Colorful Blac - The story of us.

Colorful Blac - founded 2003

Money can’t buy me life.
As children, we both loved books. But more, much more than that we loved music. Words and melodies were our way of learning about the world. It helps to drown out most of the falsities in our dreary childhood. So we sang the words and we worded the songs. And we continued singing till our voices grew so enormous and true, that our timid little hearts felt ripe to take on even the wild wild world. Soon at 17-18, we packed our sandwiches and left home to tackle the foxy entertainment industry where billboards and fast-talking executives were said to rule.

We met back in 2003, formed Colorful Blac and in the following years achieved a relatively modest albeit remarkable success with our covers act. Meanwhile, we had also begun self-schooling on the art of sound engineering via google to prepare ourselves for the recording of our personal tales onto a song album.

We worked plenty and played some, and did our best to stay out of trouble. Even so, life did not offer us the little monotony we had envisioned without a barrage of temptations. With chance occurrences we came to live amongst and witness the hazardous and whirl-wind paths of profiled entertainers often littered with drugs, alcohol and depression. Playing festivals and prominent venues in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Singapore, we also found ourselves frequently haunted by wicked witches with delicious apples, pimps in gold chains with carrots-a-dangling and all the worldly enticements for the eyes’ feasting! Luckily, each time they prodded at us, every time the little voice in our hearts triumphed us to fix our eyes on our art and leave the rainbow be.

Street Culture

Real life, not unlike Hollywood T.V. offers numbing sensations with instant success-out-of-a-can that leaves the eyes wide and highly dilated. Forewarned earlier by what we had witnessed of the risqué price of a hurried success, the question begs us, do people really mean it when they say, “I would give ‘anything’ to have that kind of success!!?”  We  formulated our answer swiftly before the speedy buzzer timed-out, and to cut a long story short we have sooner committed ourselves to staying low and avoiding all kinds of short-cut trappings. So together for nearly 10 years now we have grounded ourselves, utilizing street performances to hone our craft and earn a modest living whilst enjoying the richness of street culture.

What if a recording/distribution deal turns up? Well, we’re definitely keen, if only to share our music to a wider audience around the globe. Truth be told, we have had substantial offers throughout the years (with various songwriting / recording / reality-t.v. deals in Australia, Canada, Singapore). But because we value the vital groundworks which we artistically cannot overlook, we maintained that there is no rush to move forward. We were enjoying our process and we figured if we keep brewing our songs patiently, the right time will come to see the right person for the job. As they say, you can’t keep a good man down!

Meanwhile, we get to live like the flower-child of the 70’s, work hard and travel freely with no hurry to compete in the world. So we did! And in this way, we have found that the privilege of meeting just any people is priceless, and learning to discipline the self in hard-work is liberating.

            Wedding couple, Ali & Mark still keeps in touch.

So how do we manage this anomalous lifestyle which most would deem unstable and insecure? The key, is that we work diligently(fr Latin diligere, "take delight in,"), live frugally and give sincere gratitude to our fans for their appreciation of our work, cos whether it be a monetary expression or a physical gesture it all comes from a place of value! There’s a saying that sums it up for us - “Gratitude turns what little we have into enough”. We have had fans who have offered us a roof. We've been given hand-warmers for the cold winter. Some bought sushi and others brought us delicious home cooked meals and even baked us cookies. How cute is that?

We truly believe that every breathing moment in life should be celebrated with thanksgiving and so naturally we’ve produced ourselves a motivating, positive and appreciative album as our first release. We started in 2003 with nothing. Fast track nine years and today we are the proud owners of a personalized LP recording that will always serve to remind us of the peace in knowing that more does not equate better.

Currently, we’re moving our CDs steadily one at a time, each weekend we’re out on the town. Although you may not have heard it yet...;) on television or the radio, we have many happy listeners to vouch for our success. So if this is your kind of success story, and you would like to hear more about our adventures, get your Colorful Blac CD and join all the other happy campers on our side of the fence in celebration with songs of real life - and real love...

The kind that money can’t buy!

A few words by our fans:

Thank you! I won a gold medal with your motivation (swim 4km in 20mins & sing your song)!- Tanja Engels(GER), World Masters Championships

An amazing album by two of the most soulful singers in Australia, if not the world - 87.6 kissFm, Australia, DJ Eddie Mac & Cam

Amazing sound on this album! Ingenious! I recommend it. - 98.9 fm Melbourne Musos with James Morrison

Two words… Mont Blanc - Eddie Nigel, Singapore, Award Winning Producer/DJ

Soul filled album… always puts me in such a fantastic place! - Big fan, John J Antonic


Support us:
You can preview and purchase our CD or mp3s at: http://www.colorfulblac.com

LA RUMBA

Strolling in Melbourne's Bourke St. mall on any one day is remarkable. Besides the glittery shop displays, there are strips of cafes in the alleyways and tram passengers waiting fashionably in their seasonal garments. Perhaps the show stealer amongst all these distractions are the wonderful performers that never fail to take a passerby away to a place where the world stands still for a while - a moment to feel the sound vibrations that takes one back into the roots of the soul where peace overshadows pace.

