Interviews: Red Tape Parade "The Third Rail of Life" part 2
Welcome to part two of our series featuring Red Tape Parade and the men who love to collaborate with them. This edition features some Q&A with Scott Freeman of Shook Ones and Matthew Davies-Kreye of Funeral For A Friend. Stay tuned for more tales of intrigue, insinuation and incrimination!You can click Read More for all the interviews and interludes.
Scott Freeman of Shook Ones sings on the song "Tonight? Just reruns."
"Typically, when I do some sort of guest vocal spot I like to try and
take what I think the subject matter is and add my two cents or try
and give a little advice to the author. I think it makes it a bit
more fun if the guest spot isn't just repeating something sung earlier
in the song.
In the case of this song, I felt that what Wauz was saying was pretty
clear, and it was a feeling that I think we've all had at one time or
another. I remember feeling this very clearly at one time, and I have
done my best to never go there again, so my vocal part was basically
my advice for Wauz on how to move on, albeit a bit cryptic in the
delivery. "
How can such a handsome man (Wauz) be so worried about any girl?
Wauz: Scott, you are a married man, donât get all flirty! But to answer your question, let me quote my liner notes to this song, " False hope is like crack. Itâs extremely addictive and gives you short highs that help you cope with your miserable everyday life, while destroying every chance of really leading a good one instead." I guess that explains it all.
If I had to choose a topic for this album and Oiseâs and my lyrics I would have to say, "letting go." Most of our songs deal with it or the inability to actually do it. Iâm so happy that I was finally able to do it in the situation that particular song is about because I wouldnât be where I am now if I hadnât found the strength to move on. I really hope another person in this band will soon be able to say that. Iâm looking at you, Oise.
It seems generally accepted that Sasquatch inhabits the
Northwest corner of North America. I beg to differ, and in fact claim
he has been spotted in the black forest of Bavaria. Oise, what do
you think?
Oise: What you call, "spotting a Sasquatch in Bavaria" I call one of the most embarrassing days of my life - and that says A LOT! It was a warm, sunny Friday afternoon in Bavaria and it seemed perfect to do my laundry. I took of my one pair of jeans, my beloved checkered shirt, my boxer shorts and the socks I got for free on tour and washed it in the river. Put the clothes up to dry and lay down naked with only my size 13 Chuck Taylorâs on to take a nap. A few hours later I get woken up by a cold breeze and realized that not only its dark and I am alone in the forest BUT somebody also stole all my belongings.
To make a long story short:
Hours later I left massive footprints in several backyards, disturbed a catholic-house-wifeâs meeting, got chased by TV crews and upset farmers with hay forks and torches.
So sorry to inform you the "Bavarian Sasquatch" was nothing more than an overweight straight edge dork…
When do I get to see you guys again?
Wauz: I have fond memories of the last time I saw you guys on your tour with Polar Bear Club and Title Fight not only because itâs always great to see you guys and watch you play but also because it was actually the first date I had with my girlfriend…and when you met Oise a couple of days later in Vienna, he told me you guys were all excited/surprised that I showed up with a girl…hahaha…he only commented it with, "Yeah, Wauz is trying to get a ticket out of Loserville!" . But seriously: Iâd love to hang out with you guys as soon as possible! Letâs tour together again!
Oise: I am not a very sentimental person but the last time I
saw you and the rest of your band was pretty mind blowing and
one of the sweetest things that has happened to me in a long long time. To inform the dear readers of punknews.org:
I was in Vienna tour managing another touring package and the Shook Ones where in town
playing a different venue. As a tour manager you can not really leave the venue because shit will always go down once you are gone for 5 minutes. BUT the Shook Ones were so cool and sweet to drive to the other side of town after their show just to hang out with me ( and maybe to drink Joey Cape's beer. Gross stuff out of yellow cans no
sane European would even touch!). So I guess the next time I will meet you guys will be in some weird country like Romania or Estonia at 2AM or at a gas station in Belgium.
Matthew Davies-Kreye of Funeral for a Friend sings on the song "Not Even As We Speak."
"When Wauz sent me the song I was so stoked, it's the kind of punk rock that I love, honest and passionate without complicated riffs and over the top structures. I was a bit worried about what I would possibly be able to add to what Wauz had already written and sang but I gave it a shot and thankfully Wauz and Oise liked it. Being a part of something creative like this with your friends gives you an awesome feeling, i'm glad they asked and i'm glad I accepted."
If you could adapt any literary classic into song what would it be and why?
Oise: I wrote a 24 minute mini rock opera about The Hobbit but the band turned it down…
Wauz: In order to make myself look cool I should drop a name like Hemingway, Salinger or Irving right now, but I read almost exclusively Stephen King books. Iâd love to write about The Dark Tower saga but I know it would turn out terribly cheesy or unintentionally funny…and thereâs already that Iced Earth /Blind Guardian side-project that has written a whole album about it, I think…and how would I dare to touch the same subjects in my songs as Hansi Kürsch? Well, if I ever manage to transport the incredible way King writes about coming-of-age in his books (It, Christine, The Body…) into one of my songs, Iâd be a very happy person…
How do you approach the process of song writing? Are the words and music created separately then pieced together or does one influence the other?
Oise: Writing the music to a song happens in two ways:
a) Mullah writes a song at home, does all the programming in a weird French music program and sends us a TERRIBLE sounding midi version of it that could easily be the soundtrack of some eighty's C[omadore]64 computer game.
b) I "write" a "song" (means my bass lines), I walk into the practice room with it, show it to the other guys, they laugh at me, then everybody contributes to the arrangement, we record it.
No matter if its a "Mullah" or an "Oise" song - Wauz is never involved in the songwriting process.
We send him the tracks via email and then he decides which songs he wants to sing on…
Wauz: Well sometimes I AM involved by cutting out unnecessary parts which both Mullah and Oise just LOVE to include in their songs to make em more "interesting" (read: artsy)…
But to answer your question: Since Iâm not there when the songs are written words and music are created separately every time…they send me the music, I check if some of my or some of Oises lyrics fit the song, I record a shitty sounding demo, send it to the other guys, Oise says something like, "good, but that one part is to whiny", Mullah says that he likes the chorus, Flirto says something really stupid and is being made fun of and Jesus our drummer doesnât reply at all. This is how the magic happens.
If you could write a punk rock score for any Charlton Heston film what would it be and do you think he would shoot you down like a rabid dog or appreciate your contemporary musical take on one of his classics?
Oise: Hm, thatâs a tough one. Punk rock and the biblical setting of Ben Hur or The 10 Commandments wouldn't mix well… The film score of Planet Of The Apes is just perfect and don't needs a make over. I think the paranoid, apocalyptic atmosphere of the Omega Man and distorted guitars would really work together.
But no matter what movie we would write a soundtrack for,I am sure Mr. Heston - being the progressive, forward thinking, being-ahead-of-its-time, open minded genius he was - would be totally backing it!