Red Method: Down With The Sickness

Like the red feathers of a Phoenix, sometimes you can’t keep a good band, or artist, down and RED METHOD are no different in their approach to getting their music noticed by music fans. Consisting of members from bands like THE DEFILED and META-STASIS, bands who had the look, the music and the energy but had something missing that’s needed to crack the music industry. RED METHOD are different, very different, and have that missing key to unlock the door to the next step. We spoke to singer Jeremy Gomez and Solomon J to get into the method behind the madness.

With any new(er) band we have to start out by asking about the creation and subsequent evolution of the band and what’s different about this project. “We all came from different bands, there was KILL FOR COMPANY, META-STASIS and THE DEFILED. Alex came over as well, it was a melting pot of up and coming bands. META-STASIS came to a natural end and we thought it needed a fresh, new energy and blood. We all go way back even to TED MAUL days and have the same influences like APHEX TWIN and NINE INCH NAILS, that hard hitting, pounding, groove orientated industrial was our starting point. In terms of the name, RED METHOD, we took it from a place of new beginnings and there is an ancient concept of blood letting to cleanse the soul. We felt that perfectly illustrated our ideas with its fight or flight concepts, we are definitely a fight band when we get on stage. Whether we are fighting our own demons or life in general.”

New album For The Sick is about to be released at the end of February and has been a long time coming, having songs slowly drip fed and also delayed from a 2019 release. This is an album that has been gestating for a long time and we chat to the band about its creation. Jeremy says, “we demoed most of it at home. Scott Atkins helped us out a lot. It was a lot of grafting but once the demos locked it, we knew it in our bones that we were on the right path and then we recorded it stepped up another level. Scott really squeezed a lot out of us in that respect.”

With the propensity to stream rather than buy music these days, artists big or small have to get out on the road and become almost ‘travelling T-shirt salesmen’ as ex-SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt once famously said. We chat to the band about the material that will appear on the record and if any of it was road tested before stepping into the studio. “In terms of taking the songs out and even just playing them over the last year, not much changed but there are a few changes, flourishes if you will.”

We also chat about the content of the album especially the lyrics which are very emotional based and human, “Yeah a lot of the lyrics are based around human emotions and life in general. Like dementia on The Absent and My Psychosis which is very close to my heart. We didn’t shy away from really opening ourselves up to how we were feeling.”

Theatricality is a key aspect of today’s artists, some have none and get by on having ‘no look’ and others like juggernauts SLIPKNOT who have theatricality down to a fine art. RED METHOD sit somewhere in between but are heading to the levels of SLIPKNOT, we talk about how important this is to the band and the artists on an individual level. “We always want to give 100% in our shows and Bloodstock was amazing for showcasing the band and what we represent. Now we are nowhere near say a SLIPKNOT show in terms of the theatricality but it is something we want to strive for and take our version to the masses and get in peoples faces.”

Having been in other bands which didn’t achieve it, we ask the band what they class as success in an ever changing musical and life landscape. “Just being able to get out onto the various stages around the UK and in Europe is success to us. To be included on support tours or our own tours is just fantastic. We recently did a lengthy tour in Spain and that was amazing the crowds were very energetic and that’s something we would love to do again.”

We end off our chat by talking about the future, the band are about to head out on the road, as all musicians need to in 2020 to make a living and we ask about the bands plans to make sure they achieve their goals. “Yeah, we have a UK tour about to start and we are gearing up for that both on a musical and theatrical sense. Making sure that is a success drives us onwards and we want to get our name out there and bring in as many fans as possible.”

For The Sick is out now via self-release.

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