Exclusive Interview With 'RED LETTER'

Red Letter is more than just a Buffalo, New York, metalcore band with five members. Red Letter is a call to action, a message to unite the world through music, and a demonstration to humanity that anything is possible if they have enough metal in their veins. There is only one you.
“In our lives we come face to face with many problems or crossroads varying in difficulty we must overcome. There will be a day where we as a people decide to make a life changing decision and become who we strive to be, push through the past and begin our journey on a path of personal “rebirth”. A time when we decide we no longer want to be a “prisoner” of our old ways, lifestyles that have led us to dead ends. This is the period of our lives to be noted of life changing, great importance and written as our own Red Letter.”
With a diverse range of influences and backgrounds, the band aims to forge a new sonic landscape by utilizing melodies, melodic hooks, hard-hitting riffs, and instrumental samples that are strategically placed to evoke strong emotions. With their brand-new song and music video, “Burn It Down,” featuring Shawn Spann of I, The Breather, Red Letter intends to ignite the metal scene. Check out the single and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you all come from and how it all got started?

RED LETTER: We all are from the greater Buffalo, NY area. A few of us have played in bands together in the past before. Around the beginning of Covid is basically when Red Letter started when our singer Nick joined up and we began finishing and writing our first few releases.

2. Did you guys have any formal training or are you self-taught?

RED LETTER: For the most part we are all set taught musicians maybe a few “lessons” when we first started but no long term professional training.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘RED LETTER’?

RED LETTER: We as a band have a variety of big influences growing up. Ranging from Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, Led Zeppelin, Deftones, Tool, Killswitch Engage, August Burns Red, The Acacia Strain, Slipknot etc etc. This list is vast. Red Letter – Meaning behind the name:
In our lives we come face to face with many problems or crossroads varying in difficulty we must overcome. There will be a day where we as a people decide to make a life changing decision and become who we strive to be, push through the past and begin our journey on a path of personal “rebirth”. A time when we decide we no longer want to be a “prisoner” of our old ways, lifestyles that have led us to dead ends. This is the period of our lives to be noted of life changing, great importance and written as our own Red Letter.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

RED LETTER: As a band we strive to convey positive messaging through our lyrics. We want people to know how important it is to take care of your mental health and be the best version of yourself you can be. In describing our sound I’d say we are a very eclectic metalcore band. We incorporate big choruses, orchestral elements, ambience and singing to compliment the screaming vox, heavy riffs, breakdowns etc.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as METAL?
**RED LETTER:**
most of us have different “musical roots” yet all have always had love for a variety of metal bands. We’ve all played in cover bands of a variety of genres and original bands in a variety pr genres as well from the ground up. This is the key element to being “original” with your sound, a bunch of friends putting forth their own elements into the music.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?

RED LETTER:

We believe music is a great vehicle to drive your art in a fashion to spread light on musicians viewpoints for sure. For us we aim to spread positive messages, empowering the soul of individuals to be their best and succeed in life.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

RED LETTER:

Our music always gives us back whatever we put into it and we pour our hearts into our songs, music is all of our passions so it is always a great return on our investment so to speak. We are always striving to spread our messaging through our songs to more people, we consider our fans our “family”.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

RED LETTER:

The writing and recording process is extremely enjoyable and we put in a lot of time prepping the material from its baseline. For example, we will record ideas on the computer individually to develop the song “skeleton” with super basic drums and backing tracks to set the vibe we have in our heads. From there we will send it out to the everyone in the band and craft it together until it’s to a place we can practice it live. When we get together for live practice we can then get the real vibe for what is best for the track and re-record it for pre production. We like to go into the studio with feeling the song is as close to as done as possible. This way we are able to lay it all down and listen back to see if we want to add any extra flair before mixing and mastering.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

RED LETTER: The most difficult things we’ve had to deal with would be the passing of very close people to all of us. Family members and friends. That is a main reason why we are so adamant about mental health awareness and positivity.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

RED LETTER: For some of us that would be becoming fathers, graduating college, securing our first homes, playing “big” shows and tours with some of our idols. We are hopeful to add to the list in the future with more amazing musical ventures.