Interview: Red Ink

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Words: Jen Rees

Hi John, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions before your last gig with The Madden Brothers! First a few background questions to get to know you.

Are you guys the cliché band that started with a group of guys at high school?
JOHN: To be perfectly honest, we are! Both Brendan and I were in a music class together when he invited me to join his punk band. We played mostly Blink 182 covers in those early days, but we had stacks of fun!
I would of loved to see you then!

If not how did you all join and make up Red Ink?
Eventually, our bass player’s girlfriend got pregnant and the drummer stopped drumming and we were left to find new members; that led to us forming Red Ink……. in 2006.. A long time ago!

You recorded your new album in Berlin with Simon Berckelman from Australia. He is well known for his work with Philadelphia Grand Jury. How did you become involved with Simon?
We were living in Berlin for a little while writing and recording the record. We’d heard he owned a studio nearby so we shot him an email and went round and hung at his place and it felt right to get him to mix the record. He understood our influences and had a great vibe going on.

How does your writing process go? Is it a whole band approach?
Every song is different, but typically, it’s all of us jamming in a room. Ideas can start with a guitar riff, a few lines of poetry or even a drum feel. Some tracks take ages to write whilst others are done in 20 minutes.

Seeing you on stage, you all look very comfortable, and John, your unique dance moves got the crowd really involved. I was in the first few rows and there were a lot of people enjoying the moves. Do you just let the music take hold of you and dance away?
It’s always super embarrassing watching back footage from gigs coz I’m like; “did I really do that?” I just try and have as much fun as possible and usually wind up completely lost in the moment. Bright lights hypnotize me.

During the concert you said that you had grown up listening to Good Charlotte, this was also the case with me although I am not sure if I have grown up yet… how surreal was it for you to tour with the Madden Brothers? I mean it was awesome for me to meet them so for you guys to tour with them must have been mind blowing.
It’s been amazing!! They’re super cool guys and have been so rad to us! When we first met them we were a little ‘fan boy’ but we’re kinda coming to terms with the fact that every artist is just that; an artist. Whether playing in a 10000 arena or to the local pub, these guys just dig the music and the chance to share it.

How did you get involved in the tour with The Madden Brothers?
Not sure exactly, but somewhere along the email trail their agent asked us if we were available and obviously we said yes!

Was there a fav crowd for you? Seeing Melbourne is your home city you seem to have some fans in the crowd there. Certainly some new fans now as well?
Melbourne was great but our favorite so far has been the Gold Coast show. The crowd was so welcoming and friendly. Before we’d even started the first song, they were spilling out banter and the vibe was amazing! We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how rad their fans have been. Being the opening act usually means you’re rushed off for the main event, but on this tour, people have come in early and watched our whole set and really made us feel welcome!

Any funny stories that you can share with us, that happened on the tour?
During one of the shows, we had our set lists messed up so half the band started playing a completely different song to the other half.. It resulted in the first verse just being drums and vocals and that was weird.. or funny.. not so funny at the time! haha

How different was this tour from the one that you did earlier this year? (you prob flew or stayed in a hotel not sleep on a friends couch etc)
The main difference, besides the size of the venues, has been the crew!! We’ve never played a tour where two semi trailers pull up to the venue and a gang of roadies load our gear in to the venue before our flights have even landed in the city! We could totally get used to that!

What was the one thing that you are taking away from this experience that you think will benefit you musically?
It’s been interesting watching which songs seem to connect more with the audiences. Our usual crowds are wasted club rats but this was an all ages, clean cut crowd so the thrashy indie jammers were not as popular as the popper tracks. It was a nice change.

Have you seen a boost in sales or followers on twitter or likes on fb yet? Or is it too soon to tell?
Absolutely! The socials have been going nuts!! The Madden lads have some crazy keen fans online who have been really cool online to us as well. Lots of crazy business as well 😉

What is next for Red Ink? Some down time to recover?
We’re going to head home and recover. Do some more writing and aim to release something in the coming months. In the meantime, we’ve shot a music video whilst on the road so that should hit YouTube etc really soon! Who knows, you may even see your face in the crowd!

Sweet! Look forward to seeing that! Glad I live in your home town and hope to catch you at some gigs soon. Thanks John.