On 4/11/2006 Matt and I conducted two interviews. One with Scarlet and the other with Remembering Never. Here is our interview with Scarlet.
Nick: First off can you say your name and what you do in the band?
Andreas: My name is Andreas and I play drums.
Brandon: My name is Brandon and I sing.
Nick: You just released “This Was Always Meant to Fall”. How does this record differ from your others?
Brandon: Well I guess the most obvious is that I am the new singer. If you want to go beyond that, I guess there is more of a melodic aspect as than previous Scarlet releases that were more chaotic. Here I come with this girlie singing.
Andreas: It’s a lot more dense and more textured. There’s a lot more electronics. To me it’s a lot more thought out than before when it was all random parts thrown together.
Nick: Where does the name Scarlet come from?
Andreas: Honestly, Scarlet started in like ‘99 or ‘98 or something like that while everyone was in high school. At this point it’s different members pretty much. Our guitar player Randy I guess is the only original member. We were playing like house shows. I don’t know. It’s not from anything. It’s just a name.
Nick: You had to drop off your last tour with the Calico System. What happened there?
Andreas: Trying to run down stairs on your hands is a bad idea. We were at our friends house in LA. We played a couple shows with one guitar player. It just went horrible.
Brandon: We tried to soldier on but problems keep on tacking on. It was impossible to carry on so we just had to drop off. We were just as pissed as everyone else was I’m sure.
Matt: how did you guys hook up with Ferret?
Andreas: We were a band like way back, and we broke up for a couple of years and we thought for fun we would record and make a record and release it ourselves and play shows. When we were done recording it we gave it to our friends in Hopesfall for them to hear it and they sent a copy of it to Carl from Ferret. Out of nowhere we got an email from Carl saying “Hey we want to sign your band”. It was never planned to be a real band or do anything. It was something to do for fun and they were just like “You want to tour”.
Nick: How did you get associated with Warm Fuzzy Publicity?
Andreas: That’s all Ferret. I guess that’s who does most of Ferret’s with a few exceptions.
(This next questions was poorly researched, meaning we got some false information)
Matt: Why are all the good bands from Jersey?
Andreas: We aren’t from Jersey.
Matt: I know.
Andreas: What bands are from Jersey on this tour?
Brandon: The Banner
Andreas: I think Jersey is like the cespool of America. I don’t like it. Jersey is a horrible place. I go up there every once and a while for work and I’ll be there for like 10 days just hating life.
Nick: What’s your favorite song to play live?
Brandon: That’s always a tough one. For me, still being new to the band and everything, just being able to perform with one of my favorite bands of all-time is my favorite. I can’t really pick just one.
Nick: When you guys aren’t on tour what do you do for fun?
Andreas: I work. I record and produce bands. I basically don’t do anything for fun.
Brandon: I basically go to the gym every day. I’m pretty boring. I work sporadically.
Nick: (to Andreas) What are some of the bands that you’ve worked with?
Andreas: I did the last Black Dahlia Murder record. I mixed the new Calico System. I mixed the last reflux record. I can’t think of any of the bands right now. I did this new band on Victory called Nights Like These. They’re awesome. There’s a lot of bands that I can’t remember.
Nick: Who are your biggest influences? Who influenced you to start playing an instrument?
Andreas: Honestly, I grew up listening to pop punk.
Brandon: So did I.
Andreas: I think I got Kerplunk, the Green Day record when I was like 11 and I started playing guitar and then eventually went to drums because nobody else did. None of us listen to heavy music at all. If you look through our Ipod’s , you’ll find like two or three heavy bands, so as far as this type of music, you play it so, I don’t know. Everyone has moved past that.
Matt: So what kind of music do you guys listen to then?
Andreas: Really lame music.
Brandon: Pretty lame music.
Matt: I’m a Tony Bennett fan myself. I like lame music too.
Brandon: Lately we’ve been listening to a lot of Say Anything. Max Bemis is a genius. He writes the most brash lyrics ever. Just picked up the new Saves the Day today. It’s really good. What else. Lit. Bowling For Soup.
Andreas: It’s ridiculous.
Brandon: We should probably stop before we embarrass ourselves.
Andreas: It’s the same thing on tour. We’re never inside. It’s fun to play, but as to listening to, I can’t sit through more than like five minutes. For me, my all-time favorite band is Nine Inch Nails.
Nick: What can someone who has never seen you live, like myself, expect at one of your shows?
Brandon: Smoke, lights.
Andreas: It’s loud. We play with a lot of bright lights. Altogether I think it’s annoying.
(Nine Inch Nails begins to blare through the house speakers, the answer to the next question isn‘t clear)
Nick: Do you guys have any pre show rituals?
Andreas: We bought a whole bunch of baseball gloves. We haven’t played baseball in years. We play catch. Oh yeah, everyone gets drunk.
Nick: What are you’re touring plans for after this tour?
Andreas: We do like an East coast/Midwest thing with A Life Once Lost and Through the Eyes of the Dead. Then we go home for like three and a half weeks and then I’m going to record the new (no clue what is said here due to music again) record. Then we’re going to go out with Misery Signals.
Matt: If you could play with any artist, past or present, who would they be?
Andreas: For me it would be Nine Inch Nails.
Brandon: For me it would be Johnny Cash. I love the shit out of him.
Matt: Finally, any last words for the readers?
Andreas: Uh (calls Brian)
Brandon: Brian’s good at ending lines.
(Both continuously call Brian, who does not come over)
(Brandon then calls over Randy, who doesn’t come over)
Andreas: We’re horrible at closers.
Brandon: (Walking away) Close it.
Andreas: Keep on keeping on and thank you for doing this.