Q&A: In Color is Right on Time
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY JOY VILLANUEVA ☆
Photo by Kamal “Eazy” Holder
BANDS ARE OFFICIALLY MAKING A RESURGENCE, AND IN COLOR HAS ARRIVED AT THE PERFECT MOMENT. Their viral hit “Headlights,” which has recently hit #1 at Alternative Radio and now has over 30M streams across all streaming platforms, hits listeners right in the gut with a theme that seems to be very familiar in their discography—wanting, even if you know it’s wrong.
Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, the band came together with different experiences in music, finally deciding to make things official after a snowed-in hangout. With their electric new single “High” released in July and the band back out on the road, In Color is proving they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Read Luna’s conversation with In Color below.
Photo by Emily Carver
LUNA: "Headlights" has become such a huge moment for you guys, taking off on TikTok and surpassing 19 million Spotify streams. When you first released it, did you have any feeling it would connect with people in that way? Is there another song you’ve released that you'd love to see have its own viral moment?
IN COLOR: When we made “Headlights,” each of us had a really visceral reaction. The emotion the song elicited from us internally made us feel like it had a good shot at doing the same for others. To see it reach so many people already feels like such a triumph, and that connection is really what it's all about for us. “Lighter” is another song that I’d love to see resonate on a similar scale. In its own way, it too pulls a very visceral reaction out of us and fans, especially live.
LUNA: You guys literally bonded over getting snowed in together during a Nashville snowstorm. Was there a specific moment during that time that solidified the connection?
IN COLOR: The specific moment came after we all went home from being snowed in, funny enough. Val sent a text in our group message saying something like, “We would look really cool as a band.” I guess that’s all it took for us to take a pause and be like, “Well, we already love hanging out and making music together, so I guess we probably should start a band.”
LUNA: Boy bands are SO back! Why do you think people are gravitating back toward bands again after the rise of solo artists? Do you feel like In Color came along at the perfect time?
IN COLOR: It’s pretty wild how important timing is for any artistic endeavor. There’s a pulse in culture and art that’s in a constant dance with itself, so positioning in that landscape matters so much. We’ve lucked out with our timing because bands are absolutely making a resurgence.
LUNA: I am OBSESSED with your new single “High." The verse, "Fever never sleeps when you can't kick the habit / Sweat through the seams, I'll do anything to have it / Dilated eyes, can't see through the static," is absolutely insane. Peak lyricism. Where did those lyrics come from, and what kind of headspace were you in when you wrote them?
IN COLOR: When we wrote that verse, and the whole song really, we wanted to tap into that universal feeling of wanting what you want, regardless of the consequences that come with it. Sometimes we all want the things that are bad for us in the long run.
LUNA: For your songwriting process, is there something specific that jumpstarts it? Does someone come in with a lyric or melody they can't get out of their head and bring it to the studio, or maybe even the group chat? What does that process usually look like for you guys?
IN COLOR: The process for us varies, but most of the time, the “vibe” of a track comes before the songwriting. One of us will usually start a loop, whether it’s a groove or synth texture, and that will lead us to uncover a chord progression, which then opens the doors for writing a song.
LUNA: You all had your own musical journeys before In Color, where you played in other bands or worked on solo music. Looking back at that time now, what's something you learned from those experiences that you brought into this band?
IN COLOR: We all gained so much perspective from our previous ventures in music. There’s the technical side of things, such as Holden being an absolute guru at playback engineering, and then the broader-picture aspects of navigating life on tour and away from home, which is something everyone who does this has to figure out. There are really so many things we each went through before this band that allow us to make more informed decisions than we would without those experiences. Maybe more than anything else, I think we all realized how important it is for us to create the artistry, because that formation process inspires the love for being on the road and all of the intricacies of pursuing this career.
LUNA: I feel like I could hear an In Color song without knowing it's you guys and still recognize it. How did you land on that sound? Any specific musical influences, especially in the Nashville scene?
IN COLOR: Between the four of us, the inspirations are extensive and sometimes disparate. Something I love about us is that we have very aligned ways of filtering. It’s rare that we disagree about what we think is “cool.” And that’s really the best thing about being in a band–trying to make something we collectively respond to as “Whoa, that’s cool.”
LUNA: You guys have been on such an exciting run lately. What can listeners expect next from In Color? Anything you can tease for Luna readers?
IN COLOR: We’re getting ready to hit the road again this summer with Jutes, and then The Maine in the fall. Plus, we’ve got more headline shows lined up throughout the year too. Our first-ever headline tour sold out earlier this year, and it was crazy getting to hear our songs sung back to us in cities we’ve never been to. Oh, and we’ve got tons of new music coming so stay tuned.
Photo by Emily Carver
