Contributor’s Note: Color Tongue was the first band I saw in New York that made me go, “holy shit, these guys rock.” It would be reductive to simply describe them as modern psychedelic rockers, their music is always striving to be more. Their most recent EP, “Bealing Bells,” is an absolute triumph. Eddie Kuspiel, guitar and vocals, talked to me about their creative process, their influences, and what’s next for the band. Fans can find Color Tongue at the following locations:
www.instagram.com/Color_Tongue
- Photo Credit: Jack of Trades Photography
You’ve quickly become an underground New York favorite, what do you think sets you apart from other bands?
I don’t know if we’re an underground favorite but we’re definitely grateful for any enjoyment people get from our music. The four of us listen to different styles of music so it’s really easy to get things to sound unique. The harder part for us it making it cohesive.
I absolutely love your blend of idiocratic synthy goodness and catchy songwriting. How do you balance the weird and the pop?
In general, the songs are usually written with a very specific thought or situation in mind. Having lyrics that are ambiguous so people can apply it to their own situation helps with the catchiness. In general if a song isn’t catchy it won’t survive more than one or two practices of playing it. We don’t have good attention spans, so I think that helps.
Speaking of synthy goodness, is there any gear that you use that you find to be integral to your sound?
Everyone having a very specific idea about what the song should sound like is more integral than the gear right now. I’d love to be able to bring in a bunch of processors to run our vocals through, but getting to and from work to shows to home, you have to find more simplistic live set ups. It already takes me around 5 plus minutes to break down what I currently use and with the local shows you don’t have 15 minutes between sets.
If you could open for any musician living or dead, who would you open for?
Louis Armstrong, he knew how to party.
How does a song go from just an idea to a full fledged recording?
One of us will come up with something in their room and it eventually crawls out to the practice space. If people don’t get too frustrated with it after a month or so it will eventually find its way to a record. It’s important know when to let go or, when something isn’t working, take it home and fix it and bring it back.
I know you were just in the studio, how do you feel your music is evolving?
The music we just recorded is a huge step forward for us. The ideas are closer to what we were envisioning when writing the song. Everyone seems to be a lot more focused on making sure what they’re playing is correct, and not just playing a part for the sake of being involved.
Do you have anything else you’d like to plug?
Follow us on Spotify, Instagram, Soundcloud and FB. Put local bands on playlists on Spotify and Soundcloud. Do that for all your local bands, it helps the bands a lot and requires minimal effort.
On Thursday, February 28th, Color Tongue does have a gig with Superbloom, Oceanator, and Greet Death at Arlene’s Grocery in New York, New York. For tickets and further information on the gig, click here.
Fans can check out the music video to “Adult Lessons” below:
