One word: complete. One feeling: inspired. One sound: genius. One notion: movement. One idea: depth. One band: RED. It only takes this one band to create something so pure and imaginable, it leaves you feeling whole. The depth, in which this band has always had, not only within themselves, their music, their fans or a combination of both, is something so genuine it leaves a lasting impression on everyone it touches. It’s a rarity to find this impression, especially in the chaos the world surrounds us with. RED creates a reprieve from that chaos. They give you a canvas and lend their colors to it. It creates a painting in which every song tells a story and every story creates the band. Their fans can’t get enough of their music and their love for this band is as bright and colorful as those paintings. RED creates a world of their own and it’s an amazing one to see.
STILLCODA: NEW TOUR, CLASS OF 2009, WITH SAVING ABEL, POP EVIL, TADDY PORTER: HOW IS IT GOING SO FAR?
ANTHONY: It’s going good so far, we’re doing what we love to do. We always have a good time so it’s going great!
STILLCODA: SO THERE’S A LITTLE BIT OF A CHANGE UP ON STAGE WITH JASEN NOT PERFORMING?
ANTHONY: Nothings happened; he just wanted to be with family so he’s at home. He’s working on his career in producing and that side of things. We’re still writing together, working on songs and all kinds of things, he just doesn’t tour with us. He’ll still be apart of the band, just not as much as he was.
STILLCODA: WHAT IS SOME ADVICE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD YOURSELF 3 YEARS AGO?
ANTHONY: I didn’t realize it’d be as crazy as it is. I think we all set out with goals in mind. We hoped and prayed that the bands success would come but I think we’ve been kind of overwhelmed with the success we’ve gotten. So I think the advice would have just been to did what we did, work hard.
STILLCODA: WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT KEEP YOU GROUNDED WHILE ON TOUR? YOU GUYS ARE CONSTANTLY ON THE ROAD SO THAT BECOMES MORE OF YOUR LIFE THAN BEING HOME.
ANTHONY: Yeah, it’s just the type of people we are. There’s no one thing physically like that, it’s more of a mental for all of us. We all just know what our goals are, that’s what we set out to do, it’s something we rely on to keep us grounded.
STILLCODA: SPEAKING OF KEEPING YOU GROUNDED, THE BAND HAS SOME EXTREMELY DEVOTED FANS, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THEY’VE DONE FOR YOU?
ANTHONY: Fans have done, you name it. They bring us food, invite us over to their houses, those people are on the list of “not crazy” (BOTH LAUGH). We’ll go over to their place and have a BBQ. After shows, we’ll go hang out with them, basically go do whatever. Go see some cool spots of the town that we’re in that night. Luckily, our fans have a way of making us feel at home when we’re not at home. In every city, there’s a least one person we know that usually comes to every show. It brings a familiar face to us that we always remember.
STILLCODA: NOW ON THIS TOUR, YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN OFFERING AN ACOUSTIC SET TO FANS WHO PURCHASE A PACKAGE, HOW HAS THAT BEEN GOING FOR YOU?
ANTHONY: It’s really cool, it’s something we asked our management about doing because it gives us a chance to connect with fans, get a little more intimate with fans because the live set up isn’t as easy to do something like that. We usually go to the merch table and meet everyone but to be able to play an actual acoustic song. It’s just another way to show them how we want to give back and kind of how we live for 20-30 minutes of their night. Show them what we’re all about, a little bit of a closer look at the music. It’s what we’re excited about.
STILLCODA: WITH DOING THE ACOUSTIC SET AND THE LIVE SET, HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHAT SONGS YOU’LL BE PLAYING EVERY NIGHT?
ANTHONY: It’s based off of the flow of the show and how it will be vocally for us. It can be straining on Michael and Randy singing, so it’s like which songs flow best, which songs are harder to sing, etc. So we just set the songs up that work best but we also want to put on the best live show we possibly can; that are energetic and that people can really get into. It’s just a whole flow thing really and become an experience for everyone watching. If there’s break ups in there or if there’s something’s in there that don’t seem to mesh well, you’re not doing your job.
