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Benjamin Grey (Scarlet Grey): If people still care about rock music in 2011, I’m sure you'll be seeing us.
1) Hey! Tell us, what have you been up to lately?
Hey! We’ve been writing and recording demos for a new album! I know we just put a record out this summer, but we’ve finished about 14 songs for the next one. Exciting! We’re also going to be doing another music video for a song off of "Fancy Blood” and then a few small tours in the fall/winter. And I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee.
2) On your new release "Fancy Blood” there’s a song featuring Davey Havok from  AFI. What was it like – to work with him? What was the most interesting and memorable in this work?
It was surreal! I had written the part with him in mind never, really entertaining the idea that he might be into actually doing it. I mean we're close friends, but I always get weird about stuff like that. Davey was in town to work on the new Blaqk Audio record with our drummer Keith, at his studio. So after one of the sessions, Dave told us that he wanted to come out to the Scarlet Grey show that night at The Roxy... So we decided to play "The Sky and I" live so that he could hear it and see if it was something he would be into doing. He really liked it... What an incredible relief.
So the next day, at 11 in the morning we finished tracking "The Sky and I." Days don't really get better than this. I describe "Fancy Blood" this way sometimes, but more aptly, it is this song that I should describe as a love letter to the underground. Without delving too far into it, this song is very much about our band and very much about what Scarlet Grey and our city have been through. So to have Davey Havok, a former ambassador to the underground singing about Scarlet Grey's love affair and bittersweet departure with the Los Angeles underground, really meant the world to me and ushered the song to a place we could never have taken it alone. I feel really privileged to have had this opportunity to make this song, this way. I'll never forget it.
3) You also toured with AFI. What impressions have you got from supporting them? Any funny stories from the road?
They’re the best guys in music… Just really amazing people. We’ve kind of been spoiled now, for any other bands we tour with in the future haha. We became really after the last run… I would come up and sing "Love Like Winter” with them and at the end of the tour we surprised them by playing "Key Lime Pie” in Omaha. I looked over in the middle of it and saw all of the guys in AFI hysterically laughing at the side of the stage. It really made me happy. At the end of the tour they officially gave us the song… So officially, "Key Lime Pie” is a Scarlet Grey song now. You heard it here first.
4) In what way is "Fancy Blood” different from your previous releases?
Even though we made the whole thing in 8 days it was more focused. The band's line-up is so much tighter now, Keith is such a great engineer/producer… The whole process was smooth. We really figured out what we wanted Scarlet Grey to sound like. I believe in every song on the record and I back the production. Since we did it ourselves, we could steer it in the right direction. We tracked the music live, all of us in one room… and then spent the next week finishing it. Nothing was overproduced or overthought. It was raw, but polished. We love the balance of sound on the album. It's written completely by us and made completely by us. We love Fancy Blood.
5) Speaking about working in the studio. When you first enter the studio do you have a pretty clear idea of what you want to record or does it all come mostly in the process of a recording?
It’s a combination of the both… We have 90% of the songs completed, but there is a lot of room for improvisation… I mean especially at the end, with synths and harmonies and textures… It’s so fun to see what might happen in the moment with nothing written. Because there are only so many layers you can create in the rehearsal studio. But the process is the same… When you write something in the space for the first time, it’s all in the moment… It’s reckless abandon. You don’t know if it’ll work or not, but you play what you feel. It’s the same at the end of the process. You know what the song is and once you get it to a certain place, you experiment with the other places you can take it.
6) What’s your main source of inspiration in writing music?
But I'll say that anything and everything in life is inspiring... You never know what's going to strike you. We describe it as 'lightning in a bottle.' Whenever that moment comes where you feel like you HAVE to write something, you have to do your best to capture it before it's gone. Being able to articulate that feeling for your audience is the key to great song writing in my opinion.
7) We know that a movie was made about Scarlet Grey. Could you tell us more about this movie?
It's kind of an epic tale haha... These two british filmmakers discovered our band while they were in London, emailed us pitching some ideas about filming us in the spirit of a black and white, late seventies music movie and we were completely into it. SG was right about to go into the studio to do our first full length record and we thought it would be a great time in our careers to have documented. So they flew out and filmed us for about 5 months. We thought it was going to turn out to be a puff piece but it ended up becoming this real movie, which is the last thing we were expecting. It's really funny and it's really painful... I mean it's a real narrative. Looking back, the camera may have been the catalyst for a lot of deep seeded issues within the band, but it also really cleansed us... without it I don't think we would've have ever been able to make something like Fancy Blood.' However we did finish that full length album, but we still haven't released it... It's called "No Boys in the Ballroom." Maybe one day if the movie ever comes out we will... but there's a lot of pain associated with that time for me. I'm still not over it. So when Keith and Cole joined the band we decided to make something new immediately. We rewrote a few of the songs from those sessions, added some brand new material and immediately jumped into the studio to make "Fancy Blood" on our own.
So in closing, I will say that the movie is great... I'm biased because I'm so close to it, but it really is something very cool and very special... I'm anxious for people to see us at our most vulnerable.
8) California music scene is very diverse and interesting. What band can you especially single out now among Californian acts and why?
L.A.’s a silly place haha. I think what I’m most excited about is Nick 13’s solo record. It really captures a different time in country music from a real homegrown California artist. From what I’ve heard, I think it’ll really surprise people.
9) Have you got a song which is your personal best song of a lifetime?
I have my personal favorites, yes. I think my favorite off of "Fancy Blood” is "The Sky and I” but I think the best song I’ve ever written is something called "Be Here Now.” It’s very simple, but I feel like I really got it right with this one. It moves me. I can't wait for everyone to hear it.
10) You’ve got many gigs in store. How could you describe your gig to someone who’s never seen you play live?
It’s very cathartic. There’s a real sense of energy and community when we play. We’re so intensely thankful for The Grey Family… it’s beyond anything we’ve seen in the L.A. music scene. Our live shows are powerful because we’re playing for people who believe in the same things we do. Something just clicks. You’re all invited.
11) Where do you see Scarlet Grey in ten years?
I don't know how to answer this because I don't know where the music industry will even be in 10 years... But I have big hopes for us in the next year. I think the music we're now making deserves to be on a big stage and I’m pretty confident that it will be. Not to say that I have any sort of hubris or blind ambition, but if people still care about rock music in 2011, I’m sure you'll be seeing us.
Scarlet Grey MySpace
Interview: Olga PolomoshnovaPhoto courtesy: Scarlet Grey(c) Bizarre Music
Bizarre Music thanks Krystal Schwegel for helping us to organise the interview
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