Colour Haze: «We try to go wherever we might have an audience and please people»

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It was a long time since we last enjoeyed them in Athens, and the opportunity for the live experience of Colour Haze this time seems stronger than ever as one will be able to understand from the following words of Stefan Koglek. The rock psychedelia band from Munich, Germany returns to our country with a live tour for the first time in the Balkans with fellow travelers Smokemaster and we talked about their plans, their past, the path of their music and the recent revival of prog rock elements in their sound. Stefan talks to us about rock, jazz and the reissue process and how it came about, as well as about their long-awaited concert in Athens.

So we are talking with you in the event of you returning to Greece after a long time, if I can recall correctly your last time in Athens being in 2017, how do you feel about this return? Are you excited to be back?

Don’t forget we played Los Almiros festival last year. It’s always a pleasure to play in Greece with such an dedicated audience.

In this tour, you are celebrating your 30 year anniversary as a band. How does it feel that you managed to keep it together as a band now that you can look back? Tell us some highlights of your best and most difficult moments.

It always feels very much in the moment. To pick some ups and downs like this is a bit difficult.

Trying to keep up and make relevant music is a general artistic desire that has nothing to do with markets or scenes - ...as long as you are striving to be an artist at least

Of course while you are active, the psychedelic/ stoner sound met a very intense popularity and nowdays it seems like there is a struggle to keep relevant, most bands try to reinvent their sound to something more diverse – or at least that’s what I can observe. Where do you find yourselves amidst this shift in the general sound of your scene?

Intense popularity? Well far from the 90s when Rock was big the second time since the early 70s - and far from being in a greater public awareness ever at all. It was and is still an underground thing and this also has it’s benefits. Trying to keep up and make relevant music is a general artistic desire that has nothing to do with markets or scenes - ...as long as you are striving to be an artist at least.

Even though you’ve experimented with many sounds in the past, especially the funk- prog elements of "In Her Garden" and "We Are", I see that after the global pandemic, with the release of "Sacred" you made a u-turn back to the roots with heavy doses of psychedelia, kraut-rock influences and heavy rock sounds. Did that occur naturally or was it a need for you to try and delve more into those sounds?

That’s always an organic development. In fact in that time I was listening back to the music that excited me as a young man. But in Sacred we also condensed progressive approaches and disguised them in accessible melodies and themes.

Μost of our records had to be cut again for vinyl

The past few years you have also released some Remasted editions of some of your classic records, like "Tempel", "All", but even your afformentioned latter records. What was it that you needed to have these releases in a remastered edition?

I had to change the pressing factory in 2020 and all my pressing tools have been damaged on the way from one company to the other. So most of our records had to be cut again for vinyl. Sometimes there were no masters existing anymore – e.g. Colour Haze, Tempel and All have been cut directly from the original mix-tapes without any mastering – a process impossible to repeat. As I had to deliver new masters anyway, I’m also taking the opportunity to rework some albums as I think I can do better in mix and production today.

You also released your latest live album "Live Vol.3 2020" a couple of years back, but I’ curious, it must have happened during the first days of 2020 when we were still unaware of the madness that was coming afterwards, when and where did this show took place? And how does it feel to have a live album recorded in 2020?

In 2020 we additionally lost our rehearsal space which is always crucial for our work as a band, even for Colour Haze’s existence. For a couple of weeks in summer we got the possibility to rehearse in a small studio near my home and, taking the obvious opportunity, made a live-recording of what was meant to be the set for the canceled "We Are"-tour. 3 songs of that are on side A. On side B you have a recording of one of the four shows we played in the summer of that year at all.

During your tour, you have chosen Smokemaster to be your partner in crime. What was it about this band that made you feel it was the right call?

They are a great band, good people, well organised and going forward for their thing in a very good way. And they help on the financial side to make this tour possible to happen at all.

Slift, Messa and Moura are bands from our scene that excited me last year

Have you noticed any new bands recently that have caught you attention and you would recomment that someone should listen to?

Slift, Messa and Moura are bands from our scene that excited me last year. Also the show of Villagers Of Ioannina City I watched at Los Almiros was a real blast. But Mani and Mario are much more into what’s going on – they can deliver quite a long list for sure.

And on the other hand, which bands do you consider crucial to creating your music taste and who Colour Haze are musically today?

As everything you hear influences your likes and dislikes and everyone in Colour Haze has a quite different musical background this question is actually way too complicated to answer in a nutshell.

We try to make it possible to go where ever we might have an audience and please people with the best performance we could give under the individual circumstances

Also, I’ve noticed that you’re touring mainly in the eastern part of Europe this time, places and cities that are usually neglected in big European tours, while leaving behind your homecountry and west/ northern Europe in general. What is this choice about? Are you planning another let of the tour maybe?

We regularly tour France, Spain, UK but this is the very first tour to the Balkans at all. In Greece we always played festivals so far on rented gear. A main idea behind this tour is that we finally want to bring you a real Colour Haze clubshow on our own instruments - a premiere for Greece. And pretty likely a one off ever. You have to understand we are far from making a living with Colour Haze. We have families and have to take holidays for touring. And the fees hardly cover the cost. In this frame we try to make it possible to go where ever we might have an audience and please people with the best performance we could give under the individual circumstances.

Do you have any plans possibly for a new record? Any idea where new music is heading to regarding what you want to do with it?

We are always working on new music. I have to admit I enjoy creating more than performing. And yes, there are good ideas and a concept. At least I can tell where the last albums were heading for shorter pieces this time we’ll go in the opposite direction.

Jazz musicians have everything at hand to create the most thrilling music ever heard off, if they would just create coherent compositions from their improvisations

Last but not least, do you have any special surprises for you 30 years celebrations? What should be expecting from your live performances in Greece? Any improvisations maybe?

Special surprises? I’m afraid it’s already a special task for us to take the effort and finally try to bring the first "real" Colour Haze shows to Greece. About improvisations: improvisations are the best means to get to some great new musical moments, riffs, ideas, conceptions of a piece. And I would say we are not too bad at this. They provide the ground for our compositions. But improvisations very very rarely succeed in a way they also provide a relevant musical moment for the listener. That’s why Jazz got irrelevant since the 60s – Jazz musicians have everything at hand to create the most thrilling music ever heard off, if they would just create coherent compositions from their improvisations. But they seem to be too exhausted from rehearsing to go that extra mile and rather just show off they can operate their instruments – jamming themselves into the background-noise of hotel-lobbies and airports. That’s not what improvisation means to me. I want to feed you with fruit, not seeds. That’s why apart from some hit or miss (mostly miss…) improvised solo minutes of keyboards or guitar – which are still an integrated compositional part though - we don’t want to waste your time with such attempts - unless we must cover up mishaps or technical problems.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer to our questions!

Thank you!