Red Painted Red Interview 2/15/2009


RED PAINTED RED
http://www.myspace.com/redpaintedred



1. To most of in North America your an unknown force ? Tell us a bit about Red Painted Red.


Most!!, probably all!!. Well, RPR was formed from 2 members of a band called Mantra who released a couple of albums in thel ate 90's and early 00's. The band hibernated in the early 00's due to mental health issues,childbearing and exaustion and never really awoke. Y. Neve and S.Carroll resumed writing music after this hiatus in 2007 in the guise of RPR and released the first of our trilogy of EP's 'Pathway' and recently the 'Preach' EP. In essence Red Painted Red is an extension of Mantra if you like, but just with 2 core members.Mantra albums, 'Painted Red' and 'Every Defect'were distributed through Metroplolis in the States.



2. Where did the name Red Painted Red Come from and what does it mean?

A statement of intent I suppose,an indication of concentration. A celebration of life's feelings and emotions. More on top of more, good feeling even better, upset being upset, layer upon layer, unbridled joy, hurt hurting more, darker black times etc..

3. Was Mantra your previous band anything similar to Red Painted Red?

Yes to a degree.Perhaps Mantra was a little more 'rocky' but many similar elements can be seen in RPR,. Although i don't like the term eclectic, as we have often been reviewed, many of RPR and Mantra songs vary in format, style and intent.There is a generic sound particuliar to our work but unfortunately in terms of popularity there is no paricular style that people can hone into or label which has probably been to our commercial detriment in the past and quite probably in the future!!


4. IF you were asked what styles Red Painted Red covered what would they be and why?

This is tough one! Something that we can't really answer. Reviewers and critics seem to form different opinions as to what our music means to them or a kind of 'field' we fit into. Some see us as invoking the mood of some Swans/,Portishead, This Mortal Coil and the 4AD scene,Kate Bush,PJ Harvey and the ethereal feel of My Bloody Valentine type music amongst many. We have even had comparisons to Sinead O'Connor and Tori Amos in the past!.A recent review called us'death folk'! whatever that is.I dont know.....but our music intends to create a reaction by using many valid tools and not being restricted to a certain pro forma. Melody is important to us, although we spend much of our time deconstructing it.I suppose we try and purvey a slight atmosphere of unease but are uncomfortable with the idea of regurgitating the same style of work over and over again.


5. There is very much a later period Swans meets Ulver vibe to your music . Are you fans of the more experimental beat driven sound?

We like the works of Gira but know little of the work of Ulver.Our musical tastes cover a whole gamut of styles.We do like the work of artists who push boundaries and respect the work of artists from many eras and genres. We are comfortable listening to popularist artists such as Tricky to the perceived more experimental artists of such as Wolf Eyes, Hair police, Whitehouse,Brighter Death Now etc. Innovative music has a value be it a pop song, improvised noise,classicalsonata form,minimalist drone, whatever, as long as it creates a reaction and importantly stirs emotion.

6. Are you Self releasing your project as I don't see any label supporting it?

Red Painted Red's work is being distibuted by our own label SSG.After being away from music for such a while we were inclined to release our work as soon as possible without the labourious task of seeking and securing a record contract. However we do appreciate the need to work with a record label to further our needs and will over the coming months be actively seeking a label to work with.Who would be interested in us though is another matter!. As sometimes we feel we are a square peg in too many labels'increasingly commercially reproductive round (ass)holes.

7. Did you choose to be a truly independence in this day and age?

No not particuarly. We hope to work with record labels again in the near future mainly to achieve tighter distribution and enjoy the benefits of a marketing budget and bypass our inherent failure to self promote.

8. Are you fans of the digital age (mp3s, Myspace, webzines, Internet radio ) or do you miss the more old school days or Fanzines, Radio and Vinyl and tapes?

Appreciate the merits of all. I suppose with the advent of today's technology people expect, and artists are encouraged to work more on marketing their work through these many mediums. It offers more choice and resources but sometimes less is more perhaps? On a musical level I think the abundance of music avaliable can be detrimental, as often people never give artist's music a chance to 'mark' them as they jump from music resource to another and are often expert in quantity rather than quality.

9. Is Red Painted Red just a duo of Yvonne Neve and Simon Carroll or do you collab with others in studio?

It is very much the core of Neve and Carroll. We do use other musicians as required, usually strings. At present we have not collabarated with any other artists but this is something that is a possibility.

10. Does Red Painted Red Perform live at all or is it just a studio/ artist creation right now.

After the release of our third EP in the series (this summer) we will be performing live. No details have been confirmed at present.


11. Will we see a Dvd or Video in the future as I can see a lot of visuals in the music you create.

It's rewarding to hear you 'see a lot of visuals'. That is really confirmation of what we try to achieve. We hope our music offers up many conflicting ideas and pictures as we are advocates of music stirring the listener cerebrally. We have an interest in video and hope to use this medium in the near future for both promotion and live work, our skills are limited but we are actively seeking collaborators to produce images to complement our work and hopefully prove to be a '3rd' member of Red Painted Red. As I think the use video is a natural extension of Red Painted Red.


12. Besides a myspace page i don't see much presence on the web. Do you rather have the music do the talking?

Definitely. We spend our time and energy making music and have reluctantly embraced Myspace which is our little portal to the world. We wish we were more savvy with the opportunities offered by the web but our apathy towards the medium is a fault we endure. Our releases are only available on CD format at the moment, we are not registered with any mp3 sites for paid download (although mp3.com and Lastfm carry some of our songs).This is a deliberate attempt to (re)promote the CD format, we offer innovative packaging (the last EP of the trilogy comes with a box for all releases) attempting to resurrect a packaged and personal product.

13. What can we expect with future Red Painted Red releases?

Initial work has started on the next EP, it is difficult to express any given musical direction, more Red Painted Red I suppose. Lyrically themes of our previous releases will be revisited as all the 3 EPs concern an evolving story and themes.


14. Thank you for the time any closing thoughts here.

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