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A thrilling act straight out of Adelaide's bustling alt-rock and rich indie scene, Colourblind encapsulates a lyrically sonic sound that resonates with the band's roots of punk and hardcore rock. Starting out as high school friends, the four-piece ensemble has gone on to produce momentous tracks that emulate all their walks of life and passion for storytelling.

Comprised of four friends, now family, Finn, Bernadette 'Bernie', as well as Ben and James, Colourblind made a mark with their 2018 EP Move Like You, piquing ears and earning fans with alluring percussion, striking vocals, and intoxicating arrangements. The band has since accumulated over one million streams and have steadily built themselves a fanbase, neither of which seems to be slowing down anytime soon.

Backed by a 'do-it-yourself' ethos, the quartet has blossomed in the Australian music scene, creating live both exciting live performance experiences and wholly relatable music - often fuelled by their humble and honest character.

We spoke with vocalist and guitarist Finn Cameron to get an inside look into who the band is and what they're all about. Diving deep into the history Colourblind, Finn opens up on their ever-changing sound and how the all too familiar lockdown affected their dynamic.

Ones To Watch: So, Finn, tell us about yourself and Colourblind.

Colourblind: I'm Finn and I'm the vocalist and the lead guitar, as well as songwriter of Colourblind.

How would you describe your music?

I feel like this is such a hard question, because I'm not someone that particularly believes in genre as a way to define what music is. It's more of a way to bundle up and sell it type of thing. I like to say that we're sort of alt-rock with elements of screamo or alt-rock with elements of hardcore - the possibilities are endless really.

Alt-rock would pretty much be the basis of it right?

Yeah, that's right! You could honestly say as many fucking things as you want. There's also a big focus on indie, because we have a pretty strong DIY ethos, which we've had from day one. We can also attribute the way we sound to how we are as people.

How did COVID affect Colourblind?

Throughout COVID, it was pretty much just re-evaluating why we're a band and what we're doing. We were in a really nice upwards trajectory right before it happened. so it was a big kick in the gut for us when all that that got taken away. It's been a really good experience in the long run, because we were able to get back to the roots of it. You know - hanging out with friends and writing songs that we wanted to play. We're always looking for a silver lining and I think this one was a good example of it, which even now is kind of reflected in our music.

How did the band get started?

The founding member actually left the band, so we have a different line-up now. But the history was, one of my friends from high school, who was two years older, invited me to hang out with them - these cool older boys. We tried to write and play some songs; we'd fight so it didn't really work out.

Oh no! How did you all manage to overcome that?

Thankfully, we came back a month later with Bernie, who's now a part of the new line-up, who sorted us out (laughter). So, from that point onwards we really started playing as many shows as possible, even though we knew nothing about how bands or the industry worked. That's pretty much the history of it. Friends from high school, hanging out and playing shows - and it just happened to work.

Tell me about the band. What's the dynamics like for you guys?

It's always been interesting because we've always been in a band together from such a young age. We've all gone through some sort of change in our lives. For me personally, I've not had a group of friends for this long before and no one's seen me go through so many changes. It's been tumultuous. There's been a lot of ups and downs, but that's what's part of such a beautiful and trusting relationship anyways. We've all seen each other at some of our worst points and best points.

Yeah! Especially at that age, everyone goes through their own phases.

That's right! Like everyone knows that phase you go through, you know, young adult just turned eighteen or reaching adulthood. Oh my god, I think I was the worst offender!

If that's the dynamic behind the scenes, what's your live show like?

Our live shows are all about engagement. Not necessarily about me doing tricks on stage but more to get the crowd feeling something. As long as they know that we want to be there, and they can feed off of that energy that's all we can hope for. We don't expect people to feel something, it's more so that we're lucky for a 'fan' to even come see us. We're just grateful for people to connect with us. They don't owe us anything.

What kind of feeling are you trying to present to the crowd?

There's that feeling when you're 16 or 17 and seeing that band you love, which is a fucking magical experience. It's something that you can't explain to someone, and you'll only know if you felt it. Our whole mission is to make someone feel like that.

Moving onto the band's music, what's it like? Does it resonate with the music scene in Adelaide?

It's kind of right in the coattails of this big thing that happened in Adelaide a few years ago, where there was a pocket of hardcore bands. So, we got that kind of inspiration to go a bit heavier at times after seeing bands like that. Now that we've grown a bit older, we go in a million different directions. As long as we're passionate about it, there'll be someone out there that's also passionate about it.

What is your songwriting process like?  

Well, this is where my band would wish to have someone here to shut me up (laughter). The songwriting process is we're not happy with a song really unless everyone has had a hand in it.

Are there any clashes when it comes to ideas?

Over time, we've become much better at communicating what we like and don't like. It used to be a kind of a contentious time, with tears and even fights, but all because we were so passionate about what we wanted. We've definitely grown up now though and we have a nice time gathering ideas and writing.

Out of your whole discography, which song represents you the most?  

In terms of songs out, we have an EP and a few singles, so it's really hard to choose a song that represents us since we change with every release.

Then what's it like now in this era!?

Even now it's hard! Well, our favourite song is "Backbone" off of our EP. Though "Entice Me" is our big song, which none of us thought it would be a big song though. Our producer called it, but we didn't believe it since "Backbone" was easily our best one.

If you could have any 'featured' artist on one of your songs, who would it be?

Oh my god, even that's hard! We all listen to such different music, you know. Wait, okay actually that's easy (laughter). We would love to collaborate and have always wanted to collaborate with Will Yip. He's a record producer who works for some of our favourite bands ever.

It was great talking to you Finn. Do you have anything you want to leave off with?

Yeah! We've just released a single called "Longsleeves," which is a step into a new Colourblind and we're prepping to drop a lot more music by the end of the year. So, stay tuned!