Color of Chaos
Color Of Chaos is celebrating the release of their first full-length album, Hollywood (available on colorofchaos.com, and recorded at Pyramix Studio) tonight at the RockBar in Scottsdale, AZ. It’s a 12-song tour de force of sizzling guitars, seismic bass, octave-defying vocals, and demolition-style drumming. Their first single is “Simple Times,” a powerful, ambling, blues-inflected tune.
Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Color Of Chaos is founder-drummer Danny Ott, singer Steve Carlson, guitarist Steve Favela, and bassist Lance Eric. The members, all seasoned, crackerjack musicians, joined forces four years ago to establish their brand of distinctive, guitar-driven hard rock, laden with imaginative arrangements, and more hooks than a bait-and-tackle shop. Although sometimes pigeonholed with 80s bands, Color Of Chaos is a modern-tinged, hard rock outfit, with an unconventional approach to songwriting that defies stereotypes.
“We play heartfelt songs that you can actually sing along with, listen to, and hear the words,” Steve Carlson describes. “Good melodies and good hooks.”
“The songs are relatable,” adds Lance Eric, who also plays bass in Bang Tango. “They’re not party songs about girls; they’re not about sex and drugs. They’re about other things that a lot of bands probably don’t write about. We’re not a party band. But we’re attracting attention anyway.”
Danny Ott agrees: “We’re just being genuine. If you’re genuine, and you’ve got good songs, I think people are going to gravitate toward you.”
The power of Color Of Chaos’ magnetic originality is evidenced by their billings with countless rock and roll heavyweights, including Ace Frehley, Michael Schenker, Steel Panther, Vince Neil, Stryper, Faster Pussycat, and Autograph. They’ve commanded the stage at numerous acclaimed Arizona venues including The Marquee Theatre, BLK Live, and LiveWire.
With appearances confined to the Arizona/California area, no major label backing, and no PR support, the band is still thriving. Doing the heavy lifting themselves, their talent, dedication, and tireless hard work have slingshotted them to music stations, including Hair Metal Mansion, Rock Radio UK, Hard Rockology, and Boston Rock Radio, along with a peppering of FM stations. “Radio stations have been able to find us one way or another,” says Steve Favela, also a member of Bang Tango, “and the response has been good. It’s exciting. The Internet is a phenomenal thing.”
These stations are playing the band’s impressive, independently recorded demo featuring songs ranging from powerful to poignant: “Hollywood” has ringing, polished harmonies undercut with slashing guitars, “Movin’ On” is tinted with dramatic blues shadings, and their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” is a pulse-pounder.
Color Of Chaos has faith in the music that they’ve written. The band members feel gratified by the accomplishments they’ve attained so far, but there’s still that hunger to go farther. They can envision that next leap happening with Hollywood. “Hopefully, people like our record,” says Steve Favela. “We hope that someone in the business picks it up and says, ‘Wow! I can do something with this!’
“That’s the reason why we continue to move along,” concludes Lance Eric. “It gives us the energy and the drive to keep going.”
YouTube | Simple Times — Color of Chaos
