,  Evil Eyes Again - The Warlocks,  Citadel - Rolling Stones,  The Sniper - The Black Angels, and Who?- The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

8. If you could tour with one band, who would it be?
Tommy: The Black Angels.

9. What’s the best year in music history and why?
Tommy: 1967.  Brilliant, influential albums came out, and great music festivals happened… I wish I had a time machine.

10. The Beatles have Magical Mystery Tour, the Stones have Rock and Roll Circus.  What’s the name of the Secret Colours movie?
Tommy:  Haha, I don’t know.  Probably something that wouldn’t even compare to those movies.

11. What local bands should I interview next?
Tommy:  Radar Eyes, Great Society Mind Destroyers, Hollows, Panda Riot, Rabble Rabble, Verma, Calm Palm Vapor.