In a nutshell, I (Ted) formed a band with Kevin, Jeff, and Kevin. After our first show at the Lafayette High School talent show, Jeff and one of the Kevins left to pursue other roads of life. Kevin brought in Chris, and Chris brought in Matt. Matt was only 15, but was so good on the drums that Kevin and I laughed when we played the first song together with him- he was easily the best musician in the band, but a little stiff,so we made him drink until he fell down stairs. He eventually turned down a first-string quarterback position with the high school team to play in COLONY. What a jerk. Chris quit after Kevin almost killed him in a shoe store for spending all of our hard-earned money on pot. Kevin left to work at Yellowstone Park. Matt brought in Corey and Jason. Corey was an incredible bass player but liked to listen to Pink Floyd in a G-string and so that got weird. Jason decided to quit and become a studio engineer. Matt and I went away to college where we met our next guitar player, Chris. We got John through a newspaper ad. We built a strong following but then Chris left to pursue other roads of life, so Matt found another Jon to replace him. We quit school and signed a deal with MCA Records. After an album and two years of touring we were dropped by MCA. John left to become an accountant.I brought in Andy and we signed a new deal with the Beyond Music label. And now, after an album, a movie sound-track and two years of touring, Andy and Jon have left to pursue other roads of life. So we're writing an album for ourselves this time combining all the styles that we love with a new sense of life. We've cancelled our shows until it's done which should be sometime this summer. We'll see you then.   Colony News Updates We're getting great support from great radio stations in St. Louis. Let them know that we appreciate it by requesting our music and visiting their websites: Request 'Starting To' on 105.7 The POINT at REQUESTS@1057thepoint.com and visit their website at http://www.1057thepoint.com. Check out the River Homegrown Show every sunday night on 101.1 The River and at http://www.wvrv.com/music/homegrown.php. Request 'Natalie' at REQUESTS@WVRV.com.   Jay Fram From Riverfront Times May 16, 2001 Issue Best Hard-/Modern-Rock Band -- Colony Colony writes radio hits. They're hard, clever, totally catchy and built the way a hit is supposed to be: The hook is nearly always surprising -- though, in hindsight, inevitable -- and the sentiment seldom panders but hits close to home without being clichˇd. The overall feel of Colony's best songs makes them seem perfect for a summer-day cruise with the windows rolled down. And when singer/guitarist Ted Bruner describes the sound the band worked toward on their forthcoming album, Who I Wanted to Be, you can almost hear a hit in the making. "We started evolving with these producers, who were young up-and-coming guys, and they just opened our minds and weren't really restrictive like other producers we've worked with. And we're really looking forward to future albums. We love the British stuff. Coldplay came out, and that really opened our eyes. And I was listening to a lot of the Cars, and I was trying to fuse British stuff with the Cars, and I think we got close to that idea on some of the stuff." They did. The new tracks are alive with pleasure -- at least on the surface -- filled with the kind of hard guitar pop that's both in step with the times and part of a pop/rock continuum that stretches back to the Beatles. But instead of stumbling through pop idioms and writing only celebratory anthems, Colony produces lyrical output that's more complicated. The new album's title track is an earnest, introspective, existential examination. Bruner sings of the dream of being in a band, of the touring and the performing, and how this dream threatens to turn on him: "I'm becoming exactly the opposite of who I wanted to be," he sings as glorious harmonies and hard guitars envelop him. It's a wonderful song built on a frightening sentiment. Bruner says the mounds of debt he's accrued trying to make it in the music business has been a songwriting blessing in disguise: "It kind of helps. It puts you in some darker places when you've got that debt hanging over you. When I had my old girlfriend, and she was real conservative and nice and we were doing all right, that's what the songs were about: 'Doin' all right. It's a nice day' -- that kind of stuff. So it's kind of nice to be in a confusing space, like when I was younger."