A Q&A with Local Band, Add the Color
Over the past couple weeks I have been corresponding via e-mail and MySpace with Ivan Jacquez of local band Add the Color. Jacquez was kind enough to answer all my questions with plenty of detail, so rather than turning everything into my own words, I decided to leave the interview in question and answer format so you can hear everything straight from him.
MS: How long has the band been together and how was it formed?
IJ: We have fully been a band since August 2009. The way we came together is I had a bunch of songs written and roughly recorded that I had done by myself, so I thought I’d give it a shot and start a full band and play those songs live and see how it would go. Omar started playing drums almost at the same time that I started so he would catch on right away, and seeing that his family and mine are very close, it was only right to have him in the band. BJ was the last addition to the band. At first I was going to play bass and sing, then I would just find a guitar player. Then I figured it would be a lot easier to teach someone the bass parts, then a buddy told me to get a hold of this kid BJ, and so far he’s been great, I’m stoked on him.
MS: What are some of your musical influences?
IJ: We all listen to a lot of different stuff. I listen to a lot of Indie stuff like The Cure, Jason Mraz and The Temper Trap, but where my heart is at is pop punk like Blink-182, New Found Glory and Greenday. I think most people would probably say we sound like Blink…even though its really cliche to say that being from San Diego haha, but hey, we’re not gonna fight it!
MS: What do you find yourself writing about most in your songs?
IJ: Girls haha! But we have songs about dancing and just having a good time.
MS: What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?
IJ: Our EP is almost done, we just need to redo some stuff here and there, but it’s coming and sounding really good. We’re doing it all at my house, so that gives us time to add more to it and make it a masterpiece!
MS: Do you write the songs yourself, or is it a more collaborative process?
IJ: There’s about five songs that I completely wrote by myself that I wrote before forming the band that we still play, but now we all add to the songs. I’ll write the structure and a melody, BJ will write harmonies and other melodies that I would have never even thought of and Omar will have a beat in mind that works. So the writing process is really exciting.
MS: Is there any kind of message you try to convey through your music or as a band?
IJ: If there’s a message in our band it is to just play what you think sounds good, and that every song can be different.
MS: Do you have any upcoming shows in San Diego or elsewhere?
IJ: As of right now we don’t have any coming up. We just played at SOMA with Get Back Loretta , which, by the way, they rule.
MS: Are there any tour plans once your EP has been released?
IJ: Actually we have never talked about touring or anything like that. Would we want to? Hell yes! Haha. But maybe once we’re more known, maybe next year?
MS: What other bands would you recommend for fans of your music?
IJ: For fans of our music you should definitely check out our boys in Plane Without A Pilot and our girlfriends in Hide The Details!
“Right Here Right Now”
Make sure to check out Add the Color at myspace.com/addthecolor.