Spain Colored Orange is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The group formed in 2000, was signed by

Lucid Records Lucid Records is an independent record label in Illinois, run by Chris Broach of Braid (band), Braid, Firebird band, The Firebird Band, & L'Spaerow, L' Spaerow. Overview Lucid Records is a record label owned by Chris Broach. The label's first ...

from 2005 to 2008 and then represented by Shout It Out Loud Music through 2012. Their sound has been characterized as a blend of indie rock and

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 ...

with elements of

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, '70s rock, swing and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. Known for energetic live performances, Spain Colored Orange has performed with

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...

Ben Kweller Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

The Octopus Project The Octopus Project is an American indietronica band based in Austin, Texas, active since 1999. Their sound blends pop and experimental elements, and is a combination of digital and electronic sounds and noises (including drum machine, keyboard, ...

The Fiery Furnaces The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York.. - ''In 2000 they moved Brooklyn... and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year''. - Allmusic The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor ...

, Of Montreal,

Ra Ra Riot Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and drummer Kenny Bernard. History Ra Ra Riot formed in January 2006, playing at houses and ven ...

and Trail of Dead. They also served as backing band and headlining opener for

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...

on a number of various occasions, including his 50th birthday celebration in 2011. Spain Colored Orange has licensed music for commercial use by companies including

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Olay Olay, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's revenue. Ear ...

, and Avon. The band has toured nationally and consecutively featured in large-scale regional festivals including

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

and

Free Press Summer Fest The Free Press Summer Festival was an annual two-day music festival held in Houston, Texas at Buffalo Bayou's Eleanor Tinsley Park. Other activities include fireworks, interactive art installations, a paint slide, music workshops, a 30-foot wat ...

History

The band was established in 2000 as a solo project by frontman Gilbert Alfaro, former founding member of Houston-based national-touring bands Blueprint/In Echoes and Refuse To Fall. Other original members joined after they heard Alfaro's initial taped recordings. The band was originally called "8 Track Charade," but changed their name just days before signing a record deal with

. According to Alfaro, the band's final name, Spain Colored Orange, originated from an elementary school project that his grandmother had hanging in her house. After signing with Lucid Records in 2005, the band released their debut EP '' Hopelessly Incapable of Standing in the Way.'' They ultimately negotiated a break from their contract with

in 2008, while in the process of recording a freshman full-length at Houston's historic Sugar Hill Studios. The group signed with Shout It Out Loud Music and released that first full-length record, '' Sneaky Like a Villain'', in 2009.

Band members

Current members *Gilbert Alfaro (vocals, electric piano, synths) *Will Evans (guitar, vocals) *Jared Arceneaux (bass guitar) *Keith Palumbo (percussion) Former members *James Diederich (percussion) *Justin Peak (synth, sample) *Mikey Deleon *Randy Platt (guitars) *Ryan Chavez *Steven Burnett (bass, mouth harp) *Steve Torres (percussion) *Mike Dugat (guitar) *Ben Jarrad (guitar, banjo, vox, & ukulele) *Steve Aikey (bass) *Eric Jackson (trumpet) *Erica Cruz (guitar, synths, electric piano, vocals) *Bill Matney (studio percussionist)

Awards

Houston Press Music Awards: Learning Secret Music
Spain Colored Orange bio on official press page. Retrieved October 12, 2010. *Album of the Year ('' Hopelessly Incapable of Standing in the Way'', 2006) *Best Indie Rock (2006, 2008, 2009) *Best Keyboardist (Gilbert Alfaro, 2006, 2008) *Local Musician of the Year (2006)

Discography

*'' Hopelessly Incapable of Standing in the Way'' ( EP, 2005) *'' Sneaky Like a Villain'' (

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, 2009)

References

External links

Spain Colored Orange on SoundCloudSpain Colored Orange on iTunes
*{{YouTube, u=spaincoloredorange
Spain Colored Orange's iHeartRADIO PageSpain Colored Orange
on Myspace
Shout It Out Loud Music
official website Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups from Houston Indie pop groups from Texas Indie rock musical groups from Texas