Seattle-based HARPS bring electro pop to Kennewick

Colin Brown moved to Seattle a few years back.

The South Carolina native wanted a change, and many of the musicians he knew were finding their way to Nashville.

But he didn’t want that, so he headed farther west. The Emerald City turned out to be a good fit.

It’s now home base for Brown’s electronic pop band HARPS, which has a busy tour schedule and a growing buzz.

The band plays at 9 p.m. May 8 at The Roxy Bar in Kennewick, along with the Dakota Brown Band.

Doors open at 8 p.m. Cost is $5.

The show will mark HARPS’ first Eastern Washington gig.

Along with Brown, the band includes Nick Molenda and Kaitlin Uemura.

The set-up is a bit unusual; all three have keyboards, drums and electronic equipment.

“We don’t currently feature any guitars,” Brown said. “It sort of turns pop music on its head.”

The group’s sound is big, cinematic. Brown calls it cinematic electro pop.

“I’m classically trained and have a degree in music, and I came up playing in orchestras and things like that. I’ve always had that in my ear,” Brown said.

“It’s a big, full sound. There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of sounds that you wouldn’t normally hear,” he said.

Brown grew up in Columbia, S.C., and earned a degree in music performance from the University of South Carolina.

He wasn’t interested in traveling the path of some musicians — becoming a hired gun on someone else’s project.

He wanted to “usher in a project” of his own, he said.

He and Molenda eventually connected, and Uemura later came on board.

The group’s name doesn’t have an elaborate back story. Rather, a harp “was the further thing from an electronic (instrument) I could think of,” Brown said. “I feel like electronic music can be like a big party. It was in the back of my head to make (the name) as dignified a thing as possible.”

Brown spoke to the Herald by phone from New York, where HARPS was playing a show.

Other gigs were booked from Toronto to Chicago, and Minneapolis to Boise, leading up to the Kennewick concert.

Brown said showgoers should expect a good time.

“Some electronic bands get away with pressing play and going through it. But we break every part of our songs down to what can you do in this 2-second period of time and that kind of thing,” Brown said. “It can be pretty wild. We try to keep it high energy.”

HARPS’ album, called Marvelous Cheer, is available on iTunes and other platforms. For more information, go to www.thesoundofharps.com.

The Roxy Bar and music venue is at 101 W. Kennewick Ave., Suite 201. Tickets are available in advance at www.ticketfly.com.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Seattle-based HARPS bring electro pop to Kennewick."