The Red Velvet: The Better Side of Nowhere

Jordan Andrew Jefferson and Russ Fox led The Red Velvet into the studio this week

One of our favorite bands that we haven't heard from in a long time recently announced that they were going to be recording new songs.

Huntington power-pop four-piece The Red Velvet, after a seemingly year-plus long hiatus, have indeed started the recording process, and we have confirmation.

Guitarist Russ Fox told us over email that he was taking his Broadmoor gear on the road to set up a mobile recording lab in their rehearsal space. This is something we'll definitely look forward to hearing.

Since you've read this much, why not check out our review of Lights Won't Go Out, released what seems like a decade ago, back in May 2008. And hopefully we can get an update from Russ, we just wanted to spill the beans.

Here's our chat with Russ Fox...

WVRS: You guys mentioned on MySpace a few months back you were going to be recording; how much time has gone into the new songs and how long do you expect to be recording?
Russ Fox: We've continued writing and recording demos since our last album "Lights Won't Go Out" that came out in 2008. We had around 12 tracks floating around for a new recording in various forms. Some were full songs, some were basic skeletons that needed pieced together. After much discussion, we collectively decided that we would narrow down the best 5 songs and record an EP.

Our last 15-song album took one year and three months to record, so we thought going the shorter route would be the best choice with so much time passing between the last album. Plus, we feel these songs best fit where we are as a band. We hope to have everything wrapped up within a few months!

WVRS: What the heck has been going on with the band's kind of hiatus? Same lineup, right?
RF: I know it seems like we've dropped off the radar by not playing too many shows or posting much info about our current status, but so much has been going on the past few years outside the band. Jon, Mark, and I all took on different jobs that make scheduling a bit tougher and Jordan has spent a lot of time working on his solo recordings. There were even a few months were we didn't do much at all, but it was good to step back and give it a rest. But like I said before, we've managed to just keep writing all new material since our last album and patiently wait for things to lock up.

We also have a new rehearsal space now that has given us a fresh outlook and environment for tracking the EP. We also have some new gear that we've picked up since the last recording that we're excited about using on the EP.

And yes, it's the exact same lineup that will always make up Red Velvet.

WVRS: When can fans of RV expect the new CD?
RF: We hope to have the recording out by late December or early January 2011.

WVRS: Between the debut EP, the reworked versions of a few of those songs on "Lights," incorporating some vocals or sounds that evoke your Sinks of Gandy, to the LFO-type noise on Tiptoe, how might you characterize any directions the band is going in? Electronic? Piano-based? Uptempo? Pls scoop...
RF: I don't think the new EP will be far removed from what we did before, just a bit more unified and somewhat more spacey than before. Jordan, Jon, and I still share vocal duties throughout. Even though there's been somewhat of a hiatus, we still have grown as a band from the last album. We all really share much different tastes in music and things we like, but at times we'll have influences that cross paths and creep into the development of a song.

We've always said that all these different directions have made us who we are as Red Velvet. We also have a unique way of piecing songs together in the sense that we always write together and finish the songs as a group. Normally someone has a hook or whatever and it just seems to blossom from there.

WVRS: You talk about moving Broadmoor to the practice place; where do you guys rehearse, and how do you think this different setting will/might affect the outcome?
RF: Moving the Broadmoor Recording gear to our practice space is just a temporary move. Jordan has a new house that was perfect for rehearsing and one day we thought why not just do the EP here. We all thought it would be great to do a recording in the same space we practice. And yes, we're hoping the different setting will give us that fresh vision we're looking for.

WVRS: How excited are you to be making music with these guys and getting a new RV CD out?
RF: When I met the other Red Velvet guys, I had just finished my solo album in 2006 as Sinks of Gandy and was looking for other members to play with. I stumbled upon a few demos they had posted on MySpace under the name Red Velvet and liked what I heard. I knew Jon, Jordan, & Mark through a previous band I had recorded, so I got in touch with them to see if they wanted to just get together and just chat. After catching up, I soon realized that they were hoping to add another guitar player to the mix. We played one rehearsal and realized it was what we were both looking for, so here we are four years later.


mp3: “Tonight” by The Red Velvet


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--- photo: Taylor Kuykendall