The Color Morale

The Color Morale is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois. The group is currently signed to Fearless Records.^[1] The band has released four albums to date, We All Have Demons, My Devil In Your Eyes, Know Hope, and "Hold On Pain Ends". Their fourth and most recent album, "Hold On Pain Ends", was released on September 2, 2014.

The Color Morale's sound is influenced by a variety of post-hardcore and metal bands such as Glassjaw, Beloved, Misery Signals and Poison the Well. Major themes in The Color Morale's music include religion, mental illness, and a message of positivity.

History

Formation and We All Have Demons (2007–2010)

The band was formed in 2007 by Garret Rapp, Justin Hieser, Ramon Mendoza, John Bross and Steve Carey after their previous bands broke up. All of them, excluding Justin Hieser, were in a band called The Killer Apathy, with Brian on bass and Bryce on the unclean vocals, as Garret only performed clean vocals.^[2] They explained that their name "was a title that says what the band's mission statement is and states what the band does.".^[3] On June 9, 2009, The Color Morale was signed to Rise Records with an expected release of September 1 for their debut studio album. The band's debut album, titled We All Have Demons was recorded at Foundation Studios in Connersville, Indiana with producer Joey Sturgis.^[4] In 2010, they set out on the Rise Records Tour with The Bled and also came out with a music video for the song "Humannequin" off the album.^[5]

My Devil in Your Eyes (2010–2012)

In late 2010, The Color Morale began writing their sophomore album and headed into the studio once again, with Joey Sturgis resuming position as producer.^[6] The Color Morale's second album entitled, My Devil in Your Eyes, was released on March 11, 2011.^[7] Shortly before the release, bassist Justin Hieser left the band for personal reasons. Shortly after his leaving, they recruited a replacement by the name of Anthony Wick to take over duties as bassist.^[8] While on tour, Hieser reunited with The Color Morale and Wick stepped down as bassist.^[8] Then, shortly after leaving for the "Scream It Like You Mean It 2011 Tour", guitarist John Bross left the band due to getting engaged and wanting to settle down to start a family, as well as focusing on his clothing line. Hieser took over duties as rhythm guitarist, and bass was tracked during live performances.^[8] During the 2012 Fire & Ice tour, they recruited bassist Ryan Pulice, formerly of the band Rosaline, to take over bass duties.^[8] In August 2012, it was quietly announced that lead guitarist Ramon Mendoza would be taking up a reduced role within the band in order to care for his newborn child. Former touring member and merchandise manager Devin King was confirmed as his replacement.

Know Hope (2012–2014)

By mid-2012, The Color Morale were in the process of writing their third album, believed to be entitled Know Hope, and originally expecting a 2012 or 2013 release.^[9][10] The band wrote 22 songs, 12 of which were finalized into the album.^[11][11] Josh Schroeder of Random Awesome! Recording Studio in Bay City, MI produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered the record from October to December 2012.

Aaron Saunders will be the new rhythm guitarist, replacing founding rhythm guitar player John Bross. Bassist Ryan Pulice was also kicked from the band in favor of Justin Hieser desiring to switch his position from guitar to playing bass.^[8] On January 31, 2013, the band released a lyric video for the song "Learned Behavior" through Alternative Press; also revealing their album artwork, tracklisting, and release date of March 26.^[12] On March 20, 2013, Rise Records released the album stream for Know Hope on YouTube.^[13]

On January 1, 2014, It was announced that The Color Morale would be playing in the 2014 Vans Warped Tour.^[14]

Signing to Fearless Records and Hold On Pain Ends (2014–present)

On April 10 it was revealed by Fearless Records that they have signed The Color Morale, and they also announced that the band's label debut, titled Hold On Pain Ends, will be out later in 2014.^[15] On April 11, The Color Morale announced Mike Honson as their new official bass guitar player via Facebook, replacing Justin Hieser.^[16] On May 27, the band announced that they completed recording their album after two months.^[17] On June 23, 2014 the first single, "Outer Demons", from their upcoming album was released on iTunes, along with a promotional lyric video.^[18]

On July 2, the album artwork and track-listing for Hold On Pain Ends was made public with accompanying pre-orders.^[19] The band released their second single “Suicide;Stigma” which features guest vocals from We Came as Romans' David Stephens two weeks later.^[20]

'Hold On Pain Ends' was officially released on September 2, 2014. The album was released under Fearless Records and was produced by Mike Green. It features guest vocals from Chiodos' Craig Owens and We Came As Romans' Dave Stephens.^[21]

Christianity

The Color Morale have generally expressed that they are not a Christian band. In an interview with Jake Denning (now with Absolutepunk.net), bassist Anthony Wick said this on the issue: "Most of us are Christians. I think the label 'Christian Band' is more related to marketing and sales than it does an actual belief in something. You see so much of this 'We’re a Christian band, this and that' sort of thing, and you just don’t know what people are like outside of that setting. You can be Christian as you want to be on stage, but off-stage, it’s a whole different ball game with people. I think before you say anything like that, I think you need to live your life according to what you believe, or you’re just a hypocrite and it doesn't matter what you say on stage. I wouldn’t label us a Christian band, but we’re guys that believe in Jesus, and that’s our beliefs — but we like to talk about it in a different sense, different from the idea of “Evangelical Christian Metalcore.”"

Vocalist Garret Rapp caught up with Jake Denning (of Absolutepunk.net) in March of 2013, in which he mentions the following: "I think I was in 2011 during Scream It Like You Mean It Tour. I think in the last year in my life I've really taken a step back. I can feel it when I talk...I'm in a grey area right now, I'm unsure of where I am and where I'm going, it's feel like I'm walking with quicksand beneath me half the time, it's a very unstable time of life right now. I'm just trying to do the best thing I can with what I've got given to me or I've came to do what I've tried to earn I guess...I'm just trying to do something positive for someone else, and that re-affirms a purpose in me for something right now." ^[22]

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Music videos

Collaborations

References