Posted: April 27th, 2008
Contributed By: Chris

TuneLab Music: I remember first hearing about Red a few years ago and it seems as if you guys formed, played a few shows and the next thing you know you’ve got a record deal. How did everything come about?

Jasen Rauch: We kind of ended up doing things backwards. A lot of band will write songs and kind of build themselves up on the local scene. Then they’ll start touring regionally and stuff like that. We were working full time at the time so a tour wasn’t a real option for us. And Nashville, where we come from, is so saturated with musicians it’s a real difficult local scene to try and build up. So we decided to spend that time writing and in the studio demoing stuff. We spent two solid years writing songs, recording them then re-writing… kind of a continual process over and over again. When it came time I think we put a little more preparation into the songs and they matured a little bit more by not touring. When it was time for the touring to catch up and we had three or four shows in town and we had enough attention from working the stuff so long we were real fortunate.

TL: ‘End of Silence‘ had been out for over a year before it really started moving up the charts. What do you think gave the album the extra push?

JR: I think we were fortunate enough to get on some great tours. It took a little while for radio and stuff to kick in on the Active Rock markets and Alternative. We went from playing a lot of small shows and festival type things to getting a few shows here and there with Papa Roach, Theory of a Deadman, a couple with Buckcherry . Then we got on with Three Days Grace and Flyleaf and became really good friends with both bands. We did four or five tours with Three Days Grace last year and Breaking Benjamin. I think the size of the audience allowed us to make an impression on a lot more people and a larger demographic. We have a lot of those bands to thank for the exposure.

TL:Being a Christian based band, do you feel it is harder to get rock radio to support Red?

JR: It really hasn’t. I mean there are some bands that define what they are by what they are saying, what they stand for and what they are trying to do. For us it’s more of kind of a genuine identity and just sticking to the integrity of what we are and where we come from and writing from that point more so than trying to get up on a soap box and recruit people or whatever. We’re very careful to not being offensive to things and over the top and very deliberate about every word we say. And doing so there is a little more responsibility because you allow yourself to get front of a larger audience, but at the same time you’re keeping the same identity that you’ve had the whole time. We haven’t had too many problems with it… it’s been a relativity smooth ride for us fortunately.

TL: ‘End of Silence‘ was nominated for a Grammy in 2007, what was it like getting that kind of recognition?

JR: Man we had no idea! It was just something that never really registered. Our manger called early one morning and told us and we obviously spent the day flipping out and calling relatives. It’s one of those things that is such an honor, winning or where you place or whatever has nothing to do with how excited we were about it. Just to be nominated and go to the Grammies and to be on that platform with your peers. You look around and theirs The Foo Fighters and Prince… the elite of the elite, just to be put in that category was such a cool thing. It’s something that we definitely don’t take for granted and we’re really proud of, but at the same time something that we never anticipated.

TL: The album was released as a deluxe edition in November. A lot of people look at the re-releases as just a way for the label to make a few more bucks and rip off the fans. How do you see it?

JR: Well that does happen. Sometimes they’ll just put a couple bonus songs… instead of ten tracks you have thirteen tracks or whatever. For us we wanted the opportunity… we had spent so much time on the road and playing live we wanted the opportunity to kind of capture that. Ours came with a DVD and it was kind of our way of trying to keep it as original as possible. The purpose of it was kind of to bridge things… it was kind of a double edge sword because things were going so well at radio, with sales and things like that and we needed something to bridge the gap because it wasn’t really time to go back into the studio, but we needed something to keep the hardcore fans at bay. So, for us we look at the deluxe edition more or less like the whole live experience… the DVD, the behind the scenes stuff more so than offering a few more songs and hopefully impress someone who maybe already has the record to get something new.

TL: You’ve toured with some pretty big names in both the Christian and Mainstream Rock genres. How does doing a show with Disciple differ from Three Days Grace or Sevendust?

