Sting or Get Stung
An Interview with The Red Light Sting

The Red Light Sting is a force to be reckoned with. A 5-piece onslaught of electronically infused, frenzied rock, this band has kicked down every musical barrier they may have encountered with their feverish time-signature changes, startling dynamics, and irresistibly catchy melodies. And if bands were judged solely on the basis of inventive song titles, these guys would be at the top of the charts. Who can resist anything called “When In Rome, Collect The Bone”?

Since the Sting reside in Vancouver, BC, and email interviews are often pushy and awkward, we used a chat room in trusty old AIM to house our discussion. Out of the rather chaotic conversation (a conference call, if you will) came a few insights as to what the Red Light Sting are really trying to accomplish…aside from taking over the world with endless amounts of potty humor.

Interview conducted by Mollie Wells. Photography by Paul Rentler

Names: Gregory Adams (vocals), Andy Dixon (guitar), Zoe Verkuylen (keyboards/vocals)

Bettawreckonize: How and when did the Red Light Sting start?

Gregory: The three of us, being Andy, Zoe and I, were in a band called Hooray For Everything that had just broken up because the drummer moved to Saskatoon. I was also in another band with our old bassist Matt, called the Self Esteem Project, that broke up because of the same drummer. Andy and Zoe went away on tour with d.b.s. [Andy’s previous band]. I wrote a bunch of songs that were all tough, and here we are!

Andy: Yeah, that’s about right. I wrote some tough licks on tour, too.

GA: Originally, I was going to do keyboards and sing, using this Rhodes that Andy got for free on tour. But we realized that I couldn’t play keys.

AD: Oh, yeah, that’s right.

GA: Or sing.

Zoe: I had been playing other guitar parts or bass parts on the keyboard while Andy was writing stuff, to help him hear parts, and then we just decided that I should play keys.

AD: Yeah, and we decided to kick out the other guitar player.

BW: Did it start as a side project, or was it always the main focus?

ZV: Side project.

AD: Side project for sure. For me.

ZV: For Paul [the drummer] and Andy definitely.

GA: Well, it was definitely my main thing, as all the other bands I was in had broken up.

AD: I was in a band called d.b.s. at the time that was my main focus. But shortly after the Sting formed, d.b.s. decided to break up.

ZV: [The Red Light Sting] has been our focus for a couple of years now.

BW: Have there been any line-up switches?

AD: Yes. Bass players galore.

ZV: We’re on our third bassist.

GA: There were a lot before the band even started practicing. But since we actually gelled, there have been three bassists.

AD: We keep accidentally killing them.

ZV: Yeah, oops!

GA: “Instead of playing that B-sharp, how about you drink this poison?”

BW: Have those changes been rough on you as far as band solidarity is concerned?

ZV: Not really. I mean, it was tough, ‘cause it was a bummer. And we had “try-outs,” which was weird. But we’ve been lucky to find awesome people to play with us.

AD: Well, it cripples the process of writing new songs, I guess. It just sucks to want to write new songs, but to have to spend so much time relearning the old ones.

GA: But I think we knew we wanted to keep the band together, so we had to get through the weirdness of finding someone new.

BW: Obviously, the line-up changes affect the band dynamic. Have any of them significantly altered your sound?

ZV: I don’t think so.

GA: Our first bassist was sloppy and energetic in that punk kind of way, so that was rad. Our second guy was a sort of virtuoso, so the stuff we wrote with him was a little more tech than the older material.

ZV: Yeah, Marty [the second bassist] brought in his own unique flavor.

GA: And Geoff [the current bassist] is sort of in-between and has lots of rad ideas.

AD: Yeah, they’ve all been totally different. Plus, Geoff has a child-sized wiener.

ZV: And Marty is writing sketch-comedy.

BW: I notice from album to album there is a definite evolution, yet there still seems to be a kind of characteristic “Red Light Sting sound.” Do you ever worry that your sound will become too stylized, and you’ll end up in a creative rut?

ZV: No.

AD: No.

GA: I’ll play devil’s advocate. I think about it all the time.

ZV: We never really make conscious decisions at practice about anything like that. It's not like we say "ooh is this too blah blah…?" or “does this sound like us?" We don’t put any boundaries on what we write.

GA: We sometimes question if we can get away with certain things, but that’s what makes it cool, I guess.

AD: In fact, if anything, I’d say the opposite. Sometimes I think that our new stuff is TOO different.

BW: Really? Do you ever worry that the difference will alienate your fans?

ZV: We don’t worry about alienating our fans, no.

BW: How did you guys become involved with Sound Virus?

ZV: Our friend Jordan gave Mikey [Ott, owner of Sound Virus] our record, and they talked shop, and then we talked shop, then Mikey showed up at our show at Gilman and gave Greg our test presses, and that was it.

AD: Actually, it was me that got the test presses.

