COLIEDA - A New Wave of Young Local Musicians with a Viola Tinged Sound Uniquely Their Own

 

By Scott Baker

  It's not often that a young local quartet comes out of nowhere, creating world-class musical soundtracks for the mind.
 

Enter Colieda:  Four college sophomores from Midland who are known for coaxing a fury of music for the heart and soul.
 

With the focus on mostly instrumental songs, Colieda's sound lies in the classical tinged electric viola of Patrick Dunn, draped around the tight textures of the jam/jazz-laced drumming of Matthew Hucul. When put with the outstanding guitar bursts via Andrew Stefano and guiding lead bass from Chase Matesuiak, the four launch musical creations into the atmosphere.
 

 Not based on any certain style or flavor, the group's songs last usually longer than six minutes in length. They unfold and spread across the sound spectrum and continue to develop, long after the first note has been wrung.
 

"I came from the orchestra, so I've always been listening to a lot of classical stuff," said Dunn, during a phone interview last week. "I was in the Midland High Orchestra and Andrew, the guitarist, asked me to come jam with him one day and showed me this band called Sigur-Ros and another band called Godspeed (You Black Emperor) and I listened to that."
 

After hearing the possibilities for his viola, Dunn and Stefano's jam session became somewhat of a project.
 

"Originally it was very similar to that kind of stuff," continued Dunn.  "And then we added Chase Matesuiak as a bass player and then Matt Hucul along as a drummer, and then our sound changed considerably. (Hucul) Had brought in more of a Dave Matthew's Band sound. Carter Buford is one of his big influences."

 

"I was raised on rock 'n roll type stuff," stated Hucul.  "That's where I came from with funk influences and jazz influences. So I kept playing that stuff with this band and it fit pretty well. It was something that was a little different. My Mom is a big fan of (John) Coltrane and Miles Davis and all that kind of stuff, which I heard as a kid -and lots of Motown too actually. It was just kind of what I grew up on."

 

"When Matt came in, I think is where our sound started becoming incredibly unique," Dunn estimated.  "It gave a very jazzy sound to a more reserved style of music, if that makes any sense."
 

The first time they played together as a group was at a funeral for a friend.
"Our guitarist actually wrote some lyrics about this friend that passed away, and we all made it into a song," said Dunn.  "It's called Guiding Light. We haven't recorded it in the studio. It's more of a rare song for us to perform."
 

For college students, Colieda spend most of their downtime behind the books and in the classroom. The group is an event for the individuals whenever the extra time permits.
 

"We're going to play for the rest of the summer, we're going to play during the holidays," said Dunn. "We go to school during the fall and the spring, so we're all in different parts of the country actually. But in the summer and during the holiday seasons we can play lots of shows. We're all going into our sophomore year. We all graduated from Midland High in 2004. We're just going to try to see what happens, see how far we go with it. We're just kind of taking it one day at a time."
Dunn added the group is willing to find more time if they can get some outside guidance.
 

"We'd love to find some sort of management, label or talent management. We're definitely interested in that, but nothing's come up as of yet. We're not going to be cranking out any three-minute ballads for the radio-type hits anytime soon. So I think that makes things a little more difficult for us trying to find management representation."
 

The group released its first official self-titled CD around Christmas of 2004.
"We recorded at (Midland's) Big Bear Studios during the first week of August, 2004," stated Dunn.  "We went in and talked to Rick Armstrong. We were a little afraid going into the whole process, because we didn't know how our style of music would translate into a CD. But we think it has a good live feel. Rick did a very good job of preserving the energy we have when we're onstage. We like what he did for us."

 

Having found a home away from home at White's Bar, Colieda have forged a unique sound into a niche of their own in the ever- broadening Tri-cities scene.
 

"Bo White has given us a lot of shows at White's Bar", said Dunn. "He's really been helping us out. We wouldn't have been able to do (a lot of gigs) without him. Bo's really opened it up for us. He's kind of given us a home base."
 

The band has taken it upon them to put evenings together that gel well, being their sound is so different from the standard. It's neither straight rock, nor heavy rock, blues nor jazz. It exists on its own platform and performed without computers.
 

"A lot of time (Bo) likes to give us the whole evening and we like to bring in friends (and) bands we've played with elsewhere," stated Dunn. "We're trying to find people that we enjoy their music (and) respect what they're doing."
"We play with the Dave Kellan Band a lot, they've been a really big help to us," added Hucul. 

 

"They're like a jazz/rock blues band and Dave's really helped us a lot."
With the short amount of time each year to play, Colieda puts much effort into branching outside of the Tri-cities and the state.
 

"A lot of times we'll go to other cities and play gigs and we'll try to trade shows with them," said Dunn.  "Right now our intention is to trade as much (as we can) so we can play in different cities around the state and hopefully in other states."
Working towards a new album, the quartet has been experimenting with different sounds of late, also including the development of more vocal tracks.
 

"On the new album there's five tracks, and two of them have vocals on them," said Dunn.  "I sing and Andrew sings on one as well."
 

"Matt and Chase have been working on a new jazz tune. That's very challenging for Andrew and myself. Our influences are so different that when we bring our own element to the band, it's always very challenging for all of us to come together on that. We have a lot of new rock and roll-ish type of songs. We're moving into more directions and hopefully have more maturity."
Colieda's website (www.colieda.com) is one of the most developed and fan-friendly around. There are also musical samples from the self-titled CD and self-titled EP as well for the clicking.
 

"Matt and I actually do the website," Dunn stated.
"Pat did the website," Hucul quipped.  "We had a different layout about a year and a half ago and then he switched it and it's been going pretty well for us right now. Like Pat does most of the web design stuff. Mostly I do the text and that kind of stuff. Stuff that ain't too tough."
 

"It's definitely an equal thing," said Dunn.  "I'll come up with a design in Photoshop and Matt will actually make it work on the website."
 

As for the group's name, the four wanted a specific and original name to go along with the sound.
"We wanted to find a physical object that represented what our sound is to us," said Dunn.  "That was a kaleidoscope. We shortened it and derived it from that."

 COLIEDA'S UP-COMING SHOWS:

 07/30/05 - Groundsphere, Allegan, MI

08/04/05 - Uncommon Thursdays, Marquette, MI

08/05/05 - 231 House of Muses, Marquette, MI

08/06/05 - Someplace Else (Tent Show), Saginaw, MI

08/10/05 - The Corner Bar, Kalamazoo, MI

08/18/05 - White's Bar, Saginaw, MI

08/20/05 - Woodward Ave Dream Cruise, Detroit, MI