The Technicolors

The Technicolors are a musically sophisticated young rock band hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, who blend grand gestures of rock-n-roll with elements of classic acoustic rock. Their ambitious new album Listener was released on June 19th, 2012.

The album was produced by 22-year-old lead singer, Brennan Smiley. Smiley grew up playing on records his father produced and had plans to move to Nashville to join the elite as a session musican, but fate had a different plan.

Listener was recorded over a span of ten days in January at a new studio in Phoenix called Studio at the Farm. Fresh off the road, The Technicolors had found a new energy and were anxious to make their debut album as a band. Although Listener is technically the second album under the band name The Technicolors (The much lighter Who Are You was released in 2010), it is the first album with band members Mike "Nico" Nicolette (bass), Mikey Fanizza (guitar) an Kevin Prociw (drums).

"The first record was not meant to be a band record," states Smiley. "I had recorded it before the band had really formed. I was getting ready to promote it and had no band, so I called some buddies to come play with me. After that first show together, everything clicked and that's when it all really began."

The Technicolors spent 2011 hitting it hard, tirelessly touring the nation and finding their sound as a band. With driving electric guitar riffs and a flair for the dramatic, the band started gaining a reputation of being loud...in a good way.

"We would show up to these tiny bars with a lot of gear and get really loud. We love big songs," says Smiley.

Soon they were selling out small clubs in their hometown of Phoenix and packing out shows at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles and their showcase at SXSW was over capacity as a group of fans was forced to watch from outside the venue.

Citing influences like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, and the Travelling Wilburys, The Technicolors focused on creating a dynamic album of expansive songs that can be musically complex and artistic and still reach a vast amount of people. Listener weaves ambient electric guitar beds with searing solos punctuated with Smiley's ernest vocals reminiscent of Oasis and Wolfmother.

"Even though we focus on keeping our musical integrity, we don't want to take ourselves too seriously. We wanted to create an album that mirrored the dynamics of our live shows."

The result is a mature collection of effervescent rock songs that echo late night summer drives as a young vagabond who doesn't focus on the destination rather choosing to enjoy the journey at hand.

"Touring needs to be a lifestyle if you're going to keep up in this business", says Smiley. "And during the time that we're not touring, we'll be making records. It's just the minimum of what's expected this day and age, and we wouldn't have it any other way."