GA: All he did was give me the test presses, ask for a shirt, and leave. And it was me.

ZV: Then we went on tour, and he came on tour and got peed on. Mikey and I have become best friends, he’s done a lot for us.

BW: So you’re comfortable at Sound Virus?

ZV: Very.

AD: Totally.

ZV: Sound Virus represent, you know?

GA: SVHQ…like a second home. And a third, since he moved down the street.

ZV: Exactly. I mean, I’m pretty sure we’ve all slept in Mikey’s bed.

BW: So Andy and Zoe, you run Ache Records, too. Which came first, the band or the label?

ZV: Hmm…I can’t remember!

AD: Label?

GA: The label.

AD: Yeah.

ZV: Thanks, Greg!

AD: They were very close, though.

BW: What prompted you guys to start a label?

AD: I had just got a new job that paid really well, and I found myself with some extra money. I was friends with this band Hot Hot Heat, who were really good but only had a tape out. So I was like “Hmmm…I think I’ll start a label and release a Hot Hot Heat 7 inch.” So I did--and Zoe helped out a lot right from the get go. And I had been in bands and whatnot for years before, so I knew contacts at distros and stuff. It seemed like a good thing to do.

ZV: And I had been managing and touring and booking for bands, so I thought it was a good idea too. And here we are. It’s gotten a lot crazier lately, and we’re busier than ever.

GA: I thought it was a great idea, because it usually means that I get free records from them.

ZV: Greg helps us stuff records!

GA: Andy is my boss, according to my resume.

AD: Greg stuffs other things, too.

GA: Mainly my undies.

BW: You guys put out records on an indie label and you also run one. How do you feel about majors? Would the Red Light Sting ever sign to one?

ZV: We aren’t opposed to majors. I mean, I’m not about to dislike a band just because they sign to a major. In the last year, two of our friends’ bands who work really hard have signed to majors, and we’re so happy for them.

GA: I mean, Nickleback is on a major now. I still like them!

ZV: Oh Greg.

GA: Sorry, I actually only like the Chad Kroeger solo stuff. The band can vouch for that.

ZV: As long as the band is happy and confident in their decisions to sign, and it works in THEIR best interest, then so be it.

GA: Agreed.

ZV: Our thoughts in regards to a major and us would be that everything would have to be on the terms WE want, and we would take as many people as we could with us for the journey. But it’s not like our hope and dream to be on a major, it never has been.

AD: No, not at all.

ZV: We’ve never sent a demo out to a major or a manager or anything.

BW: So you don’t necessarily view signing to a major as the “selling out” that some people like to call it?

AD: No, not to me. Selling out is changing your views and your music strictly for money.

GA: If we became a completely different band that was more focused on the fans than for us, that would be selling out.

BW: Have you dealt with any majors firsthand? Has the Red Light Sting been courted by any?

AD: Let’s just say yes, we’ve had to deal with some big labels, and end it at that.

BW: You guys are getting ready to record a full-length, right? Is this your first?

ZV: Yes.

GA: It’s not necessarily a full-length, though.

AD: It depends on what you mean. What are we hoping for, 9 or 11 songs or something?

BW: Do you think the process of writing and recording a full-length is different from that of an EP?

ZV: I don’t know. We’ve just been writing and seeing what happens.

GA: We’re just focusing on one song at a time, and not really focusing on where it would go on a record.

AD: I think it’s different.

BW: How so?

AD: I guess ‘cause I feel like we could get away with doing some weirder stuff. On an EP if there’s a song that’s a little bit different, it’s 25 percent of the record. On a full length we can experiment a bit more, ‘cause I think we need some different stuff on there, so it doesn’t get redundant.

GA: You can open up the cages, and let the animals out.

AD: Not that we’re, like, trying to write wacky crap just to keep it interesting. It’s just that maybe if we were recording 4 songs and one was pretty out there, we’d be a bit more sketched to put it on there.

GA: I’m actually bringing boring stuff in just to spice it up.

ZV: I remember Mikey did tell us to “cut the wacky bit.” He’s trying to be all Lou Perlman on us.

GA: That was more about the song titles, though, wasn’t it?

BW: Ok, so where DO the song titles come from? Are they just jokes?

GA: They’re a lifestyle.

AD: If we use the word “tampon” in another song title…

ZV: He can’t handle menstruation. But yeah, our jokes? Greg said it, it’s a LIFESTYLE.

AD: Um…yeah. Song titles are our life.

GA: I can’t get through a day without having 2 or 3 potty humor song titles jotted down in a book.

AD: It’s pretty much all we do in the van.

ZV: We even hang out with our OLD bassist, and he writes song titles with us! It’s just something you can’t stop.

BW: Are the song titles AT ALL related to the actual lyrics?

ZV: Sometimes, sort of?

AD: Sometimes.

GA: I can argue that they are if you look hard enough. I don’t think any titles actually appear in songs.