STILLCODA: OUT OF ALL THE LIVE PERFORMANCES I’VE SEEN, YOU ARE HANDS DOWN ONE OF THE BEST LIVE. EVERYTHING FLOWS JUST AS IT NEEDS TO AND THE ENERGY THAT YOU BRING MAKES THE FANS SPEECHLESS.
ANTHONY: Thank you! It’s definitely something that we strive for.
STILLCODA: WHILE THE BAND IS ON THE ROAD, YOU GUYS ARE CONSTANTLY DOING VIDEO UPDATES, BLOGS, TWITTER, ETC. WHAT IS SOMETHING FUNNY THAT HAS HAPPENED ON THIS TOUR?
ANTOHNY: Oh man…the first night of the tour, there was basically what seemed like a hurricane in
STILLCODA: I’M SURE IT WAS! MY FIRST THOUGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN, “ARE WE GOING TO GET ELECTROCUTED?”
ANTHONY: (LAUGHS). Yea it was raining when we went on stage. It was a covered, outdoor stage so when the electricity went out, we were like “What in the world!”
STILLCODA: SPEAKING OF REACTIONS, THE BAND HAS HAD THEIR SECOND ALBUM “INNOCENCE AND INSTINCT” OUT SINCE FEBRUARY. DO YOU GUYS NOTICE IF FANS PERFER THAT ALBUM OVER “END OF SILENCE”?
ANTHONY: We’re seeing both sides of that of which record they like. I think the first people like and relate more to your first project. If they like your first project and it becomes a success, then people will say “Ah! Do you remember “End of Silence,” do you remember that record?...” It’s our newest project so I don’t think we’re going to stray away from either record. We feel like we’ve gotten to where we want to be. People are excited about the songs, the record is going great. But there’s just something magical for people about that first record. The first record is what drew them to us. So when people are introduced to us through “Innocence and Instinct,” then they find the first record, it’s that “ahh” all over again. They have infinity with that record.
STILLCODA: WHEN YOU ARE PERFORMING LIVE, WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU FEED OFF OF WHILE WATCHING THE CROWD?
ANTHONY: Yeah, we feed off the crowd, the energy is something that we as a band and the people who came to see us share together. If you show up and the crowd’s really boring then you want to know that they’re into the music as much as you are. That’s a major part of it. Our music is so extreme as far as it getting really heavy and aggressive to the opposite. It’s kind of like a roller coaster in a way. From start to finish, we try to put on a really flowing type of show. There are so many people out there watching us, that’s a broad range of people so we try to give them everything we can.
STILLCODA: TO GET READY TO PERFORM WITH SUCH ENERGY, WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO BEFORE A SHOW?
ANTHONY: We listen to music, something heavy like Sevendust or Slipknot, something that gets us going. It’s that heavy, aggressive sound that gets you pumped up. It’s like something that you’d listen to while you’re at the gym, that sort of thing. Us guys are into that sort of thing (BOTH LAUGH).
STILLCODA: YOUR MUSIC INSPIRES SO MANY PEOPLE AND IT BECOMES A BIG PART OF THEM. HAVE YOU SEEN FANS WITH TATTOOS AND SUCH THAT THEY’VE GOTTEN IN HONOR OF THAT?
ANTHONY: We have! There’s a guy that has the entire front cover of “End of Silence” tatted on his leg. A friend of ours has: her Twitter page is Evil Angel, which is a Breaking Benjamin song (BOTH LAUGH); on the back of her neck one of our old merch designs of a skull with wings and the logo tatted there. It’s cool because I designed the logo for the band, we all take a lot of pride in that because it’s our brand. The word means so much more to us that just the brand. The word RED and what it embodies for us is and that logo is synonymous to us. So it’s cool to see people branding it on them.
STILLCODA: BOTH YOU AND YOUR BROTHER RANDY HAVE SOME INTERESTING TATTOOS THAT GO WITH THE BRANDING THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT AND HOW IT MEANS MORE TO YOU THAN JUST THE WORD.
ANTHONY: Yeah, my right arm is covered with images from “The Book of Revelations” from the Bible; it’s about the Armageddon and the end of the world. I’ve always been so fascinated by that book in the Bible, it being about the end of days and survival. It’s that constant conversation in the world about the end of days. It’s just so interesting to me and if you read through that book, it’s a very graphic detailed dream sequence of events. It goes through what this man sees and what he goes through that’s tattooed on my arm
.
