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Colyer Plays A Set On A 'School Night'


Colyer is an indie-rock artist based out of Los Angeles playing a combination of power punk, post punk, with jazzy ornamentations, melodic singing, and added warmth from dreamy layering offered by their fantastic synthesizer player. Their leader is Steven Colyer, a singer-songwriter and guitar player from Michigan who offers up his last name for naming rights as well as the lyrics, compositions, and vocals as well as featuring on guitar for the band. Steven is a complete songwriter with prior experience in publishing and sync, as well as a growing touring and concert scene around the Los Angeles area. I had the opportunity to see Colyer play a five song set in Los Angeles for School Night, an industry event hosted on a Monday (hence the play on the idea of it being a “school night”) near the end of June to give industry workers a chance to show their new up and coming acts to the scene around Hollywood. Colyer’s participation in this event was noteworthy, as he truly stood out and kept in your mind with his fiery performance, complete sound, and musical ability.

His lyrics full of depth about a variety of topics, from overwhelming attraction in his song "Burn My Lights Out," exhaustion from technology and life in his synthy dream song "LogOut," and experiences living in the high anxiety world of Hollywood in his contemplative dreamy musings in "Beachwood Drive." In their song "LogOut," the lyrics “I need a vacation, a thrill in the simulation, I know my phone is listening to me," offer a modern and relatable experience to express his burnt out feelings about society, technology, and how we interact with it on a constant basis.

Watch the official music video for "LogOut" here:

Throughout Los Angeles, there are a multitude of ways for people to find and discover new bands that are on the rise. There are many bands who attempt to capitalize on the popularity of power punk pop and hard rock, a popularity that will continue to re-appear. However, Colyer has a unique opportunity to capitalize on his individuality within that sound. Colyer is much more than that one genre, using his indie classification as a channel to explore ambience, syncopated tonal ornamentations. Colyer is also much different from many groups attempting this sound as his guitar playing, synthesizer player, and production quality hold much more expansive value than a simple power-punk-pop band. The band organically mixes these tastes with jazz elements, experimental rock, ambient music, pentatonic scales on guitar reminiscent of emotional rock, blues, and soul, which displays their compositional depth and familiarity with their instruments. Drowned in reverb, this band can both lay you down to bed and wake you back up again violently, a duality that not many bands possess.

While I only got a taste of Colyer’s music for a short set on a night with multiple bands, I feel that he and his band have a lot to offer as they continue to grow and maneuver the Los Angeles music scene. They are expansive in ability, their production is clean and their instruments are distinct, their songwriting has depth, they are backed by people in the industry with large affiliations, and they possess a sound entirely their own. Colyer is currently working on an album, and are constantly playing shows through an extensive tour schedule. As I follow them, they become more experienced in how to utilize their effects and how to present their music, whether it be from synthesizers, phaser guitar effects, chorus pedals, and reverb, Colyer is visibly playing around with sounds, trying to discover new ways to create the songs in his head. I expect this curiosity to serve him well as he continues to grow his following.

Colyer is a band with an impressive level of growth, support, talent, and versatility who any indie rock fan should pay attention to. I am eagerly awaiting to see what Colyer is capable of, and if you’re excited at their prospects as well, you can check them out at the links below.

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