Ask any band to classify its music, and its members are likely to give a thoughtfully drawn-out list of categories. A band's sound never fits into one simple genre.
Colourslide is no exception.
"It's more of a melodic rock," guitarist Dean Newman said.
Alex Lawhon, the band's lead singer, jokes that it sounds like Celtic music with a hip-hop twist.
"I guess if you wanted to sub-categorize it though, it sort of has a Britpop gloss to it," Newman said.
After several moments contemplating different bands with musical similarities (U2, Coldplay, REM, Counting Crows, the Killers), drummer Steve Julian comes to a conclusion.
"Our music is definitely rock," he said.
On Saturday, the band will perform at Common Grounds.
After spending the summer touring across the east coast, the band is returning to its hometown to perform in front of some familiar faces.
The band formed three years ago when the trio met through a mutual friend and producer in North Carolina, where Lawhon belonged to a different band named Melbourne. At the time, Julian and Newman played in a Gainesville band called Time. When Time broke up, the guys recruited Lawhon to be the new singer.
The band members' previous bands laid a groundwork on which Colourslide was able to build on.
The band's first performance was at the Florida Music Festival in Orlando, an event that provides bands an oppotunity to meet and network with each other and spark connections with people in the industry.
Since its debut, the band has played with music big shots Natasha Bedingfield, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Cheap Trick and Blind Melon. The tours have taken the trio to venues spanning from Washington, DC, to New York City.
"It's hard to go that far away and have a huge fan base, but we did pretty well in New York," Lawhon said.
In New York, the song "Wake-Up Call" won the band $20,000 as Maxell Song of the Year in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
"The award allowed us to do some of the most amazing things we have done to date," Newman said.
The band's plans for the future remain short-term, as they await the outcome of their upcoming album, which will be released in the fall.
The guys want to get it out and receive enough exposure to allow them to pursue a record label in the future.
"The album has a name already, which is amazing," Lawhon said. "It's called 'Everybody's Right About Everybody."
Picking titles, especially finding a band name, is not a fun task, Newman said. The guys pondered over a daunting list before making a decision.
Colourslide came to Lawhon's mind through a song by Swedish band Kent.
The band spells color with a 'u' because it feels the word is more eye-catching.
"If you get to a certain size, it doesn't matter what your name is," Lawhon said. "No one dwells on what the Smashing Pumpkins means. They just know who the band is."
Though its popularity isn't at a Smashing Pumpkins size, Colourslide hopes it is only a matter of time before people will focus on the music it plays, without deliberating the band's name or musical classification.
"Eventually we'd like to sign a label and get really big," Newman said. "Hopefully our next album gets us the exposure we need to really launch our career."
