An NYC Indie Rock Band Releases Debut EP. Then the World Went to Hell.
The story of a band, a pandemic, and what comes next for these indie rockers and live music performances.
After eight years in Beijing playing the underground music scene as frontman of the band Disaster Chat, Jesse Emanuel, the red-haired Oklahoma native, wife in hand, left China and the band behind. It was time for a bigger stage. And there is none bigger than New York City. It wasn’t long after settling in Manhattan that Jesse would get to work seeking musicians to bring together to form a band that would become, The Color Yes. After finding work at a nearby recording studio, he’d be in the perfect place to do just that.
One day while at work Jesse’s ear was drawn to the rhythmic drumming of an Incubus song. The person behind the percussion was Yuichiro Soma. Soma had been trained by the legend Yutaka Watanabe at the Mesar School of Arts in Japan. He moved to the United States to be closer to the New York music scene. After the two musicians hit it off, Soma would become the band’s drummer and first addition.
Together they found David Castro who plays bass and is the only native New Yorker in the group. David has been playing since he was a teen and studied music theory extensively for four years. He became the youngest member in the group but brought with him the music…