AD: We write a song, and we have a list of possible titles. Greg gets the last say so that he can SORT OF relate it to the lyrics.

BW: Greg, do you do all of the lyric writing?

GA: I’d say for the most part. Sometimes Zoe and I work on her parts.

ZV: Yeah, we collaborate on that. I think we’ll collaborate more on this record.

BW: When you write lyrics, do you always know exactly what you’re writing about at the time?

GA: Lyrics don’t usually get finished until the day before recording. But right of the bat I’ll have a bunch of melody ideas and a few choice phrases that sum up what I want the song to be about. Before recording, a song is about 70 percent done.

BW: So are the lyrics like 100 percent thematically based, or are they also based on the sound of the words?

GA: It depends. I guess I sometimes base it more on the percusiveness of the melody. Sometimes I really need to get something off my chest and write around that.

BW: What’s the songwriting process like for the Red Light Sting?

AD: It's usually me or Greg that come up with the main ideas/riffs, either as a whole song or pieces that later get combined with others. Sometimes I'll have a whole song mapped out in my head, bass lines and drums and everything, but sometimes I'll just have a couple of melodies or guitar parts and then we all work on them.

ZV: They bring that to practice, and we all jam out and write together. Sometimes someone will have an idea for someone else.

GA: Sometimes it comes out as either Andy or I planned, but sometimes it gets twisted into something completely different.

ZV: Sometimes Paul will get out his chalkboard and write notes for 20 minutes and then show us.

BW: When you have a whole song mapped out in your head is it hard to transfer that to the heads of everyone else?

AD: I have been working with our drummer Paul in bands for 10 years, so we always know what each other are thinking.

ZV: I think that goes for the rest of us now, too. We all mesh really well. The writing process with us is really great.

BW: Are there every any arguments over parts or anything?

ZV: Yeah, for sure.

AD: Not really.

ZV: Yeah, there is! Not big ones.

AD: Oh really?

GA: I wouldn’t say arguments, but sometimes we’ll have our definite plans for how a part should go.

ZV: Yeah, exactly. Sometimes you’ve got to fight for something, right guys?

GA: There is ego, but there is a lot more compromise.

AD: I don’t remember this.

ZV: You were spacing out.

AD: I’ve got to stop showing up for practice on drugs.

BW: Do you guys have any songs that you hate or refuse to play anymore?

ZV: We don’t hate any. But we do have some from the first record that we don’t play, because Geoff doesn’t know them.

AD: I definitely prefer to play some more than others.

GA: We kind of abandoned one on the basis that it’s just too damned hard to play.

BW: Are you touring anytime soon?

ZV: Yes! We’re touring down the west coast in July with the Cinema Eye. July 3-20. Dates posted on our site soon.

*Interviewer’s Note: As of publication, dates for the tour have been posted.

BW: Do you guys prefer writing and recording or touring?

ZV: That’s tough.

AD: I like them both.

GA: Two totally different things.

ZV: Whenever we’re touring, it’s tons of fun, but I’m wanting to go home and write. And then when we’re busy writing, I’m wanting to go out on tour.

AD: I guess if I had to pick one, I’d say I enjoy writing songs the best. But then you don’t get to see your out of town friends or play shows, so maybe not.

GA: Recording is awesome, because I get to hear my voice soooooooooooo much.

ZV: He’s serious.

GA: Playing live is awesome, because I don’t wear my glasses, have no idea what’s going on, and I make fun of people while they check me out.

AD: And Zoe gets to wear shirts that say “Fingerbang.”

BW: You play a lot of all ages shows. Is that a conscious decision, or does it just work out that way?

ZV: We prefer all ages shows for sure. We don’t particularly like playing bars, because not everyone can come.

AD: I don’t like playing shows that not everyone can get into. That sucks.

ZV: But sometimes we have to if we can’t get a show in a certain city. It’s better than nothing.

GA: We actually used to play a lot more bar shows just because of circumstances in Vancouver, lack of venues etc., but we always try to rock for the kids.

BW: Do you think the audience dynamic or participation is different at all ages shows?

GA: Very. They pay attention.

ZV: Plus, we don’t get marriage proposals, NKOTB records, or hugs at bar shows.

BW: You guys are so active with the band and the label and other projects, and you’re still so young. What do you see yourselves doing in 20 years?

ZV: I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow.

AD: Sleeping on a giant pile of money surrounded by beautiful women.

GA: Dude, you stole my line that I stole from the Simpsons.

ZV: I haven’t been bored since the 9th grade, so I assume I’ll be super busy and active in 20 years.

GA: I figure I’ll be involved in music somehow.

BW: Oh, and when does the new record come out?

GA: Not a clue.

AD: Maybe like winter 2003/2004? But who knows.

GA: The new Metallica comes out next week, so we have to release it way later so it doesn’t compete.