One of such performance is La Rumba, a Latin infused Melbourne band. I work in the mall, and sometimes when I am on my break I would follow the rhythmic beckoning to a different place on earth - well, at least that's how I feel when I hear these guys! A tight band, with a steady bass-line that is never too intrusive and fingers that move rhythmically with the grace of a ballerina's feet this band is fronted by a set of vocals that will turn your head faster than your lips can manage to say the exhilarating "wow' that races through your veins!

As with many of the other premier acts in the mall, they have graced many of the popular circuits around town and still enjoy the freedom and spontaneity of playing on the streets. So, many of you may have seen these dynamic boys in one place or another. Now, let's take a glimpse of their timeline and get to know a little more about the soul behind 'La Rumba'.

Pictures from top: Jarrod Rojo, Michael Rahab, Jaime Francisco Carrasco & featured guitarist, Nathan Slater.

1. How did you guys get together?

La Rumba was the brainchild of Michael Rajab and Toby Hack who had years of experience playing together and apart in different groups. They decided to go on their own and involve other musicians. La Rumba started off as a real gypsy band with anyone who turned up on the night playing. Initially we also had a drummer, trumpet and piano accordion! Jaime and I (Jarrod) joined and it was then narrowed us four as the core lineup with an occasional percussionist.

2. What are your backgrounds and would you like to tell us something that you think is particularly interesting about it?

Jarrod Rojo (Lead Vocals)
Born and raised in Melbourne, La Rumba's voice, Jarrod has enjoyed the rock side of the music scene and headed well known cover bands (The Reckoning, The Children Of…) With a yearning for the big stage rising above all else Jarrod has gone back to his Spanish roots and is now front and centre with La Rumba, booming his earthquake style he is so renowned for.

Michael Rajab (Guitar/Backing Vocals/Cajon)
Michael was born surrounded by music. With a father, a professional Lebanese drummer, and a mother possessed with flamenco, Michael's family influenced him greatly. This was the beginning of a life-long love of Arabic and flamenco music. In his 20's he turned his attention to the guitar and using his percussion background, fused the sounds of flamenco guitar with Arabic and gypsy rhythms and has never looked back.

Jaime Francisco Carrasco (Bass/Vocals)
Jaime is a multi instrumentalist with over a decades experience in the music industry. Migrating from Chile with his family at a young age he soon discovered a passion for the music of his Latin American heritage and quickly began forging a career along this path. In his late teens he began touring around Australia and overseas. He has collaborated on many albums and has consistently performed in all major world music festivals on the circuit.


3. Describe your style and tell us why it appeals to you.
Rumba Flamenca is a vibrant style of music unlike any other that people can’t help but be amazed by including the ones who play it! Its fun, loud, creates joy for all who hear it and relies on minimal musicians to make a big impact. It’s one of the most simple and raw forms of music with no artificial influence which is why I think it has the appeal that it does. It's just like we are deep down, raw and simple!

4. Every musician has gone through some form of struggle to get to where they are. What are some of your toughest battles?
I guess for me (Jarrod) the toughest battle musically is the constant one that faces all musicians with the amount of work available and the importance placed on music culture in Australia. Due to Australia being a very young country culturally, it makes it hard to make a living out of it without the country having large traditions and culture steeped in music. It affects musicians playing at venues who would rather pay a DJ to play because it’s cheaper but they just can’t create the same atmosphere. I’ve been working fulltime in other industries for 17 years and have only been able to live off music full time for the past 12 months due to street performing. I have been playing in bands on weekends for most of my life but one or two gigs a week generally isn’t viable to live off unless you’re in the corporate scene or have built a large fan base to which most musicians still can’t unfortunately make a living from.

5. Tell us about the happiest experience that you have had as a musician.
I (Jarrod) don’t know if I could pinpoint the happiest experience I’ve had. I’ve had some pretty unforgettable experiences with moments in music and played with some of the most amazing musicians I have seen or met! If I was forced to pick one, I’d probably say being able to get back to my roots and begin to understand my history more was and is still the most satisfying but I think being a musician and being able to enjoy and feel music itself is the happiest experience of anybody’s life!


6. What is the core message that you as a band would like to send out?
La Rumba is all about energy and having fun which reflects how life should be!!


7. If there is one truly useful advice that you can give to anyone in the world what would it be?
Don’t ever give up your dreams of creating and sharing music, life would be boring without people like you who dare to do so!! Music is different to every individual who hears, plays and appreciates it so there is an audience for you out there somewhere!!

Inquire about their album CD at:

www.facebook.com/La.Rumba.Gypsy.Flamenco

www.larumba.com.au

Press contact: management@larumba.com.au

Booking agent: bookings@larumba.com.au