Local indie rockers reach for the stars

Crescentwood

South Osborne

St. Vital

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This article was published 12/02/2025 (577 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One local band has taken the ‘go big or go home’ directive to heart.

On March 8, indie rockers Colour by Numbers will release their latest EP, Thaddeus Vol. 1. While a six-track EP is not exactly a swing for the fences, the fact that this release is the first part of a rock opera trilogy is proof of the local group’s ambition.

“The idea came to us to create a story that follows a local Winnipeg musician who is trying to make it big, but not having a ton of success, facing all the challenges that come with a low-income lifestyle of pursuing the creation of art over everything else,” explained Alex Kozub, who sings and plays bass and keyboards in the group.

Founded by Kozub, a Grant Park High School alumnus, and guitarist and Glenlawn alumnus Jared Adams, the group is rounded out by Mike McDermid on drums and Jesse Millar on guitar, all of whom began playing together in 2013. Between the shows Colour by Numbers has performed, as well as those its members have performed solo or with other groups, the band has plenty of experience within the local and regional music scene. The new project, the band’s first since 2017’s Among the Stars, reflects as much.

“It’s Winnipeg in flavour, referencing a lot of local institutions and states of being,” Kozub said. “The winter, grey slush that defines our roads is an image that plays into it. The EP itself is the first of three, that sort of sets the context of who Thaddeus is. It’s about how unsuccessful and inflexible in his pursuit of this thing he is. He’s bound to fail, but also bound to grow as a result.”

The project has allowed the band to flex some of the musical muscles it has gained over the past decade, both playing original material as well as cover songs, and to experiment with different styles and instruments.

“Some of the songs are meant to be the songs he and his band are playing, to put you in the experience of being within or seeing Thaddeus’ band,” Kozub said. “It’s quite eclectic. It came into being as we were plotting out how the story would be told. We wanted to showcase the style of music that Thaddeus thinks is cool, though not necessarily everyone else does.”

The new record was recorded at No Fun Club in Winnipeg with Rob Hill and Aaron Bartel, who also mixed the EP and played saxophone on a couple of the tracks. It also features guest vocals from local singer Flora Luna. The release show is set for Sidestage (700 Osborne St.) on Saturday, March 8 with VVonder and Rangers opening — it will also act as a swan song for guitarist Millar, who plays with a number of other local acts.

“We’ll continue as a three-piece, and hope to record the next two instalments within the year,” Kozub said, adding he hopes Millar will record with the group, schedule permitting. “We don’t have anything else recorded yet. We do have probably half to two-thirds mostly written, while some remains yet to be written. We’ve recorded demos of the rest of the material. We’re hoping to work with Bartel for the remainder of the project.”

For more information, visit colourbynumbers.bandcamp.com