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Off Colour on 'Aureolin': This is 'for people to just enjoy and vibe with this summer'!
RnB/Hip Hop | Monday 15th May 2017 | Patience
Made up of Antonio Amoroso & James Smith, Off Colour is a two man band looking to conquer your playlist!
With each track off their recent EP Aureolin filled with fun visuals and bright lyrics, the duo have created the perfect summer soundtrack.
From working with WSTRN'S Louis Rei, to concocting enviable jams for this year's sunny season and reminding us to keep our "head up", with their insanely catchy track 'Bring Me Down', Off Colour let us know what the future holds for a band whose popularity is steadily rising at an alarming rate!
How did Off Colour come about?
Funny one this - so we both went to the same secondary school, however, we didn’t actually become friends until Year 9.
Basically, for 2 years we didn't ever cross paths due to James being at the ‘rock n roll/skateboarding/long hair don't care’ end of the spectrum and me (Antonio) being at the ‘sporty/academic/short hair do care’ end of the spectrum.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, one day James befriended someone who was within our group and introduced us to James. On his introduction to the group, he invited us all to his house for pre-drinks before heading to a party. Our initial thoughts were 'good shout, let's give this guy a chance.'
Anyway, fast forward to the pre-drinks - I spot he’s got a guitar and ask if he can play. Turns out he could (wasn't just for decoration) and he could play really well. So a few weeks later I thought 'hey, why not do a cover of a song, film it and put it on YouTube?' So we did just that, with the song in question being Usher's 'OMG' (Not his best song let's be honest, but hey).
We recorded the cover and posted it online, hoping for 100 views MAX, however to our surprise the video somehow accumulated over 1,000 views in one night which was amazing.
Things kind of snowballed from there, and before long we had people requesting more and more covers, then people asking for original songs and asking us to do live shows. I guess it was at this point that we realised that doing music was pretty cool and we were enjoying it so much that we decided to pursue it as a career.
How would you describe Aureolin to new listeners?
Somebody once described us as Paolo Nutini-esque which is a pretty flattering comparison. However, for this EP we wanted to get across our fun side, so the music reflects that. So, all in all, we would describe our sound as easy listening/good vibes!
What was the inspiration behind the name Off Colour?
We’ll be honest with you, there wasn't actually any inspiration behind the name at first. We just knew we needed a name as a collective. So we went with Off Colour and it stuck and now it just makes perfect sense with the EP name being Aureolin.
Aureolin is a shade of yellow, i.e. ‘off the colour’ of yellow and we chose yellow for this EP because of what we feel it resembles. Fun!
So could you tell us about your latest EP Aureolin?
This is our first EP and as two individuals we have many sides to us in terms of our personalities. So with this introductory EP we wanted to kick off with our fun side and make some easy listening poppy records for people to just enjoy and vibe with this summer!
Talk us through the creative process for the EP?
We’re always in the studio creating new music so this EP just happened quite naturally. We just thought ‘let's put an EP out’, so that's just what we did. In terms of how we make our music, it normally starts with some guitar chords that we like, then we’ll take it in turns recording random gibberish melodies over the looped chords. Once we've decided on the melodies it's time to fill in the gaps and write the words to the songs.
On the track 'Mine' you worked with WSTRN'S Louis Rei, how did that collab come about?
It actually came about quite naturally. We met Louis at Akelle's birthday party and we just got talking to him about what we do and what kind of music we make. He was really friendly and welcoming and basically said just to let him know if we ever need anything.
So we went away and when we found that one track we thought would be perfect for him, we sent it his way and he jumped on it just like that. Legend.
If you could work with anyone on your next EP, who would it be?
Hmmm, I think it would have to be Stormzy off the back of his album - what a masterpiece!
What is the message you would like to get across in your music?
There’s no specific message. We just want people to enjoy our music and get across the feelings we felt when making the records.
What ideas changed your life?
Doing a UK medley of grime songs… We hit over a million views on it and it changed a lot of things. Oh and deciding to move to London, that changed a lot too!
What is your life motto?
Just keep going. Like our latest single ‘Bring Me Down’ - just keep your head up, it could almost always be worse.
What would you feel a swimming pool with if it could be anything?
Antonio: Sour skittles
James: Whiskey & Soda
So what's next for Off Colour?
Release loads of music and go on tour!
