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Q&A WITH CHICAGO ROCK PROJECT - COLOR OUT



Color Out is a rock solo project from singer/songwriter Dave Hedrick hailing from Chicago, IL. It all began in 2015 when Color Out released it's first 6 song EP featuring the singles "Anything But Everything" and "Mercurial" which features AJ Perdomo, the lead singer of The Dangerous Summer. Both tracks received heavy airplay around the world and contributed to over 1.5 million streams. Color Out released the follow up EP Forget Yesterday in 2017. This EP featured the singles "Kay", "Mistaken" & "Falling Star". Color Out's music is high energy rock with catchy melodies and relatable lyrics. Color Out is also not afraid to show the softer side with songs such as "Winter Chill" & "By your Side". Color Out's success is centered around the ability to reach the masses with multi-genre appeal.


TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM


The Perspectives EP will be available everywhere on 3/13/20. This will be the 4th EP for Color Out and will feature a total of 6 songs. Although this EP has more of a Pop/Punk sound, I think there are a couple of songs like “High Hopes” and “With You” that showcase a completely different side. This has always been important to me as a songwriter. I try to incorporate a lot of different styles in my music and I think that comes across on this EP.


HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THE SONGWRITING PROCESS?


Songwriting for me almost always starts with a guitar riff. I typically am just playing around and stumble upon a cool idea. I’ll record that and then work on a vocal melody over it. It’s usually at that point I know if this idea is worth pursuing or not. From there I piece together each part and start adding layers with additional instruments. The last piece is finalizing the lyrics and that is typically the most challenging part. Sometimes writing lyrics is effortless and they come pouring out. Other times, I spend weeks on one line of a song. For me, the song has to mean something and has to evoke some real emotion. It’s easy to get lazy with lyrics so I am constantly fighting that battle.


WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM?


Life! Over the past year I’ve experienced a lot of changes, one is having twin boys back in January 2019. I think any time you have such a life-changing event, that changes your perspective (Get it?). Although I didn’t set out to write a more upbeat album, it seems that is what came out during the songwriting process. There are two songs on this EP that are really different for me lyrically and those are “Perspectives” & “With You”. “Perspectives” is one of those songs that I think everyone can relate to. It’s a song about being out on the town and not wanting the night to end. We all get so caught up in everyday life, it’s important to stop and live in the moment and that’s what this song is about. “With You” is probably the most personal song I have ever written, and it was the first song I wrote after my kids were born. I honestly never intended on releasing this song, but I am happy I did and think it will be well received.


WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TRACK?


Such a tough question. I think “Drifter”, although “Perspectives” is a close second. I love the intro on “Drifter” and the overall energy on the track. Additionally, I really like how the chorus came out lyrically and melodically.


WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?


Death Cab for Cutie, Third Eye Blind, The Dangerous Summer, Beatles and Fleetwood Mac to name a few. So many others, but I feel these are all songwriters I really look up to. I am also heavily influenced by the early to mid 2000’s rock & emo era. There were so many good bands during this time and I think this era really shaped the Color Out sound.


WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE?


Third Eye Blind – Self Titled. It’s one of those albums that I remember vividly where I was when I first heard it. Ageing myself here a bit, but I remember listening to it every night for about a week straight on a Sony Walkman at some youth retreat camp. Of course, I loved the hits off that album, but the songs that I connected with most were “Motorcycle Drive By”, “God of Wine” and “Narcolepsy”. Kevin Cadogan (Guitarist) absolutely kills it on this album, so many memorable riffs and solos. I rate songs by how often they are skipped on shuffle. There is a strict no skip policy on any song off this album.


WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE MUSIC?


I’ll answer this a different way because we all know how difficult is it to make money in this industry. I shudder to think of my life without making music. It has brought me so much happiness and allowed me to meet so many people I never would have met otherwise. I know I am not the most successful rock band out there, but I have accomplished more than I ever imagined with this project and that’s what inspires me to keep going.


WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECORD ONE OF YOUR SONGS, AND WHICH ONE?


There is an artist Ruston Kelly that is more folk/Americana, but he loves emo music and recently released an album covering some popular emo songs from back in early 2000s. What is so cool about this is that he takes these rock songs and turns them into acoustic/Americana songs. I would love to hear him cover “Mercurial”.


HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?


In early 2015 I was living in Chicago and was playing in a band touring the Midwest here and there. When it came time to record an album with them, it was clear that we were headed in different directions musically. I knew I had a couple of decent songs and decided to start a solo project to release them, and that is how Color Out formed. I really had no idea what I was doing at the time but I recorded a 5 song EP and released it in April 2015. A couple of the songs ended up on a video game and five years later, “Mercurial” is still my most popular song.


WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE STARTING OUT?


Take advantage of ALL the streaming platforms out there, even free ones. I uploaded my music on Jamendo, which is a free site, and that ultimately led to paid gig writing the soundtrack for a video game. This was an incredible experience that gave me the exposure I had never had before. So my advice is don’t limit yourself, write from the heart, and take the time to connect with the fans.


WHAT IS NEXT?


Next is the Perspectives EP release on 3/13/20! Some of these songs were written 8-10 months ago, so I can’t wait for them to finally be heard! Outside of that, I’ll spend the next couple months promoting the album, doing interviews etc to get the word out there.

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