Till You're Dead
Official Band Bio
Scarlet Red started out as a garage band in 1990. At that time the lineup consisted of the founders Spirit of throat destruction, & BlisterD aka; Danny of death defying mosh pit guitar lightning for the ears. John stoner drum madness was added later along with Jeff of the bassist sort.
Since Danny's grandma owned Trojan Studios throughout the 90's, we were able to play there whenever we wanted to for free. And of coarse when your grandma owns the studio, you get the Showcase room as long as it's not booked at the time. And trust me when I say that we were there as much as possible. It makes it a bit easier on the pocketbook when you have privileges like that. But some people never appreciate anything, and that is why they are the losers.
We eventually lost John when he took a trip to Fiji, cut his foot on the coral reef, and tried to skip out on paying the doctor bill. So they wouldn't let him out of the country until he worked off his tab. We didn't see him again for like 5 years. He simply vanished into his stoned world of smoke. Then came along Jeff no meter on drums. It took two years to get him to learn 5 songs completely through, and he still couldn't get it right. Dude, you really gotta quit smoking that stuff if you can't remember 5 songs! Anyhow, he finally packed up his piece of $#!+, out of tune, poor excuse of a drum kit & left. Then came along drummer after drummer after drummer, until we fired them all and brought in the DR to do our demo. He has always shown up, and never complains...hehehe.
We lost our bassist Jeff after he loaned out his amp & the guy blew it up without reimbursing him for it. Here you go dude, thanks for the loan! Lesson ..1 NEVER LOAN OUT YOUR EQUIPMENT TO ANYBODY UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE IT TO THEM. Jeff never did recover from that episode, so we never saw him again.
But then came Kurt thunder mouth aka; Schnok, who talked crap on everyone. Nobody was off limits from being targeted by this smack talking dude. He was actually a kool guy once you got to know him. And a great bass player who owned his own recording studio called Preferred Audio, where Korn recorded their first album or demo or whatever it was they were working on at the time. Really nice guys, kinda creepy, but really nice. Kurt worked with us on and off for almost a year but finally moved down the road when his studio closed it's doors. Haven't seen him for quite awhile!
Ok, about Genres of Musica! We don't know what to call ourselves since we are in a class all it's own. We have survived the days of Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Gloom, Doom, and whatever hard music has ever been. We have never even considered selling out or doing anything other than hard music. There will always be those hardcore individuals that will think that nothing is hard enough for their taste. But we don't cater to that mentality. We have been around long enough to see it all come & go, and then do the full circle again. Metal is rising again, as I have always believed it would. And there is nothing new under the sun!
Spirit has taken vocal lessons since the first throat bleeding session way back in the 90's. So now he is known to be more like Spirit of the Opera. Hey, just a side note for all you throaters out there, Scarlet Red was doing that crap way back in 1990. We have the rehearsal studio tapes to prove it too. And now that everyone else is throating it, Spirit has a style all his own, setting Scarlet Red apart from all the throat bands. Committed to never selling out, we still have the lightning fast music, along with some added thump & groove. We also slow it down to heavy doom & gloom when the song calls for it. Something has to be said about a song that sticks in your head the whole next day whether you want it to or not! A haunting phantom of the opera combination of lyrical madness that makes chills go up & down your spine, or is it, makes you sick to your stomach, not quite sure which one...hehehehe.
Well eventually Metal took a dump in the 90's after KNAC went off the air here in SoCal. And it was hard to get musicians onboard since everyone kinda lost the heart for playing Metal. Danny (aka Blister D) got involved with his family issues and drifted from the band. So, Spirit took the reigns and picked up the guitar. By the year 2000, Spirit began an apprenticeship at a well known Guitar Repair shop in Orange County, and brought Danny along. With a new arsenal of Guitar weaponry, Spirit and Blister D continued with the recording project during these silent years.
