There is 8 days to go before The Color Morale set off on tour in the UK and Europe, and front man Garret Rapp is taking the time to talk to LMA about the excitement of being invited to play Soundwave Festival in 2015, the reinforcement of hope, what keeps him going and what The Color Morale are about as a band…
Congratulations on being part of the Soundwave tour next year. How excited were you when you heard the news?
Yeah, very excited. Australia is probably our favourite place that we’ve been to as a band, and to be able to come back over with one of the biggest and most respected festivals in music is a pretty cool opportunity.
'Hold On Pain Ends' has been out here for about a month and has already hit no 28 in the US Top 200. How has the fan feed back been?
It’s been great. We’ve grown quite a bit as a band since the last release. I’ve already seen dozens and dozens of tattoos and heard tonnes of stories and connections of how the lyrical content has touched people. Its been very successful already. A lot of people view success on a pay scale, a record sales quota, but for me I measure success in a different way with our band. The level of connection tells me at this point that it’s been very very successful.
How much do your fans stories and experiences impact the writing of your songs?
Completely. 'Know Hope' was a record that I get very personal about. It came from a very urgent detrimental time of my life and I made it a goal through that entire record cycle to be at the merch table, to keep my ear to the ground at all times and really listen and observe what kids are going through and struggling with. In doing so, it kind of laid the foundation in what I chose to write Hold On Pain Ends about. It was a record that deals with very harsh topics. Anything from suicide to eating disorders to self-harm. Very straightforward, very urgent subject matter.
Its amazing that you can reach out to people the way you do. Would you say that was the driving force as a band?
Absolutely. That’s been the purpose of our band since day one. The purpose of what we do our entire career as a band. When I was a kid I never had anyone giving me positive feedback in life, so for me, this is something I’ve created that I need personally you know. A lot of kids will look up to you as a band, a singer, a front man and ironically at the same time, I look up to them as they look up to me. I think I need them a lot more than they need me.
I found it touching and relatable how Know Hope came about and also know how hard it is in my mind to flip negativity to positivity. Is it something you have to keep reminding yourself as well, or do you think the message has sunk in as deep with you as it has your audience?
I think so. I think it’s a reminder every day. It’s a topic of conversation I have with kids. I wrote a lyric that says you can stay in a positive life with a negative mind. They are both energy and it shouldn’t matter which one you choose to subscribe to. Some people call it god and the devil, some people call it sobriety or addiction. For me, I apply myself every day with a negative outlook, to get something positive from it.
You like to have a lot of fun on stage also. What are some of the highlights people can expect to see coming to your show at Soundwave?
If you haven’t seen a band that doesn’t plan anything, I don’t have a dialogue that I read out, or a prompter. Our band doesn’t synchronise anything, its just kind of a very raw authentic musical connection. The things I say between songs are how I feel in the moment. Its just about bringing how we feel in the moment. For me, I can't not operate that way.
How would you introduce yourself to fans that haven’t heard the color morale before?
Whatever it is you’re struggling with or going through or whatever it is you want to celebrate, put on our record and I promise you that on a scale of what we go through daily, positively or negatively, we explore the boundaries of that with our music. By all means, put us in your stereo and go stand in front of the speakers and blast it!
Congratulations on being part of the Soundwave tour next year. How excited were you when you heard the news?
Yeah, very excited. Australia is probably our favourite place that we’ve been to as a band, and to be able to come back over with one of the biggest and most respected festivals in music is a pretty cool opportunity.
'Hold On Pain Ends' has been out here for about a month and has already hit no 28 in the US Top 200. How has the fan feed back been?
It’s been great. We’ve grown quite a bit as a band since the last release. I’ve already seen dozens and dozens of tattoos and heard tonnes of stories and connections of how the lyrical content has touched people. Its been very successful already. A lot of people view success on a pay scale, a record sales quota, but for me I measure success in a different way with our band. The level of connection tells me at this point that it’s been very very successful.
How much do your fans stories and experiences impact the writing of your songs?
Completely. 'Know Hope' was a record that I get very personal about. It came from a very urgent detrimental time of my life and I made it a goal through that entire record cycle to be at the merch table, to keep my ear to the ground at all times and really listen and observe what kids are going through and struggling with. In doing so, it kind of laid the foundation in what I chose to write Hold On Pain Ends about. It was a record that deals with very harsh topics. Anything from suicide to eating disorders to self-harm. Very straightforward, very urgent subject matter.
Its amazing that you can reach out to people the way you do. Would you say that was the driving force as a band?
Absolutely. That’s been the purpose of our band since day one. The purpose of what we do our entire career as a band. When I was a kid I never had anyone giving me positive feedback in life, so for me, this is something I’ve created that I need personally you know. A lot of kids will look up to you as a band, a singer, a front man and ironically at the same time, I look up to them as they look up to me. I think I need them a lot more than they need me.
I found it touching and relatable how Know Hope came about and also know how hard it is in my mind to flip negativity to positivity. Is it something you have to keep reminding yourself as well, or do you think the message has sunk in as deep with you as it has your audience?
I think so. I think it’s a reminder every day. It’s a topic of conversation I have with kids. I wrote a lyric that says you can stay in a positive life with a negative mind. They are both energy and it shouldn’t matter which one you choose to subscribe to. Some people call it god and the devil, some people call it sobriety or addiction. For me, I apply myself every day with a negative outlook, to get something positive from it.
You like to have a lot of fun on stage also. What are some of the highlights people can expect to see coming to your show at Soundwave?
If you haven’t seen a band that doesn’t plan anything, I don’t have a dialogue that I read out, or a prompter. Our band doesn’t synchronise anything, its just kind of a very raw authentic musical connection. The things I say between songs are how I feel in the moment. Its just about bringing how we feel in the moment. For me, I can't not operate that way.
How would you introduce yourself to fans that haven’t heard the color morale before?
Whatever it is you’re struggling with or going through or whatever it is you want to celebrate, put on our record and I promise you that on a scale of what we go through daily, positively or negatively, we explore the boundaries of that with our music. By all means, put us in your stereo and go stand in front of the speakers and blast it!
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