If you’ve been anywhere near the local Denver music scene in the last year or so, you’ve heard whispers of this band Chroma Lips. The whispers have grown louder with each passing month as the young psych-rock/pop band has released single after single while sharing the bill with some of the best psych groups in the city such as The Crooked Rugs, Rugburn and more. It’s impressive, how far they’ve come on top of only a handful of singles and those whispers spreading around town. It helps that their shows are these high-energy dance parties with people head banging and grooving in equal measure. It’s music that’s a little hard to pin down, enigmatic yet open, each song an invitation to get down with the band as they oscillate between heavy fuzz, bright synth runs and more all while backed by a powerful rhythm section. It’s an exciting time for the band. Their debut album chromaZone is set to be released on June 22nd and will be followed by a June 27th show at the Hi-Dive to celebrate. The band represents a uniquely Denver sensibility, showing how far some good ol’ fashioned word of mouth coupled with a dedicated work-ethic and the not-so-simple ability to make write some damn good tunes can take a band in their early days. Chroma Lips may be just truly getting started, but they are poised to grow to one of the cities most beloved groups if given the chance to do so. Check ’em out.
Ahead of the June 22nd release of their debut album chromaZone, Denver Dive spoke with Chroma Lips frontpeople Harry Edwards and Violet Hues as well as the rest of the band about the album, the band’s history, blending a wide variety of genres in order to create the band’s highly unique sound, what the band’s songwriting process looks like and more.
READ: Tarantula Bill Talks New Album “Norm” Ahead of June 17th Release
Denver Dive: Hello! I usually like to kick these off by having you tell me in your own words a little bit about who you are and what you do.
“Denver-based Chroma Lips make music built from layers of guitar and synth, with dual male & female vocals, over a driving rhythm section.”
Harry Edwards: I’m Harry, I play guitar and co-front vocals. I also record and produce our material out of our studio.
Violet Hues: I’m Violet, I play keys and co-front vocals.
DD: I also like to take it all the way back in the day. When did you first become interested in music? Do you have memories of growing up with it in the house? Was it an album or band or show that really made you take notice?
VH: I’ve played music since I can remember. My parents made me take piano lessons from 6-18, but looking back, I’m really grateful! I come from a conservative religious background; my mum thought drums were the devil’s instrument, so we only listened to classical music and hymns. Obviously had a LOT of catching up to do after that. Still do. But I feel like that gives me a unique writing approach and learning about normal things everyone already knows about for the first time as an adult has kind of a magic to it.
HE: I grew up in an artistic household. As a boy, I often made short films. My mother’s taste in music included a lot of new wave, arty rock, electronic stuff, and even some krautrock like CAN. Outside of that, my early knowledge of music was mostly formed from soundtracks. Eventually, my passion for film exposed me to documentaries, stuff like The Filth and The Fury (about The Sex Pistols). I began to see music as a more direct outlet, as it involved fewer people.
DD: When did you start to actually play?
HE: I played in punk bands in high school, a lot of trial and error, but i stuck with it. I was generally self-taught up to my mid-twenties, when I started taking music and audio recording classes at a community college in Austin. Since then, I’ve generally been on a musical path that has led to where we are now.
VH: I became interested in playing synth about two years ago, when Chroma Lips was just forming.
DD: Tell me about how Chroma Lips got started. How did the band first come together?
HE: A few years ago, while briefly living in Indianapolis, I started a short-lived band with our current drummer, Dan Birbeck. Violet was living there at the time as well, though we didn’t really meet till much later.
When Dan moved to Denver a few years later, I was already living here and playing bass with a local band called Wet Nights; Dan joined that project as well. Along with our shows, that band had a regular DJ night at the Skylark Lounge, which is where I met Cal McCance, Chroma’s Bass player.
When Wet Nights dissolved, we had one show left on the calendar, suddenly left open. This gave me the impetus to decide to try to lead my own project again. During one of our first writing sessions, Dan and I were stuck on lyrics for a song, and Violet started chiming in from the other room, beginning the collaboration that basically has fuelded the majority of the creative behind Chroma Lips.
DD: Given that chromaZone is your first full-length release, y’all’’s sound feels so fully formed, confident but enigmatic. It’s rooted in psych-rock but features a variety of genres with some punk sounds, some synth-wave, garage and more. How did y’all arrive at your sound?
VH: Intentional translation of the music we like! Harry and I’s deficit of attention leads to a love of many genres which we like to collect and blend together.