STILLCODA: RANDY HAS “REDEMPTION” AND “INSPIRED” WRITTEN ON BOTH OF HIS FOREARMS WITH THE WORD “RED” IN THE COLOR RED.
ANTHONY: Yeah, that was actually my idea (BOTH LAUGH). I told Randy about that and he said “That’s pretty cool.” So he went and got that. Both embody what the band is about and how we feel about being as inspirational as we can.
STILLCODA: EVERYTHING FROM THE LOGO, THE NAME, THE MERCH, THE MUSIC, THE SHOW, THE BAND, EVERYTHING IS TIED SO WELL TOGETHER; IT’S ASTOUNDING HOW TIGHT EVERYTHING IS. THAT PROCESS OF GETTING TO THAT POINT: WAS IT SOMETHING THAT THE BAND INITIALLY THOUGHT OF OR DID EVERYTHING JUST COME TOGETHER ON THE WAY?
ANTHONY: I don’t know, it’s a great question. I think with us being on the road and touring, has made us a great performing band. I don’t think anyone can just step on stage and be amazing. I still think there’s an x-factor there, there’s just something that some bands have that other bands don’t. Or that some performers have that others don’t. It’s something that divides a band from another one so to speak. We’ve paid so much attention to our live show to how we pull off the whole spectrum of what RED is. It’s more of a lifestyle for us, you know what I mean? We’re kind of living our lives out on stage in front of 1000’s of people. It’s what we want people to see and for you to say or state that the way you did, I feel like we’re accomplishing that. That’s what most important to us.
STILLCODA: EVERY SINGLE TIME I’VE SEEN YOU, THE SHOW STILL BLOWS ME AWAY. EVERYTHING IS AT IT SHOULD BE. TO LOOK AT HOW THE BAND RUNS AND HOW YOU ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHNG, IS EXACTLY HOW THINGS SHOULD BE DONE. EVERYTHING FLOWS TOGETHER SMOOTHLY, THE LIVE SHOW LEAVES YOU SPEECHLESS AND THE BAND BEING HUMBLE ABOUT EVERYTHING MAKES YOU ONE OF THOSE BANDS THAT STANDS OUT.
ANTHONY: That makes me feel awesome to hear you say something like that! We basically play everyday of the week. Sometimes we step off stage, we feel like “we didn’t have a good show tonight.” But we go to the merch table after and someone will just be freaking out! Crying or something like that and saying “That’s the most amazing show I’ve ever seen!” Our reactions are “Like, what? Ahhh…” (BOTH LAUGH). It’s hard to take compliments sometimes because we are such perfectionists on what we do and we’re so passionate about every single facet. So is something happens, we feel like that flow is broken and it feels like we had a bad night. We’ll get frustrated sometimes because we feel like our fans deserve more than that. Having that attitude going into a show, no matter how big the venue is, every single show is an opportunity to hold onto our music.
STILLCODA: AND THAT’S WHY THE BAND HAS SUCH DEVOTED FANS. YOU AND JASEN ARE KNOWN FOR ‘TWIRLING AND SPINNING THE GUITAR’ AROUND WHILE PLAYING. HOW DO YOU DO IT AND MAKING IT LOOK EFFORTLESS? (BOTH LAUGH)
ANTHONY: I think it’s just something that becomes effortless after lots of practice (BOTH LAUGH). When you feel something, you get into it and that’s just something I do when I’m into the music. It started way back in the day where guitarists would throw the guitar front to back or back to front. The twirling just came along with it I think (laughs).
STILLCODA: HAVE YOU EVER HIT ANYONE ON STAGE?
ANTHONY: Oh yeah. I put Michael in the hospital once. I swung the guitar around and it landed on top of his head. He had to have 7 staples put in his head. Actually a few nights ago, one of the first nights on the tour, my strap broke when I did it. The guitar went flying across the stage and it snapped in half. Luckily, when I do tricks like that, I always have a back up. My guitar tech was right there and handed me my other guitar.
STILLCODA: WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY TO THE FANS THAT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO?
