This is definitely not your average band. Even in a peculiar genre like glam-rock, Minneapolis-based Manplanet still sticks out like an ‘N Sync fan at a Marilyn Manson concert.There are five answers why these guys are so different — green, red, white, blue and purple. These are the colors which represent the individuals of the band. Throw this facade in with some pyrotechnics, and the resulting explosion is Manplanet.Boom!”It was just an idea I had once, and we kind of just wore the colored clothes, you know, nothing too major,” frontman and white-wearing Jeff Ham says. “But then everyone kind of took it to the next step and got their guitars red and the hair.”Ham admits the band didn’t think it would last and was surprised to learn that people really liked it. “Now it’s just kinda snowballed,” Ham says. “We paint the nails and stuff. It’s just kind of funny. It doesn’t really represent anything. It’s just kind of a theme, something people will remember and shit.”Ham is calling from a cell phone on his way to work — where he is a delivery driver for a liquor store — as he discusses how the Manplanet phenomenon came together.Formerly a drummer for a glam-rock, pyro-obsessed band called Detroit, Ham wasn’t happy just sitting behind the drum kit and decided to head a group of his own. So he gathered up a troop of guys and set out with a mission.”In this band, we’re all kind of trying to do the same thing,” Ham says. “We have an ’80s-influenced, Devo-esque sound.”Though Ham admits the Manplanet sound is more Weezer and the Rentals than Devo, the comparison spawns from the visual similarities between the two groups, something Ham loves to use to surprise new audiences.”We get up there and we have these outfits on and people have never seen us before, so we get this total surprise element,” Ham says. “We always shoot pyro off on the first song and it’s fun, man. People have never seen anything like it.”Although you could say pyrotechnics aren’t new, I think for bar bands, we bring kind of an arena show to a small venue, which is fun,” he adds.Manplanet’s initial success was drawn from Ham’s days with Detroit, but it didn’t take long for Manplanet to gain a loyal following of its own.”I think now it’s been word-of-mouth and over the years it’s progressed to more and more people,” Ham says.With the 2000 release of Manplanet’s 5-song EP “Skylab,” the band is excited to have recorded music for their fans. But Ham still expects Manplanet to gain most of their popularity and new fans from the live performances.”That’s what I expect in a show,” Ham says. “Catching people off guard and also giving them good music.”Fresh off a West Coast tour, Ham, bassist Tim Holly, drummer Pete Greene, guitarist Mark Cobalt and synthesizer player Mach Fox, are beginning to change their lives and focus more on the band than they ever have before.Along with delivering liquor, other jobs the band members hold down are straight out of the movies and include a computer programmer, a video store clerk and a graphic designer.”Now we’re starting to put the band ahead of a lot of stuff because we’re getting a lot of opportunities to play out,” Ham says. “We’re at a point right now where we’re trying to do this full time and we’re getting some good opportunities, but we still gotta have the day jobs to pay the rent. But we’re getting closer and that’s exciting.”When Ham refers to “getting closer,” he isn’t necessarily talking about major-label attention, but instead, bigger fan-bases and more ears on their music.”Right now, major labels to me is kind of a turn-off just because of all the stuff that’s been going on,” Ham says. “I’m thinking I would like to be able to keep touring, and get maybe a strong independent label to put out a record and just get some tour support. That’s what I want, to be able to travel.”Though “Skylab” is its first recording, Manplanet was fortunate enough to record with the likes of Bryan Hanna and Jason Orris, who have also worked with such groups the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum and the Hang Ups.”I’m really into the music those guys play and the bands they’ve been in,” Ham says. “That was cool because we just basically let those guys take over. They just said, ‘Play your songs how you play them and we’ll do the rest.’ So it took a lot of pressure off me, especially for our first recording.”Presently thriving in Minneapolis, Ham and company are pleasant with the acceptance they receive due to Minneapolis’ musically diverse scene.”I think Minneapolis is pretty supportive and open-minded towards other bands,” Ham says.But with a second west coast tour planned for April, another visit to the East Coast set for March (the group played the CMJ Music Festival in New York last year) and weekends filled with Midwest shows, Manplanet will continue to spread its rainbow across the nation.But right now, the biggest problem these colored avengers face is the possibility of burning themselves with pyrotechnics.Ouch.