HE: A lot of acts that seem to pop off these days fall into these micro-genre niches, which is something we may explore in the future. Years acting as a live vinyl DJ have contributed to a broad sense of taste. As a result, my goal is to select elements that attract me to all this different music, while trying to keep it cohesive.
DD: What does y’all’s songwriting process look like? You have such strong riffs and bass lines and synth parts. Does the music come first or is it lyrics first? Does one person usually take the lead or is it more collaborative?
HE: While a few of our songs have come from ideas or jams thrown out in rehearsals, generally, it’s a demo process. Having a studio in our house, a room dedicated to always being “plugged in,” is a dream I’ve had for a long time. The ability to catch inspiration at the moment of its inception and develop it quickly is often key in giving it life. Usually, these come from moments when Violet and I are practicing or just improvising in the studio. Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot better at the follow-through, as it’s rare that an idea comes to me at a moment I actually have time to finish it.
DD: Lyrically, I noticed a variety of themes. You have songs like “Desert Queen,” which feels almost anthemic in a way and then you have “Disco” which feels lighter than some others on the album and end it on “Santa Fe” which feels to me like pure fuzzy cool. What fascinates you when writing lyrics? Where does it all come from?
HE: Desert Queen was one of our first songs, the one Violet chimed in on that began her involvement, really one of the first moments of the band. The song, which has always been our north star, is inspired by our first trip to the wonderful local music festival, Psychs Peak.
Chroma Lips: For a long time, lyrics were easy to get stuck on. Early on, the M.O, for Chroma was to not overthink the lyrics. Now they seem to come more easily, through free writes, reinterpreting adlibs of nonsense. ChromaZone does have some common themes. Travel, sex, a love for music and its ability to bring places and people together. Above all, we believe in the school of thought that we are just vessels, and these ideas choose us.
DD: The album is fuckin’ incredible, I must say. You recorded the album over the course of the last year. Tell me about how it came about. When did the writing process start? When did the recording process begin, and how was it?
Chroma Lips: Some of these songs have been with us since our first show. Initially, we had a (very ambitious) goal to record and release the album as singles over the span of 10 months. Those ten months turned into much longer ones, as life, the process, and a lot of cool shows and other opportunities continually popped up. Still, we continued, and though it may have taken longer than expected, in the end we made an album we were immensely proud of, a front-to-back experience. We’re really happy to share it and extremely excited about what’s to come next.
DD: What are you trying to say with the album, and what do you hope audiences will take away from it?
HE: chromaZone is an invitation to dream, to get together, be weird, and have fun.
VH: This record is a testament to perseverance for me. Making a record is fucking hard and we did it all ourselves. I hope audiences hear the work and are inspired to create, dance, goof off a little.
DD: Let’s talk about the album release show at the Hi-Dive on the 27th. What can fans, new and old, expect? Any surprises in store?
VH: New music, tunes from the record, and a playful atmosphere. Expect acts across the album’s spectrum from party funk to mesmerizing psychedelia, both from in and outside Colorado. The Mysterious Dr. Spaceman is delivering a nova of psychedelic visuals. As for surprises, well, no, then it wouldn’t be a surprise;)
DD: This is a broad question that I like to ask. Feel free to answer however you’d like. Do you have a philosophy when it comes to creation?
VH: This is the heart of the matter, right? Writing allows me to explore values and beliefs, keeping me accountable to my own personal legend.
HE: Years of systemic corruption, inequity, and intentionally undercutting the working class have left many understandably too burnt out and tired to chase dreams. Local music has to compete with Netflix, DoorDash, and TikTok. If people come out to see a show or buy a record, it should be for and about them.
DD: Finally, anything else coming up you’d like to mention? Anyone you’d like to shout out?
Chroma Lips: We’d like to mention chromaZone will be streaming everywhere on June 22, along with Vinyl, Tapes, and Cd’s available at the show and in local stores. We also have a wonderful selection of rad shirts and other merch, handmade by Violet.
Shout-outs:
High Planes Record Exchange for making our tapes and CDs, and presenting the show.
Mark Whitrock of Rootbeer Ritchie, for capturing the album cover photo.
Dan of Moonlight Bloom for a hand with some of the recording.
Various Blonde (Kansas City), Wave Decay, and DJ Andrew Klieman for joining our release show.
Thanks Thomas!!
Stream chromaZone out June 22nd wherever you stream music!
Get tickets to the album release party at the Hi-Dive on June 27th here!
