The Current-Nov. 2007 Feature Story

Emerging Artist Spotlight-colourmusic

By Regan Henson

Everyone loves a good mystery. Who shot J.R.? Where’s Waldo? How the hell is Rosie O’Donnell famous? Questions like these have transfixed our collective imaginations throughout time, and each year new mysteries arise that garner our attention and serve as catalysts for our deeply philosophical water cooler discussions. Well here’s a mystery for you: Who is Roy G. Biv?

Like the best mysteries, there are clues to this particular one in the name itself. Don’t know what I mean? Ask your six-year-old. Roy G. Biv is the common mnemonic device used for remembering the primary colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. It’s also the shared identity of the masterminds behind one of Oklahoma’s most creative and largely unknown bands, colourmusic.

There are no clues to the mystery offered in the cheeky, cryptic profile the band provides on myspace, where it claims that Roy G. Biv is a descendent of Sir Isaac Newton and suffers from synesthesia (google it), a disorder that causes him to see actual colors when he hears music. Having lived his life struggling with his affliction in the shadows of such a famous ancestor, Roy prefers to shroud his identity under the veil of the moniker each band member shares, along with the vow to never reveal the truth, except, according to DJ Roy, through torture.

The band is based out of Stillwater, but make no mistake, this isn’t another Red Dirt retread. These guys share a muse with fellow Oklahomans, The Flaming Lips, not only in their eclectic sound, but also in their live shows.

“We are influenced by the Lips, but we are influenced more by their philosophy than by their musical stylings. When I say philosophy, I mean their live philosophy, making every show an experience,” Says DJ Roy.

We believe that it is better to make an impact on people live, good or bad, then to just come off as okay. We may not be successful at this goal, but it is very important to us and we put in a lot of effort in this direction. But it's a very helpful philosophy because it forces you to be ambitious.”

That ambition has led to a growing fan base and even led to an appearance on The Tonight Show, where Wayne Coyne of the aforementioned Flaming Lips interviewed the band from the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, TX. There are also numerous performance clips of the band on YouTube and at their myspace page, www.myspace.com/coulourmusic. Watching these performances, and seeing the different media they incorporate into their live shows, it’s easy to see why the band has established such a loyal fan base.

“We like to try all sorts of things at our shows. We are still trying to figure out the boundaries of a rock show. We definitely play with media when we can, but it's tough to do that because unless we have a lot of prep time,” DJ Roy says.

We are usually just pulling everything together in the last minute. Most of our shows are not ever fully realized until the minute we hit the stage, which can be very stressful sometimes.”

Adding to the stresses of producing an entertaining live show is the fact that while four of the band members are from Oklahoma, a fifth lives in London, making performing a challenging and somewhat rare event. However, having been together as a band for four years and playing live for two, the Roys were able to come up with a creative solution: They play the British Roy live via iPod. Whoever Roy G. Biv is, he’s definitely creative.

In fact, the band is currently in the process of creating their first full-length album, tentatively scheduled for a February release. The album still doesn’t have a name, but according to DJ Roy, it’s colored orange.

So the mystery of Roy G. Biv shall remain a mystery, but one may find a clue, or at least a wickedly entertaining night out, by catching a live performance by the band when they play Nov. 24th at the Opolis in Norman at 9pm. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (405)820-0951.