JR: Umm… you know the crowds are a little different obviously and what’s going on backstage can be different, but the things that stay the same are the relationships and friendships. Regardless of what we agree on and what we don’t agree on… where we stand and where we don’t. We have just the same friendships and sometimes even stronger… you know we did 85 shows or something like that with Three Days Grace last year. So we know those guys very well. I think that friendship and all that time bonding and realizing that we aren’t going to judge anybody… it’s not our place. That speaks louder than our differences. I think that’s how we’ve held on to a lot of those friendships. For us we try to see it as not having differences, we can think things different but there are differences between everybody, whether it be political beliefs, religious beliefs, moral beliefs, whatever… we can still all be friends.

TL: You’ve spent the last few months working on new music. How is the new album coming along?

JR: Really well… we just did a string session a few days ago. We took off six weeks at the beginning of the year to kind of start recording and we got the drums done and a lot of the guitar parts done. We’re doing a lot of overdub’s and stuff on the bus, but we just haven’t had the time to take off and finish the record yet. We’re super proud of it, we spent a year preparing for the record and recording a ton of demos. We got the opportunity to just mature. The heavier songs are heavier, the popier songs are popier and there are still all those things there that make Red Red.

TL: What do you hope to accomplish with your second album that maybe you didn’t with ‘End of Silence‘?

JR: We defiantly want to kind of… I think success for us is to keep the fans that we have happy and to continue to bring to the table what they expect for us and the “Red” sound, but at the same time be able to break down barriers so we can reach larger demographics and more people. Somebody who didn’t listen to rock music per say could be a Red fan, and someone who only listens to metal could be a Red fan. So to be able to break down those barriers and appeal to a lot of people… I think there is a lot of unifying power behind music and that’s one thing that I’m a fan of regardless of genres or whatever. I hope we are able to incorporate that into what we write.

TL: You guys moved from Sony Essential to Epic Records earlier this year. What kind of changes do you think that will bring?

JR: You know as a band as far as personal and even a corporate level it doesn’t change too much. Our dynamic is the same, basically it’s an opportunity to go from a large indie label to a major label. From an economic standpoint, you get a little bigger push and more clout and more things, but the stakes are raised. With Epic we are sharing the label with some great bands, a lot of successful bands and we’re really proud to be part of the Epic family and just really excited to see where it takes us.

TL: Do you think that will push you to record a more mainstream and radio friendly album?

JR: I don’t think so. We had the opportunity to establish ourselves and sell a fair amount of records and by doing so it put a little more seniority in our court. We’ve been really particular about doing stuff in-house and making records we want to make and sound how we want to sound. That’s all we did with ‘End of Silence‘, it wasn’t about anyone else. When we recorded the songs we didn’t even have a label, and Essential picked up it as is. We are always going to be sensitive and responsible with our writing and what our fans expect and I think that’s what’s most important.

TL: You’ve got a few days off coming up then its back on the road with 3 Doors Down for a few dates then with Seether. When do you think the album might be out?

JR: We’re recording a lot on the road and we’ll be handing the record in soon. I think mixing is scheduled for the end of May. So the record will be finished by then… to be honest, we just released our third single to Active Rock, Rock and might have the opportunity to cross over to Top 40 which is a format we haven’t even touched yet. All that has come because Epic is on board and it’s rejuvenated the cycle for the record and the momentum that it’s had. Depending on the success of that transition is really going to dictate when the record comes out. It could be as early as late summer or into the next year. Sales are still going up for us so we may ride that wave as long as we can. We’re going to start incorporating some new songs into the set over the summer for the festivals. Kind of give some sneak peeks.

TL: Do you prefer to play the bigger festival dates and arenas or the small clubs?

JR: For me personally… they both have their own necessary evils. Larger audiences sometimes you can feel a little distant from the crowd and you gotta work a lot harder to try and grab that crowd and I like that challenge and the responsibility that comes with that… so I really enjoy doing that. Smaller venues it’s much more intimate and people are right there… it can be a cool thing, but for me I’m far more nervous in front of 200 people than I am 20,000. I don’t know what it is… I’ve always been that way. I enjoy big shows, but the smaller shows are fun because we get to play for the die hard fans.

TL: That about wraps it up on my end, anything that you’d like to add?

JR: Just that we’re out with 3 Doors Down and with Seether and Flyleaf after that. All of this is kind of a big push for “Letting Go” into new radio formats, so that’s our focus right now.