We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joe Colomb a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joe, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Right now the most meaningful project for me is the latest Alfred and the Teddinators record “Speedboat Party.” It’s the second full length studio album for the Teds and we worked really long and hard on it. The band itself is basically a group of longtime friends that have a vision of self sustainability, therefore we do everything ourselves. From the writing and recording, to the production and distribution of all of our music. I’m personally the sort o’ fella that likes to be able to things myself without the need of outsourcing or middlemen, and I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by friends and bandmates that share that mentality.
The album itself is a grouping of songs that were either written before the band got together as a unit or songs we wrote together in the demoing stage. A few of the songs were written during the dark times of solitude at the beginning of the pandemic, allowing them to become much more than just lyrics over an accompanying acoustic guitar. They became an escape from reality and a chance to bond with my childhood friends on a deeper level.
We tracked all the music in my very small 10’x10′ music room at my house and I feel like we were able to capture that feeling of a really good practice session that usually leaves me feeling overwhelmed with joy and the validation of a life dedicated to music. I was in recording school while were tracking and Dillon produced the album, so it was a hands on learning opportunity for the whole band the entire time. I’ll always be grateful to Spencer and Dillon for how much they contribute to the music and the Teddinators as a band. There really is nothing like playing music with your best buds, especially when their as talented as those guys.

Joe, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I like to think of myself as a pretty well rounded musician. I enjoy playing a plethora of instruments and sometimes wish I had more limbs to work with so I could play them all at the same time like those people on social media that can play drums and guitar or piano and sing all at the same time. But I gotta work with what I have. I mainly play rock and roll, but have a pretty solid background in Gospel, Jazz and RnB when it comes to the music I like to listen to and play. I started on piano as an adolescent (thanks Mom and Dad) and developed an affinity for drums and percussion as a I got older. Once my ADHD decided that it wasn’t enough for me to choose a single instrument, I started playing the guitar around my mid-teen years for the hell of it. I grew up playing music at my parents’ church and, if anything, it taught me how to at least act like I knew what I was doing. My mom is a darn good singer and I’ll give her the credit for giving me the ability and courage to sing in front of people.
As for getting into the industry, I played drums for money a lot in my hometown of Farmington, NM as a teenager and moved to Nashville when I became an adult to try my hand at the big bad music industry. It was a very impoverish time for me, but I’ll never regret it because I made some of my best musical memories there. I learned how to tour on a poor budget, how to fix old vans, how to be a session musician, and how to work with people who are trying to break into the same industry as myself. Once I became a father, I left TN so my daughter and her mom could be closer to family.
For now, I live in Denver and do whatever I can to still call myself a professional musician. I am the singer/songwriter/guitarist for Alfred and the Teddinators as you may have heard, I am the drummer and provide secondary vocals and engineer the sound recordings of my prog rock band Octopus Tree. I play drums and sing for cover bands such as Nothing But Nineties and sometimes for Anavrin’s Day here in the Mile High City (gotta feed the kids.) I offer music lessons on drums, bass, and guitar for those wanting to gain a bit of musical knowledge young and old. Last but not least, I produce music for anyone who feels they would like a seasoned pair of ears and a good sound engineer behind their recordable musical endeavors.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Totally. I could actually share countless times where I could have probably thrown in the towel and gotten a real big boy job. This one sticks out the most though: There was a time when I really enjoyed the thought of touring with both Alfred and the Teddinators and Octopus Tree at the same time. In fact I still enjoy the thought because it always gave me the chance to perform with both bands every show and kill a couple birds with one stone in one vehicle, but that’s not the point and we can talk about that another time.
There was one western US tour I booked a few years ago that was going to be a perfect outing if all went to plan. I had just purchased a gently used van with the purpose of touring and doing what I did for my day job and the tour was shaping up perfectly. We were going from Denver to Grand Junction to Vegas to California and up to Portland and Seattle for the win. The massive 15 passenger van would carry everything we needed as well as keep us from having to rent a hotel every night. Fresh off the lot, I sent proud pictures of my new purchase to all my loved ones and social media followers and my mind stayed wild with the possibilities of future travel and adventures in the thing.
We didn’t even get to Eisenhower Tunnel on I70 before every light on the dashboard filled with color and the van just died. Turns out the transmission was fully shot at just 70,000 miles and wasn’t going to get us anywhere at all. I literally bought it the day before we left. We completely missed the first show since we had to scramble to get the van into the shop and I needed to give the dealership a few pieces of my mind in a very frustrated and irritated tone. I truly thought the whole thing was scrapped until they agreed to put us up in a minivan while they fulfilled there part of the power train warranty. The first minivan’s check engine light came on as I was leaving the lot and then after a carefully worded phone call they got us in the vessel that would take us to our shows out west.
Everything ended up working out and that is still one of my favorite tours we ever went on, but man…that first night after the van broke down was truly gut wrenching with the feeling that the Universe really didn’t want me to do the thing I had spent so long planning and looking forward to.
I still have that van with the new transmission and use it often for all my music and work stuff. It runs great and hindsight has given me better clarity on the situation. I can look back and laugh now.
Just don’t get me started on the Bucket Blast Fiasco of 2018. IYKYK.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Music has always been one of the things in my life that makes me happy. Whether it be playing it, writing it, listening to it, or dancing badly to it. I have a weird relationship with sound that goes pretty deep into my soul. I don’t have any particular goal or mission when it comes to my creativity, I just love doing it. Having creative friends that also love it is something I hold close to heart because if I can collaborate with someone and see them smiling and having fun then I can feel bliss.
I haven’t made a huge monetary gain off of music thus far, but making a living with music means something different to me. I believe that I feel more alive when I am creating music. I am making a good living even if it’s not based off a monetary value.
My goal is to love music. I have met that goal.
A part of me still wants to get stupid famous though, so there’s that. Ha!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jpalmermusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colombjoe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.colomb.7
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-colomb-a7609a263
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/colombjoe1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoeColomb/videos
• Other: https://linktr.ee/alfredandtheteddinators https://www.octopustreemusic.com/

Image Credits
Teddi Colomb Eryn Harker Matt Corbin