Formed out of Austin, Texas, the four-piece band, Colorblind, is known for their punchy and hard-hitting sound. Frontman Travis Mosely is the lead singer and songwriter for the group, who had a chance to sit down with Music Scene Media for a rapid-fire interview before their show at The Rave in Milwaukee, one of the city's most historic venues. For the first time ever playing the venue, Travis got to sign the walls of the haunted pool in the venue's basement. Adding to the metaphorical scrapbook of iconic bands that have performed within the four walls.
Anna from MSM: Out of your recent releases, which one hits the hardest live? ”Car Crash” or “Letdown”? Or, you can pick a secret third option?
Travis from Colorblind: Right now, “Needle Eye” is, like, been doing really, really well, but people have been singing “Car Crash” a lot, too. Like, “Letdown” is just so new. Some people are still learning it, but “Car Crash” and “Needle Eye” have been super awesome live.
Anna from MSM: With lots of tours upcoming, what is your must-have piece of gear or comfort item on the road?
Travis from Colorblind: Must-have piece of gear… I use a Doctor Vox, and I don't have it with me right now, but I have it everywhere. It's like this water bottle that pretty much has a straw in it, and I hum into the water bottle, and it's really good for your vocal cords, and it helps me a lot. Keeps my voice in shape.
Anna from MSM: Yeah, is there a lot of, like, stress with all of the screaming or higher notes that you hit?
Travis from Colorblind: Absolutely, it took a long time for me for my voice to get used to it all, but now it seems to be a little bit more resilient and kind of getting with the program.
Anna from MSM: If Colorblind did a cover, which song or which band would you cover?
Travis from Colorblind: I've been thinking about this. There is an Avril Lavigne song that I can't remember. I think it was, like, someone from the '90s. Yeah, and either that or the other day, I was listening to “Starlight” by Muse, and I think that would be a cool cover as well.
Anna from MSM: What's your favorite city to have an off day in?
Travis from Colorblind: Probably somewhere, like, as weird as it is, probably somewhere in Connecticut because we love pizza from Connecticut. So whenever we have an off day, we always like to go to a really cool pizza place.
Anna from MSM: What speaks to you more? The sound or the lyrics?
Travis from Colorblind: It used to be the sound, but now it's kind of starting to become the lyrics. I just think I really appreciate the storytelling in some songs, and I think that sometimes when certain lyrics hit you, you relate to them in a way that just feels really special.
Anna from MSM: Are you doing most of the writing?
Travis from Colorblind: Yes. We'll have some people come in and help bounce ideas off of and stuff like that, but yeah.
Anna from MSM: Retrospectively, do you think you hyped your tour with Dayseeker to be a lot of pressure? Are you not a “pressure” guy?
Travis from Colorblind: No, no. I'm definitely a nervous person. So, for show one, I'm mega nervous, but then after that, I just don't have any more nervousness left in my body because I'm so on edge on the first day of the show. After the first show, you can just kind of let it go and relax and just be there, you know?
Anna from MSM: Colorblind recently released two songs on the same day. What made you go that route with two releases on the same day?
Travis from Colorblind: We just thought that it would be kind of cool, like, both of the songs kind of contrast each other and they're a little bit different, and then we thought they sounded sweet next to each other, and we just wanted to give that a shot.
Anna from MSM: What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Travis from Colorblind: The advice that I would give is to not aim for, like, the biggest hotshot producer or video director. Like, I think the most important thing is to work with people that you can tell are passionate about your project as well. Sometimes you can get kind of caught up in being like, "Oh, we need to work with this guy, because he did this music video and it was incredible,” but then you, like, get on the phone with him. This is all hypothetical, but let's say you get on the phone with them, or a producer, and you're like, “This producer is producing all the best records right now,” and then you get on the phone with them and then they're like, “Yeah, sure, whatever, let's make some stuff.” It goes so much further whenever there's somebody on the team, like a director or a producer, that genuinely is a fan of your project and believes in it and has a true vision to help you build with them, you know? People that really want to be in the room—that's how you're going to make the best product. If everybody in the room is passionate about it. That's it.
Anna from MSM: Any dream artist you want to open for?
Travis from Colorblind: Dream artist to open up for… I mean, Dayseeker was definitely one of them. I think I'd love to tour with Sleeping with Sirens at some point.
Anna from MSM: That brings me to our last question. What excites you the most about your upcoming full-length album?
Travis from Colorblind: What excites me most? I think what excites me the most is just getting these songs in the hands of the people that need them, and we've been sitting on everything for so long, and getting to release stuff feels like it's such a mental release where you're like, “Okay, the music's out there.” I'm just excited for it to get in the hands of people that want it and will appreciate it, and it's going to be fun to see what those songs do in the world and how they can impact people. I think that'll just be kind of a fun thing to watch.
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