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Color Theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Color Theory | |
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| Years active | 1993–present |
| Genres | Synthpop Piano rock Electronica |
| Labels | 11th Records |
| Members | Brian Hazard |
| Website(s) | colortheory.com |
Color Theory is the musical alter ego of American singer-keyboardist-songwriter Brian Hazard.
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Hazard, the sole member of Color Theory, began studying the piano at the relatively late age of thirteen. He took lessons on and off through his high school years, while playing piano in the school jazz band and mallet percussion in the drumline. In 1992, Hazard was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from California State University, Long Beach. The following year he enrolled in songwriting and recording classes at Golden West College, and began writing songs for the first Color Theory album.
Sketches in Grey was a local success when it was released in 1994, quickly selling out the first pressing. But it wasn't until fledgling label A Different Drum included "Heart Like a Doll" on its first release, Rise! America's Synthpop Underground, that Color Theory was exposed to the small but dedicated modern synthpop scene. Hazard began performing Color Theory material live after the release of 1997's Tuesday Song, which includes "The Perfect Song", first performed as a proposal to now-wife Michelle. Hazard still considers 1999's Perfect Tears his best work to date, representing the culmination of the "electronic piano pop" sound he'd worked six years to refine. 2001's Life's Fairytale explored mostly piano-less electronic textures, representing a significant change of course from earlier material. But the biggest change came with 2002's Something Beautiful, a fully acoustic recording featuring legendary drummer Jonathan Moffett, fretless bassist Baba Elefante, a string quartet, flute, harp, and Hazard on piano and vibraphone. Twenty-six weekly demo recordings were posted on the web as part of the “Bad Song of the Week” project, which allowed fans to vote for their favorites and decide which songs would ultimately be included on the album. These demos were released as a limited edition two-disc set entitled Like Clockwork. 2003 brought another sharp directional change with Color Theory presents Depeche Mode, a one-man tribute to Depeche Mode. In addition to eleven Depeche Mode covers and two new instrumental interludes, the album includes "Ponytail Girl", a Color Theory original that was mislabeled and widely circulated on file sharing networks as a Depeche Mode track from their yet to be released Exciter album.
Currently, Hazard is at work on his seventh studio album, scheduled for 2007 release. In addition to producing his own material, Hazard owns and runs Resonance Mastering, a CD mastering house in Huntington Beach, California.