Cool Rainbows was a
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
indie pop band based in
Auckland, New Zealand. According to a review, "Cool Rainbows make psychedelic indie pop music that is backed by swirling orchestration and layered dreamscapes of sound."
They released their debut album, ''Whale Rocket,'' in 2012 on
Lil' Chief Records.
History
Founding
Cool Rainbows was founded as a musical collective and solo project of Djeisan (pronounced "Jason") Suskov, a
New Zealand musician.
Other members of the collective include Paul Roper, Alex Freer, Cass Mitchell, Jonathan Pearce and Suskov's wife Emily Suskov.
Before founding the band, Suskov had been involved in music from a young age; his father founded Revolver Studios when Suskov was nine, and by the age of thirteen he was helping around the studio.
Djeisan later maintained close ties with various studios as a producer,.
Suskov went on to serve as frontman for the 2000
post punk band Nova Echo,
which later evolved into Cut Off Your Hands. He also played with the
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
band Robot Tigers and the
indie rock band Trees Climbing Trees.
Since 2015, Suskov has been a member of
Leisure.
2012 debut album
Around 2009 Suskov began writing the songs for the band's 2012 debut album.
As influences for the album, he quoted the
Chills
Chills is a feeling of coldness occurring during a high fever, but sometimes is also a common symptom which occurs alone in specific people. It occurs during fever due to the release of cytokines and prostaglandins as part of the inflammatory r ...
,
the Clean and
David Kilgour's solo material,
The Bats, Tall Dwarves and
Chris Knox. He also referenced "a lot of 60s 70s
rock 'n roll stuff like
The Beatles,
John Cale
John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...
,
Byrds,
Neil Young...stuff that sounds real or honest to me and I can hear the heart of it."
He used both production gear at Revolver Studios and his own laptop for initial recordings, and the album was then produced by
Jonathan Bree of
Lil' Chief Records in Auckland.
Suskov included a large number of friends in the process,
with Alex Freer, Cass Mitchell, Paul Roper, Jonathan Pearce and his wife Emily Suskov as core performers.
Other musicians on the album include Hayden East, Rikki Sutton, Micheal Ramirez, and
Paul McIver
Paul McIver (born 26 March 1986) is a New Zealand actor and musician. His first film appearance was in the television series ''The Ray Bradbury Theater''. He has appeared in the ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' films and the television show ...
.
The album ''Whale Rocket'' was released on Lil' Chief Records in 2012, with a video for the track "Reality and a Clue" released that July.
In June 2012, the band featured seven live musicians at a time on stage.
Members
;Permanent
*Djeisan Suskov – singer-songwriter, vocals
*Emily Suskov
;Rotating
*
arious
Discography
Albums
*2012: ''Whale Rocket'' (
Lil' Chief Records)
Singles
*2012: "Southern Summer Fun" (Lil' Chief Records)
*2012: "Lights" (Lil' Chief Records)
References
External links
*
Cool Rainbowson
MySpaceCool Rainbowson
FacebookDjeisan Suskov Interview(March 2012)
{{Authority control
New Zealand indie pop groups
Lil' Chief Records artists
Musical groups established in 2009
Musical groups from Auckland