Why Cebu pop-rock band Coloura works best remotely than in a studio

Nostalgia for the good old college days is what carries Coloura. After nine years together and two EPs under their belt, the Cebuano pop-rock band is heading back to their roots with their self-titled debut studio album by Melt Records set for release on August 22 – an effort they say best represents their sound and the reason they started making music in the first place.

“After we finished our EPs (‘In Between’ and ‘Love and Influence’), our sound had become quite structured and we didn’t start out that way,” said frontman Jake Relacion during a Q&A session at the music video premiere of their latest single “GF”, held June 4 at Cebu Making Space in Mango Square Mall, Cebu City.

“We started as a college band that did tambay (hang-out) jam-out sessions. That’s what we want to go back to, and we’re paying tribute to that feeling and vibe we had in college,” he added. “We were aiming for that raw, yet polished sound.”

Formed in 2016, Coloura originally went by the name Dox, hoping to ride the new wave of OPM popularized by IV of Spades. They released their sole single, “Shirley,” in 2018 before rebranding as Coloura the following year with a new sound direction, marked by their debut single “Losing My Mind.”

Joining Relacion in the quartet are Robert Lim on bass, Emil Baleva on guitar, and Ziv Zoleta on drums. Only Relacion and Lim were present at the premiere with their “GF” music video director Kyle Cua, as Baleva and Zoleta had work commitments.

The band’s current name reflects Relacion’s creative process as their primary songwriter, likening it to “The Wizard of Oz,” where the film shifts from black and white to color.

“It’s kinda like The 1975 with their black-and-white aesthetic,” he explained. “When I write songs, movies play in my mind. What you might see in the visuals on Spotify isn’t necessarily the lyrics, it’s more like quotes from movie lines, but in lyrical form, like a dialogue.”

Their latest single, “GF,” leans into Y2K-era nostalgia, evoking the spirit of a 2000s teen rom-com and inspired by a dream Relacion had about a crush.

“‘GF’ started out as this weird dream I had. I was into this girl and told her how I felt. When I woke up, I thought that was a cool dream, and I needed to write that down immediately,” he told The FREEMAN. “The chorus in the song is the closest to what I said to that girl in the dream.”

The music video for “GF,” released May 6, days after the premiere attended by media and close friends from the local music scene, doubles down on its flirty, early-2000s vibe with a 4:3 aspect ratio, a format commonly used in the MTV era before the shift to 16:9 widescreen on YouTube.

Shot in South Road Properties, the team encountered a slight hiccup while filming along a bypass road leading to Il Corso, which is only accessible to the public during specific hours.

“I didn’t know there were restrictions. I’d always see people jogging there, so I assumed it was open,” Cua recalled. “Thankfully, the guard gave us some leeway. We did a quick shoot in the late afternoon, avoiding crowds as much as possible. We just shot what we could.”

But Coloura’s album won’t be entirely riding the Y2K wave. As Relacion puts it, they’re going for a “blend of fake ‘80s with real 2000s nostalgia,” channeling the band’s wide array of influences.

“I was a huge fan of synthwave when I started making music. When I heard Mandaue Nights, I thought, ‘A Cebuano act can do synthwave this whole time?’”, he said. “Obviously, I wasn’t around in the ‘80s, but I was really into Duran Duran. I want to emulate that sound, but with lyrics that reflect what I grew up with like NSYNC, Westlife, Busted, and the Jonas Brothers.”

“GF” is one of three singles already released from their upcoming 13-track album, along with their first single “At 25, someone told me that I looked like young Pete Wentz,” followed by “Only Connection.” A fourth single titled “2016” may be released before the full album drops this August.

Like “GF,” the other singles also have music videos directed by Lim. The “Pete Wentz” video was shot on the rooftop of Mango Square Mall using a fisheye lens, while “Only Connection” featured a more minimalistic approach.

As for the unusually long title of their first single, Relacion explained: “That’s two of the things I want to tick off from my bucket list, and I wanted to throw two birds with one stone: a silly song under two minutes with a long title. I was a huge Fall Out Boy fan, and their titles were always long, like many emo bands. I wanted to do something like that because I was a big emo fan.”

After nearly a decade together, the band didn’t expect to be releasing a full-length album, let alone music videos to go along with their songs.

“Out of all the projects we’ve done, this was the one where we got on the same page the fastest,” Lim said. “With our past experiences, we knew what to do and what to avoid. We’re more mature and calculated in our approach now.”

Unlike many bands that usually record together in a studio, Coloura works remotely – a setup born out of financial necessity that eventually became their preferred process after realizing that recording in a studio, as they did for their debut single “Losing My Mind,” didn’t suit them creatively.

“That’s why we’re proud to say each of us is a self-produced artist in a way,” Relacion shared. “Our dynamic is like a producer sending beats to an artist. I make songs, send the demos to my bandmates, and wait for their feedback and input. We’re lucky because there’s no confusion. I’m grateful for my bandmates. They’re always game for whatever I send. That’s why we work well together.”

Lim added, “I’m Jake’s second set of ears. We push each other with instant feedback. Usually, he records, and I mix.”

A large portion of the album features songs that were conceptualized years ago, reflecting the band’s mission to return to their roots and showcase their identity. Tracks like “GF” are among the few newly written songs included on the album.

“I’m going through a phase where I reminisce about my youth and think, ‘F—, I’m almost 30.’ I’m getting older, and I miss being a kid,” Relacion said. “I grew up listening to Blink-182. My dad was into boy bands like *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, and my mom loved M2M. It was a great time because I didn’t have a bias. I was a blank canvas, and that played a big role in my songwriting.”

He added, “We wanted to show people who we are as a band. Most of the songs were written years ago during our Dox days. We held off on releasing them because we didn’t want to rush. We wanted it to be as genuine as possible and to get the timing right. We missed that raw feeling of being a college band and that’s what we’re going for with this album.”