2002 finally brought us to the actual recording of the Spiritus Demo. After 10 years of scrimping & saving, buying and selling equipment, you get to know what pretty much works & what doesn't work for you. And after taking a few losses on your investments, you start to change your attitude about buying something that so & so supposedly plays onstage. Don't let 'em fool you, the equipment that the big boys use is usually nothing like you buy at your local music store. Those amps you see onstage have been modded to the max! And trust me when I say that those cabinets have been reloaded with something other than you think is in them. And that wall of Marshalls behind the band is usually a dummy stack. Unless of coarse we are talking about Slayer! And just because it's new doesn't mean it is the best. In fact we have found that the older stuff is way better, and cheaper on the pocketbook. They really made good equipment for Metal in the peak years of the 80's & 90's.
So, with the DR we set out to record our very first real demo. Spirit finally picked up his guitar and decided to compose most of the material currently found on our demo. And Danny agreed to make his mark before officially leaving the band. His guitar playing was superb on this project, and his signature sound adds a tasty edge to each song. So in collaboration together you will find the material on the Spiritus Demo to be a work of interesting ear candy.
2006 brought us to a new level of achievement as we have been working on the material for the forthcoming CD "Prophetic Utterances" which will hopefully be out soon. In addition to many of the demo tracks to be re-recorded, we will have several never before recorded songs on this CD. In addition, many of the older songs have been rewritten with some tasty flavor added to them.
2007 finally brought us through to the point of playing live shows after such a long time. Hector joined up with us on drums and it has been nice writing material with his style. Very into Slayer, he has added that style to the band. We tried out several bass players during this year, yet we just couldn't get the right match. Heavy had a short stay of 6 months and then left to work on his own side project.
Side note for all the wannabe rock stars: Dude, what's with the makeup and eyeliner? It really isn't pretty, and that scene went out in the 80's. Just because your girlfriend likes it, doesn't mean that anyone else at the gig does! She probably played with Barbies too, so what's your excuse? We aren't living in the 80's Hollywood rock star scene anymore! The world of metal is way bigger than that. It's about the music now! This is a new era, and the metal music scene has changed. Start investing in some real equipment instead of wasting your money on cosmetics and drugs. Get with writing good music instead of working on theatrics that won't make it beyond a stage in a small club. If you ever play an arena, nobody is gonna see if your makeup is there. And if the future band you are playing with tells you that they don't like something, listen to them, they just might know what they are talking about. Unless you're Yngwe (which you're not), a band is supposed to be a team, not a one man show. And just a suggestion here, but "just say no to drugs." Otherwise, if you continue in that direction, you just may find yourself dead like all the other fools. The future is just gonna pass you by, and if you do survive, you may become nothing more than an extinct homeless dinosaur with irreversable medical problems and crappy equipment living out of a broken down van for the remainder of what's left of your life.
With that said, we as a band want to learn from our mistakes and continue to move forward. If that means letting go of an anchor that is keeping us tied down, then so be it. Life is too short and it's time to move on! Unfortunately, as a result, we do go through lineup changes from time to time. But whatever changes we do make, be assured that they are for the better, and that will be reflected through the music in the end.
The theme here is "brotherhood". If there is anything that we as a band have learned it is this; The success of a band staying together, is the ability to accept diversity. That is what gives Scarlet Red a unique overall sound. We are all from different backgrounds and life experiences. When you have known one another for a period of time, and you grow as a band, you get past all that. You give one another their space, learn to cope with the issues, and simply do your job in the band. The love for metal, loyalty, and brotherhood is what keeps us together through it all.
2008 had a lot of bumps in the road. In stepped German on bass, but he also had a short stay of about 6 months. Up to this point, both Heavy and German have been on and off, so let's see what the future brings us. But we got to play a lot of local shows and get our feet wet on live audiences. It really does take an interaction with a crowd to get the feedback that will verify whether or not you are going down the right path musically. Since we have played our material in front of new crowds in various locations, it would appear that the fans have given us such positive energy that we now have confidence that we are doing the right thing, and we hope to please!
