I adore the Huddersfield Parish and believe it or not I’ve been going into this pub on and off since even before the current toilets were installed. More Parish love comes when the place has an excited air of anticipation about the place. Local lads Full Colour were back in town and supporting Scottish indie anthem merchants Vistas. It’s not too often I see folk trying to get into the ice box back yard barn, which is the music venue at the rear of the pub, before it is open.

A little bit of the buzz this evening seemed to come from the news that exciting things that may be coming for Full Colour if the snippets of conversation I overheard from the MaDs (mums and dads) who had also descended on the Parish on mass for their vanquishing sons come to pass. I promise I won’t share.

Full Colour have been extensively touring over the past few months going to over 30 venues up and down the country playing support to the likes of Bloxx, Vistas and shortly with gig buddies Larkins. I had chance to have a few words with the guys and as they hadn’t gigged so extensively in the past, I was keen to find out more about how the tour had gone:

Touring has been a great experience although it has been more stressful than we first thought but we have all enjoyed it. There has been plenty of funny moments too.

I’ve been following the guys’ exploits on Instagram and it seems the touring experience is that mix of long van journeys, a touch of sightseeing to stretch the legs, then hanging around the venue to set up, followed by the energy and emotional flood of playing live, before a bit of kick back time. I know the band have managed to fit in some studio time too.

I think if this were my lifestyle, I’d be lost in a haze of beer bottles and such like before a groggy and insensible van journey the next day. One of the reasons why I am not now a legendary rock god is that I knew I’d be dust by 30 if I were (although a fundamental lack of talent on my part also contributed to be honest). With all that in my mind, I asked the guys how they managed.

Usually we are fairly disciplined but there are some nights were we have an off gig free day the day after so we might have a few more drinks than usual. A typical evening after a gig would be to just pack our stuff back into the van. Have a few drinks, watch the other bands and then head to where we are staying for the night.

The first act of our evening 3 piece Quentin (aced it on the name) had a pleasing vibe which was heavy on intricate guitar and enjoyable relaxed tunes. An unusual moment presented itself when drummer Hez and lead singer guitarist Evan swopped positions. A nice versatile touch although for our drummer, his guitar solo went a little wild. Such is the fun of the live performance and no sweat it still banged.

Full Colour came onto the stage with much anticipation and of course having played so much recently, the band were as gig ready as can be. While the guitar solos were strong and confident, particular credit has to go to drummer Dillan Harrison who (notwithstanding breaking a stick) had a flawless show and really led the band through the set.

Lead singer Conrad Beriff too had a stronger and more confident voice. When I reflect back to their first EP launch (in their guise as Gauranga – although it was just a few months ago in June); it seemed the 30 minute set was about as far as Conrad’s voice would go. Tonight it felt like he and the rest of the band could do at least a full hour, with the final song feeling as tight and fresh as the first. Another positive element is that while Conrad’s vocals are stronger and more assurred, they have lost nothing of those lighter and softer tones which help make Full Colour a bit special.

There was heaps of goodwill for the home sons and it was a good-natured mosh where skinny girls could happily bounce with the rough boys (and the rough girls with the skinny boys) and everyone would be happy.

I was particularly excited to catch some more new songs from the boys which show just how these lads have grown. Conrad even implied that these tracks were the “current tunes” in their minds. He described the first EP tracks which have proven so successful (with around 230,000 hits on Spotify) as the “old songs”. Conrad is right too; the new tracks have more shine, glitter and sparkle, as solid and good as the first EP was.

One of the newer songs early in the set Don’t Wait For Me had a very confident airing and it sounded more rounded than when I caught the guys at Neighbourhood. Towards the end of the set, Strangers was described as a song created a few weeks ago; it sounded like a sensitive indie classic to me. As the lads confirmed to me;

The new tracks have generally had a great reception everywhere we have been so far. We look forward to playing them in more cities. Hopefully some new music will be coming out early next year!

I know the guys have been super busy, so I only had chance for one final question (and no, it wasn’t my by now legendary question about band members and their cookery skills, for my forthcoming “Cook with your favourite indie legends” book). My curiousity was around the name change for the band, where the name Gauranga was replaced by Full Colour. I wondered whether Krishna had come down in a vision to explain he had full copyright on the name, and wasn’t yet prepared to franchise it into indie music.

I adore the honesty of this band as they could have told me a weird and wonderful tale, but the reality was simply that they found people found it a tricky name to spell and pronounce. It will be a lovely problem to have, but if the band ever make it big in the US they will have that weird “colour/color” debate thang going on now.

The final track of the set was appropriately a celebratory run through of Miles Apart which saw the guys clearly loving their moment on stage, realising they had created the mosh mayhem in front of them, and chuckling at the result.

If you want to catch Full Colour while they are still on the ground floor they have 9 gigs scheduled in November. Go to their facebook page to find out more.

Chris R