ANTHONY: If I could say something to the fans, I think it’d be to give us a chance. We ride a very thin line as a band because we’re from a Christian record label; a lot of places consider us a Christian band/act. Those lines are so polarized now, there’s just no real way of defining our music as Christian or not. Because it gets a Christian “label,” people are either automatically turned off or on by it. They might think we have an agenda or that we have a message we want to jamb down their throat that “label.” And it’s not like that for us. We’re just music makers, all we care about is relating to people and showing people that regardless of what our Faith is, we’re just like everybody else. Music is an amazing platform because not only can we get into their heads with just a great song, the seed is planted. They can go exploring and dissecting music on their own and reading biographies and really understanding what and who the band is. I think if people took a closer look, they’d realize that there’s more to us than our Faith. There’s more to the band that we’re trying to accomplish. Once they hear that we’re a Christian band, they feel like they can’t listen to us or can’t come talk to us at the merch table cause they have a beer in their hands. We’re just here to be, really. We have our beliefs and our belief system but at the end of the day, we like to write great songs, put on a great show and have a good time.
STILLCODA: IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE MUSIC BEING MADE, THE SHOW THAT YOU PUT ON, HOW YOU TREAT OTHERS AND NOT BASED ON PERSONAL BELIEFS. AS LONG AS YOU’RE DONG WHAT YOU LOVE, THAT’S WHAT IT SHOULD BE ABOUT. MUSIC IS ITS OWN ENTITY, TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS AND GO ON.
ANTHONY: Exactly! There’s such a stigmata about those sorts of things that people forget what to live for in a way. Music is a way for people to define themselves but it doesn’t need to be about the religious or political points of views other may have. We’re not writing a book so to speak, we’re not trying to turn people off from us. We’re here to create great music. We just want to know that it’s what you make of it. We’re human beings, not soap box type of guys you know? (BOTH LAUGH).
STILLCODA: THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS COMING UP FOR RED IN THE NEXT YEAR. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT OR GET EXCITED ABOUT FROM THE BAND?
ANTHONY: There are a couple of fun things actually. Being a music maker, you’re rewarded in that community for being able to do that. Jasen and I are the primary writers of RED and we’ve been known for being great writers, performers or whatever. We’d love to get back to the Grammy’s this year. We’ve already been nominated for a Grammy award and should find out in the next month if we’ve been nominated again. So that’d be kind of cool to experience again. Next year we’ve got some really cool touring possibilities coming up that we’re really excited about. In January, we’ve got a headlining tour that we’ll be doing. We’re supposed to be going out really shortly with Breaking Benjamin and Flyleaf, which will be an amazing tour. Three Days Grace has asked us to go out again, so we’re looking forward to that tour as well. It’s going to be a big year for us next year. We’re also looking to release “Ordinary World” to the top 40 radio. If that does well, we’ll get to do some late night shows and such. So fun little goals, that aren’t meant to be made into anything more than what they are, but things we’re excited about experiencing. We’d wish that on anybody so we’re thankful we’ve been able to experience what we have so far.
STILLCODA: AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHAT THOUGHT GOES THROUGH YOUR MIND? SOMETHING THAT YOU’D TELL THE YOUNGER GENERATION IF THEY WANT TO TAKE THE PATH RED HAS.
ANTHONY: At the end of the day, we’re just thankful that we get to do what we love. It’s not a job to us; it’s our way of living. That’s what’s awesome to us. If you’re in this business to be famous and make money, you’re in it for the wrong reasons. It’s a lot more work than any of us expected, from marketing to everything. It’s a lot of hard work but it’s worth it to us. We go on stage and try to be as humble as we can and really be apart of the music and fans. We’ve been really fortunate enough to have done and accomplished the things we have and not a lot of bands get to do that. So we’re really thankful and humbled by our experiences. It could all be gone tomorrow, but we keep that reality in mind.
STILLCODA: WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT COMES OF THE FUTURE FOR THIS BAND. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TODAY TO SPEAK WITH ME AND WE’LL SEE YOU ON THE ROAD SOON!
ANTHONY: Thank you for talking with me! We really appreciate people like you and we can’t wait to see everyone out on the road!
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