Q&A With Bologna Colorado
Bologna Colorado
(Photo: Matt Beals)
Bologna Colorado, a rock quartet from Halifax, features Cole Chalifoux on vocals and guitar, Adam Otmar on bass, Emily Denesyk on keys, and Will Adams on drums. The band officially formed in February 2022, by busking on Argyle Street, across from the Loose Cannon which eventually earned them a weekly gig at the Halifax bar.
Their debut album, "Entertainment Section," came out in June 2023 and on April 1, 2024, the band released their follow-up album, "No Refund". Now, they're hitting the road for their "No Refund Tour," starting at the Seahorse Tavern on April 5, with special guests Topless Models and Shadow Folk.
Before the show, The Boom At Noon caught up with them to chat about the new album and answer the question on everyone’s mind - WTF is a Bologna Colorado??
WTF is Bologna Colorado?
COLE: It's a corndog, really. I first moved here in 2021. When I first met Adam, I was living at this old place. I was on Snapchat and I was making corndogs and it was a slice of Bologna with a Kraft Single in it and then you take the corndog out of the oven, you put the corndog on the Kraft Single and the bologna then you roll it up and then rebake it again. I remember Snapchatting it to a few people and I thought it was fucking hilarious, so we just went with that.
It is actually a type of corndog?
COLE: No, no, it never existed. It doesn't mean anything. I definitely created whatever the hell it was.
How did the band form?
COLE: Shortly after I moved here, I was selling some guitar gear - some effects pedals on Facebook Marketplace. I posted a reverb pedal and Adam contacted me trying to buy it. It was about midnight at the time. I was already playing music and whatnot and I said you can come over now and he decided, yeah, I'll come over. I said, do you play guitar? Yeah, I play guitar and I said, okay, bring a guitar, we’ll play some music, and he said yeah, sure. So then I lured him to my grimy basement and held him at gunpoint to play music with me when I was under the influence. Then Emily… I got a job at the post office, you [Emily] were my boss. Emily hired me at a certain point. Emily played piano and we played guitar and the rest is history. Then Will is a friend of a friend and here we are - and we love him so much… so much.
How would you describe the band's sound?
COLE: Garage rock.
Who are some of your influences and inspirations?
COLE: Motorhead? I love Motorhead. Our music is not really like Motorhead, but I do love Motorhead, they are number one for me right now, anyway. We listen to Daniel Romano a lot. Other than that, I mean, it all depends. For Entertainment Section, our first album, I was listening to a lot of The Ramones at the time and you can kind of tell with the whole count-ins and in the guitar playing, it's kind of similar to that. This one is kind of all over the place, but there's not a specific inspiration. It always changes.
Your last album came out less than a year ago - Did you have songs put aside for this album versus that album?
COLE: We had two songs, “In My Life” and “Ever Loving Feeling” which were songs we already had during that album. But they were so new that we couldn't play them because the general approach that we have now is recording live because we like the sound of it and it works for us. It's the best way we get the sound we're looking for. But yeah, there were only two songs that we didn't get on the last one because it was just too soon.
You have a big tour coming and previously had a big tour. Do you have any highlights? Are there any places you are looking forward to playing again?
COLE: The Yeti Cafe. It’s the best spot in Kitchener. Kingston was great. The Mansion was good. There were a couple.
People that are going to your shows, what can they expect?
COLE: It's gonna be loud as fuck. That's about it. It's gonna be loud. I might be wearing a dress. That's the two things off the top.
How does it feel to be bringing these new songs from the new album on tour?
COLE: It's good. There's something in there for everybody. I mean, I hope so anyway. It's always fun writing new songs and playing them for new people in new areas so it's always exciting.
You got your start busking on Argyle Street outside The Loose Cannon, can you tell us more about that?
COLE: Yeah, we had a weekly gig there. We played blues then though - we were a blues band. We did Elvis songs, Jerry Lee Lewis songs and Buddy Guy songs. It was great. It was good to play a bunch of shows and learn how to set up and tear down and stuff like that. It was good for us and a fun time. The staff was great.
How did the band’s sound evolve from blues to rock?
COLE: I have no idea. Well, we got fired, actually [everybody laughs] and then we're just like fuck it, we're gonna do rock and roll music.
What is the best way to stay up-to-date with the band?
COLE: Instagram is probably the best way. You can go to our website - it's linked on our Instagram. You can find all the merch, cassettes, tour dates and posters to buy there.
Is there anything else that you want to add?
COLE: The Seahorse Tavern, April 5. Bring your dog.
