Punk Globe: Thanks for the interview. Can you give the readers  some background about yourself?

Alex: Well, I’m a spry 48 years old and have been playing music since I was in first grade. Started out on the recorder and moved up to violin. In the 1970s there was an amazing music program in the public schools in Fall River, Massachusetts (where I’m from) and I was lucky enough to have a very supportive family. The violin got me out of plenty of classes that I probably should have been present for. But, you know, it’s the violin. It’s badass to carry a black, hardshell case when you’re seven. Plus, I plastered it with Harley Davidson skull stickers. Yeah, it was a wild time. Played in my fair share of high school cover bands, then I dove in headfirst into the Portuguese Wedding Band scene. Made some decent money as a teenager and drank my fair share of port wine while kopping the musical stylings of Ritchie Sambora and others. Moved to Western Massachusetts (Northampton, specifically) in 1991 and started a group which eventually became the band, Drunk Stuntmen. Toured with them nationally and abroad for 15 years and put out seven albums. Honed my songwriting craft and learned how to live on the road. But through a series of live changing events (mom and aunt dying and general health stuff) I had to give up drinking and all the other stuff. Left that band and got clean and sober. Started this band, Colorway with some friends and ex-bandmates and I’m just trying to keep pop and rock alive while playing the shit out of my guitar. Oh, and in 2004 I joined the Young at Heart Chorus who are a group of senior citizens (entry age is 74) and have been traveling the world with them ever since. They had a movie made about them for the BBC that eventually got picked up by Fox Searchlight. That got me onto the Tonight Show and Ellen and all kinds of other cool stuff. Definitely been one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of. So unique and always in flux. Safe to say the group of singers has few original members since I joined 14 years ago . . . but there are a few that are still kicking and belting it out. 

Punk Globe: How long has Colorway been together?

Alex: Going on six years this winter. 

Punk Globe: Who is in the band and what do they play?

Alex: The band formed in 2012 with original bassist Dave Hayes and drummer J.J. O’Connell. Both of those guys departed (amicably) in 2015, shortly after our second album was released. Matt Clegg and Riley Godleski stepped in and filled their shoes on bass and drums/vocals respectively. I play guitar, sing and write the words and music. 

Punk Globe: Tell us how you came up with Colorway  for the bands name?

Alex: Well, I'm lover of fashion. Though I wear black most of the time I do appreciate shades of grey and, really, all the other colors of the rainbow. I feel like each note, each chord and each song has a distinctive color—a way it makes you feel when you hear it. And depending on how they are arranged they could make you happy, sad, melancholy, etc. So their “colorway” is what is presented to the listener in my head. I thought it was also a fairly neutral word and so the music, I hope, will attach meaning to the name, not the other way around. 

Punk Globe: Who has  influenced the bands sound? I have read comparisons to The Moody Blues?

Alex: I do love British Rock. But I’d say the sound is more reminiscent of The Cars crossed with Pink Floyd’s more pop side. I really like the idea of integrating inventive and emotionally driven guitar playing inside of a memorable song. Pop is awesome. Guitar rock has it’s awesome qualities but it’s not for everyone. I try to combine the two and I hope that’s what the listener hears when they play our stuff.  

Jimmy Page, Richard Thompson, Nels Cline, XTC’s Dave Gregory, David Gilmour, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, and, of course, Ritchie Sambora. I dunno. I dig them all. 

Punk Globe:  Tell the readers about The Independent  Music Award that you won Alex?

Alex: I was asked to be part of a spoken word album called Action Moves People, which is a non profit organization who strives to encourage people of all ages from all around the world to help each other through the challenges of life. The charity is called Move This World and it is made up of over 10,000 individuals across 22 cities and 4 continents. The piece of music I wrote is for a poem called “The Human Race” by Karelleyn Brae Wade. I play the solo guitar for it and provide the spoken word reading. 

Punk Globe: How many releases do you have out?

Alex: These Are The Days will be our third full-length album. 

Punk Globe: Does the band tour a lot?

Alex: We have done a few national tours as a band, in both iterations. Right now I’m focusing on the northeast and building some interest in what we do near where we live. But I also tour on my own with this music. I was recently on a tour in Japan as well as The Netherlands, where I played small clubs and radio stations as well. 

Punk Globe: Alex, were you on The Tonight Show and Ellen? Tell us about that.

Alex: This was part of the Young at Heart Chorus movie, “Young at Heart” which was a BBC documentary that was released by Fox Searchlight about ten years ago. We were flown to LA and got to be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno as well as Ellen. Pretty amazing experience. The other guest on the Tonight Show was Charles Barkley and Ellen had on America Ferrera and Suzanne Somers. I got to give Ellen a kiss on the cheek. Her skin was so soft I almost cried. 

Ellen had the most amazing backstage food. Jay had stale bagels and jam. That’s showbiz. 

Punk Globe: Do you also perform as a solo artist?

Alex: I do (see above). Me and my guitar go just about anywhere. Sometimes I use a looper pedal to lay down the rhythm tracks and that lets me solo over them (which I like to do). But the song has to stand on its own, I try to always remember that. I need to be able to sit in a tiny room with an acoustic and play a song and have it be enjoyable for whoever may be in earshot. That’s the goal anyway. 

Punk Globe: What is in store for Colorway in the future?

Alex: Well, right now we’re focusing on this album and hoping to get it in the ears of as many people as possible. I think the story the nine songs tell may be of help for some people who are struggling with the crazy world we live in. Time is an illusion, just like so much of what our brain sees and takes in. I’ve been through the wringer in years gone by. I almost didn’t make it through. It happens to the best of us and it’s happening to people I know right now. But none of what we see, hear, feel . . . any of it . . . is permanent. At least from where I stand. I know that I feel different when I go to bed than when I wake up in the morning. Sometimes it’s a good feeling and other times I wonder why I even try anymore. But I know that I’ll feel different soon enough. I wish some of my friends who aren’t around anymore could have glimpsed that idea. It’s not science or anything I can prove. But I feel it day in and day out. It keeps me going and it keeps me sane. 

The album is called These Are The Days and it features Chris Collingwood from Fountains of Wayne/Look Park on backup vocals. The songs kind of follow a bit of a midlife crisis—from the wondering-if-this-is-it to finding excitement in somebody who may be a bit of an ill fit for seemingly all the right reasons, to the eventual downfall and dalliance with substances, the internet, all that stuff. And then the eventual recover and hope for the future. I dunno. It may sound corny but there is a lot of reality and passion in the words and music that I think you need to hear for yourself. 

Punk Globe: Do you have any Internet addresses that you would like to share with the readers?

Alex: Thanks for asking!

Our homepage is:www.colorwaymusic.com

You can search for us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @colorwaymusic

Our Bandcamp page is at http://www.colorway.bandcamp.com 

And we have videos up on our YouTube channel at
http://www.youtube.com/colorwaymusic

Punk Globe:Describe yourself in three words?

Alex: Intense Rock Style

Punk Globe: Any last words for Punk Globe readers?

Alex: Music is the best.

Thank you so much for taking the time to ask me about my music and why I do what I do. Most days I wonder myself, so it’s good to be able to ask my own brain “what the hell are you thinking?”