2009 was a time for changes. Hector left the band to pursue his desire to play in a death metal band. Since we were never a death metal style, and since he wanted to go in that direction, we finally agreed to part ways while he pursues that desire. Recording at 200bps is not easy to do. And it is difficult enough to find a good drummer without timing issues, let alone finding a drummer who can play at 200bps. Scarlet Red has always been hard metal and perhaps we will be able to incorporate such drums into the band when a drummer can play it well.
We enjoyed having Hector on board during his sojourn! We wish him the best with his death metal projects and pursuit.
2011 The last few years have proven to be a period of great recession. Many people have had a difficult time with finances, and for the lucky ones, it has been hard to even pay their house morgages. Jobs are scarce, and it is difficult to find any musicians who actually have time for a band that doesn't have a paid gig for them. Several guys have agreed to spend time recording with us, but when the rubber meets the road, they are not to be found. Needless to say, it has been difficult for us all! But this year we have been working on the newest material that is slated for the forthcoming album. Interested fans can always access the newest demo songs through the website. It has been fun recording these songs and there should be a lot more new material forthcoming.
2012 This summer Hector has returned to the band after a long break. We have some new material in the works, and many of the old songs have been re-written with more punch than ever. Sometimes you need to take a break and step back to see yourself from a fresh perspective. Especially noticable is how the vocals have taken a turn towards a more up to date style. We hope to please our fans with the newest material. So keep in touch and we should have some new songs posted for your ear pleasure.
October 2012 We have decided to get a replacement on bass for the band. The last few guys were just not working out. We need someone more dedicated to our music, rather than their own personal issues. A bass player who plays with fingers if possible and plays fast metal well, shows up to rehearsals, records when asked to, and actually shows up at our gigs, is all we ask! So, the roadblocks have been removed, and now we are focused on recording once again. Our gain is moving forward, their loss is on them! At this point, Heavy has ageed to give it another try with the band. So let's see how it goes. After all, he does know all the songs.
April 2013 At this point we are in full swing rehearsals, preparing for recording and upcoming shows.
Sepember 2013 Up till now a lot has happened. We have continued rehearsals and tracking up until the Lido Building blowout party. They are tearing our building down. If you came to Spirits birthday bash, thank you. We promise more songs and less UFC championships at our next show. Funny how it al went down after our song "Blood on the Wall".
At this point we have moved our studio to the new location. So rehearsals are at a standstill. At the moment we are preparing for the newest recordings, mixing, and Adam a Universal Music recording artist has agreed to help out with the production. After that we should be ready for the upcoming shows. So keep in touch...
2014 Here we are at the time when the Blood Moon tetrad is upon us. A fulfillment of an ancient Bible prophecy in Joel 2.30. We have had our song Black Sun Red Moon since 1990, but have musically re-written it since then. And as usual, we keep running into changes in the band as we move forward in time. It has been way too long, and it is time to get the ball rolling again.
2015 Fresh start with a new addition to our drummer position as Michael stands up to the challenge. Spending time breaking down our material. His timing is a great improvement over what we have been dealing with. Let's see how it goes...
2016 Michael has been working out on drums quite well. In addition, this is where we have added Tyler to the second guitarist position. This has finally added the much desired guitar thunder to our sound. New studio, new energy, new members, new recordings!
2017 And once again as usual, we keep running into changes in the band as we try to move forward in time. So, as we have shows lined up and are ready to rock, we get the news that Michael has been called to Oregon on a secret mission that I can't reveal. So what do we do? We call Hector to fill in for the shows booked. Turns out that didn't work out too well, more like a disaster really.
2018 Auditions continue for another drummer...TBA
NOTE: Since Blister D left the band back in 2003 due to family issues, we still do not have a second guitar player. Our wish is to add smoking lead guitar to the music. At this point, this is the only thing lacking to make us multidimensional and able to blend the rhythms of two guitarists into thunder from the sky. We really do hope to see you at a gig, so feel free to come up and say hi.