DPS draft

How was Red shores formed?

I started Red Shores as a two piece in March with a mate from college, we were inspired by Royal Blood and Death From Above 1979 (drum+bass two-pieces) so we covered their stuff and soon started to mess around with stuff I had written. Then I decided to pick up guitar and Red Shores as we know it was born

When did music become a major thing for you?

Back in last September I decided that I would try my hand at joining a band, it seemed like the right thing to do as I had just started studying music performance at college. I check the local ads and saw that a young band called "Aftercare" was in need of a bassist, well I actually got so close to applying for an audition, I wrote the email and everything but I didn't send it: my gut told me that I wasn't ready, I hadn't even played a live show before. Come January 2015 and I see the same add up on Gumtree again, this time I felt ready and so I sent the email, learned the EP and turned up for that first rehearsal. A good six months went by still without a drummer and as of yet the full band has not even been in a room together due to injury and holidays, the likes. The guitarist was in an accident and couldn't play, there were lots of things that held us back. None of this sounds very glam, I don't think music is that glam anymore though. I mean people get another job on top of it to pay off a mortgage. You know, like "I've got to be in as many bands as possible".

Do you think music is ever glam until you make it big? 

I've always wanted to make it that way. I try to be as glam as possible with Red Shores. With my full goth makeup on. I try to be as interesting as possible, and people are noticing us and it's great. But no, that kind of amazing music lifestyle doesn't come until your drowning in fame. But for me that's not what it's about, I like the fact that it's not glam, this is my own music and people appreciating that, even just one person acknowledging my music and enjoying it is the most rewarding feeling. 

So tell us about The One Siders

I had just started my second year of college and after a month or two one of my course mates (drummer Tim) told be that the bassist/singer had left his three piece band The One Siders, and that he wanted me to try out for bassist. Anyway, I tried out, loved it. They loved me. They are more famous, more profitable, based closer to home, more creative freedom and input, more fun. So I figured why put time and money (train fair to/from Brighton, chipping in for rehearsal studio fees) into something that I'm not enjoying. 

Any sour feelings for your band mates in Aftercare?

No! I wish them all the best, and I hope the band gets off the ground because singer/songwriter/guitarist Aaron Ryan is a great guy. If they play any Gigs I'll be the first to buy a ticket and show up for them, I'm just disenchanted with the ins and outs of being one of them

You've briefly mentioned personal difficulties in other interviews..

Yeah, it was in year 10 that my mental health issues started.. You know; depression, insomnia, academic failure, eating disorders, suicide and family loss. They lasted until the end of my first year at college when I was given a choice- the biggest choice of my life...what to do next? I had completely blown my first year of college (attending the sixth form at my secondary school) and had almost gotten kicked out once or twice for either pissing off teachers or bunking

Instead of studying for class I was going home and jamming to Nirvana on bass so I figured that I could make something of this new found passion and I looked at the music courses available. It was soon recommended to me that I move to Northbrook College. And I applied myself as hard as I could, I had finally found something that I was passionate about, something to live for. Not to say that my struggles were over, in fact I had actually ran away from home for a few weeks and so the when I collected my distinction-star the paper slip when straight into a bag that contained all my clothes and personal effects

What are your earliest memories of music?

My first memories of music are from traveling in the car as a family, my parents always played music where ever we went; I remember Foo Fighters, The Streets, Angie Stone, Macie Grey, Massive Attack, Red Hot Chilli Peppers. A whole mix of stuff got played but my mother always got her say in terms of R&B and soul.

Any idols/music styles that inspire you?

I don't really remember when I started buying my own music but in secondary school I developed a fascination with 80's pop music. Duran Duran, Japan; Go West's first record was seminal to me. Naturally when the likes of Ladyhawke, La Roux and Robyn became popular on pop radio for their retro electronica sound I fell in love. But electronica and cheesy 80's pop wasn't the only love in my life: like all angsty teenagers I soon discovered the likes of Paramore, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. With my declining mental health came increasingly emotional and depressing music until at my low point I almost exclusively listening to The Smiths, Joy Division and The Cure.

So, bondage, you were saying about how it influences your sound? (The obscure aspect)

(Laughs) Bondage definitely affects the sound, because the lyrics are written to accompany the sound. So yeah, bondage does affect the sound of the music, but not literal bondage sound effects such as Master and Servant by Depeche Mode, or Whip It by Devo. You wouldn't be able to listen to one of our instrumental tracks and know it was about bondage. I'm sure it definitely affects the tone of the music.

Any new material on the horizon?

We’re in the throws of sorting out management and our first goal after this it to record a full length album, hopefully in March. We're gonna spend January working on what we have and getting all the songs to a point at which we're happy.

Then February/March we will be recording. Hopefully to release in early summer.

From the demos I know I really enjoyed “Give Something”, are there any favourites for you or are they all your babies?

It's funny, we played "Give Something" live for the first time last week and it went down really well, maybe it's single material. They are all our children.There are a a couple of two parters that we're really happy with. I personally like the bigger, more atmospheric tracks such as Mother Teresa.

How would you describe your sound?

Hopefully our sound is something that makes people want to close their eyes, roll their heads back and just move like animals. It can be serene and spiritual at times when we channel our emotional energy. Of course we can also sound filthy and gnarly too but it's all about power and being heavy- both in tone and emotion. Describing what we sound like is kinda hard because we try our hardest not to sound like anyone else