John Bias – “Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow”

This morning, John Bias premiered their newest single, “Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow” with Charleston Scene. The premiere included an exclusive interview with the paper, who also happened to choose John Bias’ debut album, Pandemonium & The Ever-Expanding Inexplicable Sound as their number one local album of 2018. In the interview, Tobias discusses some of what led him toward this new single being in the realm of jazz, as well as some details on how the song came to life.

According to the interview, “Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow” was recorded at Rialto Row, with Wolfgang Zimmerman behind the boards. The track was engineered and produced by Khari Lucas (Contour), and mixed by Andrew Halley (SondorBlue) and Tobias himself. Then it was sent off to Matthew Garber for mastering.

The studio band for this song includes Tobias on guitar and vocals, Clay White (The High Divers) on trumpet, Tyler Sim (Del Sur) on piano, Sam Jaeger on bass, Austin Ramirez (Camel Blues Band) on mellotron, Brett Nash (Secret Guest) and Dakota Bristow (Dakota O) on drums, Alex Kohel (Camel Blues Band) on congas, and Joe Synnett on guitar.

As for how it sounds, “Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow” was clearly created in a separate headspace from Pandemonium. While the debut album is rooted in psychedelic rock, “Composition” is more experimental in nature, which Tobias attributes to the fact that he’s been listening to more jazz and jazz-influenced music than ever before. He says that rather than taking the new single as a sign of the direction the music is headed, listeners should view it as a sign of Tobias expanding his musical reach and gathering influences from a wider spectrum.

John Bias will embark on an East Coast tour later this month. Listen to “Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow” below, and catch John Bias in Charleston at house venue Dunk Zone this Saturday night with Shaken Nature, Wallpaper, and Hot Showers. Facebook event here.