The Red Riders
With his batch of curly hair, megawatt grin and funky dress style, Alex Grigg is one of those guys who looks effortlessly cool. But he insists that he and his band, Sydney’s Red Riders, are not mere pretty faces.
“We’ve all being to university; we’re not as dumb as we look,” he says with a laugh.
The Red Riders, who burst onto the Australian musical scene in 2004 with a support slot on Franz Ferdinand’s national tour and the launch of their first EP, released their second album Drown in Colour in July. Grigg, the band’s charismatic lead singer, acknowledges the ironic nature of the album’s production and its resulting sound.
“It’s kinda funny actually, because for the last album we went away to Byron Bay and recorded it there and we made a really ‘urban’ album…you know, it sounds like the city; whereas this album [recorded in Petersham] is a little bit more lush and atmospheric. So, to record our ‘city’ album we went to Byron Bay, and to record our slightly more ‘pretty’ album we stayed in the city!”
The band’s changed sound can be attributed in part to a reshuffle in its membership. Guitarist Adrian Deutsch has moved on, with the gap being filled by Brad Heald, who also plays in rock group The Vines. Grigg says Heald, along with his musical technique, has brought a new creative element to the group.
“It’s kinda changed our sound as well… The first album was very basic, I guess, just drums, bass, guitars, singing and very ‘true’ sounding. With this album we’ve mucked around with different sounds, and it’s kinda more sonic. I like it, I’m really happy with how it turned out,” he says.
Since the early days, the Red Riders have been frequently thrust under the “post-punk, 80s revival” banner by critics. Despite being an avid fan of iconic 80s groups including the Smiths and the Cure, Grigg admits that the labelling can have a pigeonholing effect.
“I hate it when people are like, ‘oh they’re one of those ‘80s new wave bands’…somehow bands that are inspired by the ‘60s and the ‘70s are ‘honest’ and ‘classic’ and ‘real’, and any band that’s influenced by the ‘80s, they’re just ‘hipsters’. It really frustrates me. I do find it pigeonholing because I think that we’re influenced by a lot of stuff, and I hear a lot of different influences in our music,” he says. “I’m as tired as anyone of the ‘80s revival!”
Aside from working on the new album, the guys have been keeping busy on the tour trail. Earlier this year they toured the United States, playing a variety of shows to some very diverse audiences. “We supported Kanye West’s protégé Kid Cudi in LA. It was actually hilarious, we were first on and it was jammed with all these hip-hop kids, I was just like, ‘man, I don’t know how we’re going to go down’,” Grigg says.
Although he is sporting a red jacket during the interview, Grigg says the band’s name doesn’t carry any innate meaning; it was chosen simply because it sounded good.
“It’s so funny that we called our band Red Riders. It’s just such an invitation to always do everything red,” he says, pointing to his bright jacket.
Red Riders may be the name on everyone’s lips at the moment, but the story could have been much different. Having recently stumbled upon the group’s old list of potential band names, Grigg wastes no time in admitting their most embarrassing one.
“‘Wildcat Charms’. [It] was a lift from a Bob Dylan song, but it would have been the worst name ever!” he laughs.
Red Rider’s album ‘Drown in Colour’ is in stores now.
