Beginning in a Melbourne bedroom in 2011, after some experimentation with warped sounding synths, Ryan Dodson launched his solo 'drowse-pop' project - colourwaves. He soon began performing around Melbourne and Sydney, releasing a succession of EP's and singles along the way. He has just released his latest single 'Anchons' from his forthcoming EP.
Tomatrax caught up with Colourwaves to ask a few questions.
What inspired you to become a musician?Making music has just always been fun to me. I grew up in a musical household and have always been surrounded by it, so i've never really given it much more thought than I have boiling an egg or something. When I started colourwaves I guess it became a little more important to me to try and get my music out there.
Where did the name Colourwaves come from?When I started writing my first EP I just tried to come up with a name that sounded like the music.
What made you decide to use an alias rather than your real name?It just felt better to have a name to hide behind. Using my real name felt like more of a dedication, like throwing your whole identity into the project. Having an alias leaves more space for potential projects of different styles to exist outside of colourwaves.
You've been working on your latest EP, how has that been going?It's beginning to sicken me. I've put way too much time and energy into it and now the creativity is stagnating, so i'm finishing it up. It's also been really fun though, and I've learnt a lot about writing and production.
How will it compare with your previous work?The energy of it seems a lot clearer and to the point. Its hard to get an objective perspective, but I think it's better than anything i've done before. Some of the songs are actually quite old, since the EP is basically the essence of stuff collected on my computer from the last 3 years or so, so it wasn't written as a cohesive work, yet I think it still flows really well.
What will the EP be titled?I think I know, but I'm not 100% sure on it yet. Sorry.
What made you pick 'Archons' as the first single from the EP?I wanted to do a video, and I thought that song would really suit a video and that it would be cool to release the video as the first thing people see from colourwaves after a long break.
What was the inspiration behind the video for Archons?It was winter when we started shooting it. So I wanted it to look cold so I could wear a black turtleneck and warm my hands while running. When I imagined what the video would be, I straight away pictured scenes of people in fast motion in the city going about their daily business while I contemplated life and sang about Archons (psycho-spiritual parasites) latching onto humans and creating a culture of decadence. The whole aesthetic just fell into place straight away. Retrospectively, I think it was also influenced by Lost In Translation.
Do you ever listen to your own music?I've got this neurosis where I repeatedly listen to my latest release to try and convince myself on whether it's actually good or not. It usually fades after a while and then I listen to my music pretty rarely.
What music do you listen to?Lately I've been listening to a bit of Bluetech, Ice Choir, Bowie, Smiths, Tame Impala, Neon Indian. I went to this festival recently and really got into the psytrance. I'm always a sucker for some dream-pop/chillwave/snakewave etc.
What do you have planned once the EP is out?First I'll start playing Runescape, then I'll be playing a launch show in Sydney (and possibly Melbourne) as well as a string of other shows. I'll post the details on my Facebook page.
Check out Colourwaves' Facebook page to find out more!
