Colour Me Wednesday are an English
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
/
pop punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
band from
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...
, England, built around sisters Jen and Harriet Doveton. The band are noted for their melodic guitar
pop, politicised lyrics and
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
punk method, including producing their own recordings, artwork and promotional videos.
History
Colour Me Wednesday formed in
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...
in 2007, initially performing local gigs with various line-ups, and settled as a permanent band in 2009, with Danny Gardner on bass and Sam Brackley on drums. Brackley had previously played bass, with Helen Meragi on drums. They self-recorded and self-released their debut CDr
EP ''What to do in an Emergency'' that year.
In 2010 and 2011, a series of self-produced
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
videos for tracks from their follow up ''Sampler'' EP brought them to wider attention in DIY punk and
indiepop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
circles.
In 2012, Carmela Pietrangelo (of ¡Ay Carmela!) joined as new bassist. In June, the band released debut single "Shut" as a digital download with accompanying video, taken from the album ''I Thought It Was Morning'', released by Discount Horse Records in July and described by The Girls Are as "an exceptionally assured debut"; the album was self-recorded and included new versions of EP tracks as well as a collaboration with former
King Blues
The King Blues are a British punk rock band from London credited for fusing punk and hip hop together with influences from ska and spoken word. Tariq Ali described the band's sounds as "rough, radical music that should unsettle the rulers of t ...
keyboardist and solo artist Perkie. A promo video for the track "(I'm Not Coming To Your) BBQ" accompanied the release of the album, which was re-released in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
the following year; "Shut" was also issued on vinyl in Canada. The same year, the band was invited to play the
Indietracks
Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, UK. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on ...
festival in 2012 and subsequently the following year in 2013.
2014 saw the band release a split album with Spoonboy on
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
, supported by a
US tour including appearances at
Plan-It X festival and New York Popfest. A promo video was released for lead track "Sugar-Coated".
In 2015, Colour Me Wednesday made a return to the Indietracks festival, joined by new drummer Jaca Freer and guitarist Laura Ankles (both also of ¡Ay Carmela!). This line-up released its first recordings in 2016 as the ''
Anyone and Everyone'' EP, available on multiple formats in the UK, US,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and Japan (as part of 2670 Records' ''Incompatible'' compilation). The EP was supported by a UK and European tour and a promotional video for lead track "Don't Tell Anyone"; the group also played at
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
Popfest.
In 2017, Colour Me Wednesday band toured with Lemuria. They have also played with
Waxahatchee
Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield (born 4 January 1989), previously a member of P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield g ...
,
Laura Stevenson
Laura Anne Stevenson (born April 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York, and formerly a keyboard player for the musical collective Bomb the Music Industry!
Biography
Stevenson was raised in Nassau County, New Yo ...
,
Kate Nash
Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress.
Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...
,
Grace Petrie
Grace Petrie (, born 24 July 1987) is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. She was hailed in ''The Guardian'' as "a powerful new songwriting voice" in 2011.
Biography
Grace Petrie began performing in 2006 as ...
,
Doe,
LVL UP,
the Homosexuals
The Homosexuals are an English punk rock, punk/post-punk band. The band have been described as "punk visionaries".
History The Rejects (1976–1977)
The Rejects were formed in the bar of Goldsmiths College in South London in 1976, when ex-Su ...
,
Thee Faction
Thee Faction are a British garage rock/garage punk band from Surrey, England, noted for their explicit socialist agenda. They refer to their music, which incorporates elements of garage rock, pop and rhythm and blues as "Socialist RnB". Th ...
and
Josie Long
Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17.
In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...
. Also in 2017 they released a new track online, a version of
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
's "
Cool for the Summer
"Cool for the Summer" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released as the lead single from her fifth studio album ''Confident (album), Confident'' (2015) on July 1, 2015, by Hollywood Records and Island Records, and premiered on ra ...
". Later that year their debut album was reissued in Indonesia.
In 2018, Colour Me Wednesday released second album ''Counting Pennies in the Afterlife'', produced by MJ of
Hookworms
Hookworms are intestinal, blood-feeding, parasitic roundworms that cause types of infection known as helminthiases. Hookworm infection is found in many parts of the world, and is common in areas with poor access to adequate water, sanitation, an ...
. Preview single "Sunriser" was released in May with an accompanying video. Additionally, a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
of the previously-released "Don't Tell Anyone" and new b-side "Blossom" was released in April on U.S. label American Laundromat.
Style and influences
Colour Me Wednesday have been likened musically to contemporary artists such as
Lemuria
Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the di ...
and
Waxahatchee
Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield (born 4 January 1989), previously a member of P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield g ...
and older indie bands such as
the Sundays
The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s.
The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...
,
the Popguns
The Popguns are an English indie rock band, which played a part in the British Indie pop scene. Originally from Brighton, East Sussex, they formed in 1986 by vocalist Wendy Morgan, guitarists Simon Pickles and Greg Dixon plus bassist Pat Walkin ...
,
the Breeders
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...
and
Blake Babies
Blake Babies were an American college rock band formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts. The three primary members were John Strohm, Freda Love, and Juliana Hatfield. They recorded three albums before splitting up in 1991. They reformed to reco ...
, and lyrically to
ONSIND as well as earlier political
new wave/
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
bands such as
the Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
,
the Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...
and
the Housemartins
The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...
.
Members
Current
* Jen Doveton – lead vocals, melodica
(2007–present)
* Harriet Doveton – guitar, bass, backing vocals
(2007–present)
* Laura Ankles – bass, guitar, backing vocals
(2015–present)
* Jodi M Burn – drums, percussion
(2015–present)
Former
* Carmela Pietrangelo – bass
(2012–2015)
* Danny Gardner – bass
(2009–12)
* Sam Brackley – drums, keyboards, horns
(2009–2015), bass
(2007–2009)
* Helen Meragi – drums
(2007–2009)
Timeline
Discography
Singles/EPs
*''What to do in an Emergency'' EP, CDr, 2009
elf released
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "l ...
*''Sampler'' EP, CDr, 2011
elf released
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "l ...
*"Shut" b/w "What Happened" 7", Kingfisher Bluez, 2014
*''
Anyone and Everyone'' EP, CDr/7"/Cass/DD, Dovetown/
Krod Records/Wiener Records, 2016
*"Don't Tell Anyone" b/w "Blossom" 7" (Pink & White Marble Vinyl),
American Laundromat Records, 2018
Albums
*''I Thought It Was Morning'', LP/CD/DD, Discount Horse/Dovetown, 2013; CD/Cass, 2670 Records/Bitter Melody records, 2014
xtra track
Extra or Xtra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper
* '' Extra!'', an American m ...
*''Counting Pennies in the Afterlife'', 2018
Compilations
*''Incompatible'', CD/DD, 2670 Records, 2016
ombines tracks from 2014 split LP and 2016 EP/small>
Compilation appearances
*"What Happened" on ''Nobody’s Business'', LP/DD, Candy Twist Records, 2014
*''Split''
/Spoonboy LP/CD/Cass/DD,
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
/Dovetown, 2014
*"Not My Turf" on ''Hell Hath No Fury, Vol. 2'', CD/DD, Hell Hath No Fury Records, 2018
References
Further reading
2015 interviewMarch 2016 interviewMay 2016 interviewNovember 2016 interviewMarch 2018 interview
{{Authority control
Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom
British indie pop groups
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical quartets
English pop punk groups
Feminist musicians
Political music groups