Colour By Numbers

Colour By Numbers are Winnipeg’s self-professed nerdiest alt-rock band. Drawing on an adolescence of '90s alternative and a hearty influence of folk rock, Jared Adams and Alex Kozub hammered out the group’s first EP, Colour By Numbers in 2013. “Colour By Numbers has a gift for making harmony the focal point of every song, […] tying this eclectic rootsy indie pop EP together,” praised the Uniter in their review of the album.

Around 2014, the band rounded out its sound with the additions of punk-rocker/band-geek Mike McDermid (drums, vocals), and celebrated Winnipeg multi-instrumentalist Jesse Millar (guitar, synth, percussion, vocals, flannel). Before long, songwriting, formerly a solitary task, became a group effort, with everyone chiming in to flesh out arrangements, chords, and words. Synthesizers, mixed-meter time signatures, four-part harmonies and increasingly ironic lyrics found their ways into the songs, making for a more textured sound and new level of sophistication.

Equal parts Sloan and Weakerthans, CBN’s second EP, Among the Stars, was released in August 2017. The band is busy promoting it and can be found playing any number of Winnipeg-area venues this winter. You can find the new record on Spotify, Apple Music and Google Music.