Beneath the normal diet of regurgitated pop crap that tends to dominate the charts and radio airplay, 2006 has seen a handful of British and Irish rock bands clamoring for the attention of the music buying populace. This new wave of 70's and 80's influenced outfits may be spearheaded by the likes of The Answer and Roadstar but beneath this vanguard there are yet more acts waiting for their own moment in the spotlight. One of these is London's Red Star Rebels, a amalgam of  80's glam, 70's punk and 00's attitude and sass all wrapped up in one high octane package. With high profile support slots on the horizon with the likes of Slunt and Vain now seemed as goods a time as any to find out more....

On their history... Red Star Rebels first got together back in 2004 when the trio of Blackie, Meady & Stevie were joined by Jonny & Dazzle. Unlike many other bands of their ilk instead of jumping straight into the live scene they instead spent time working on their material and basically getting their act together before launching onto UK stages.  In fact, just to even more different, the band's first tour saw them visiting her Majesty's Prison's, not as inmates they hasten to add though, but rather as a way to hone their live performances. Surprisingly given the strangeness of the venues, including one gig in a prison chapel, they found the whole jaunt surprisingly easy to arrange - although the audience was somewhat more restrained than you might find down your local rock club on a Saturday night....

Next up for the band was their first 'proper' tour opening for Brides Of Destruction as Tracii Guns & Co headed out to promote their sophomore album. According to Blackie this was a real eye opener for the band, seeing what goes into making a great show on a nightly basis. Bassist Dazzle even got to play with the band and Tracii Guns joined our heroes onstage for Too Young To Care... Following on from the Brides tour the band hit the road again, this time with erstwhile Guns 'n Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. According to Meady this tour showed them just how much the band had progressed since the Brides tour. So much so that Clarke apparently even wanted to use three of their songs for the Supernova TV that was, at the time, in the planning process in the USA. As Meady explained the show had got to the stage of having 50 potential vocalists left in contention and with Clarke having been out on the road he hadn't had the chance to prepare much material and hence the request to use three of the Rebel's songs. Despite any short term benefit this may have brought the band they all agreed that it would be better to hold onto the songs pointing out that had they agreed and Supernova had recorded them first then that would always be the versions fans remembered rather than any of their own recordings made in the future...

On Whether The Band Has Progressed As They Envisioned... None of the five-some really seem to look that far into the future, taking each day as it comes. However there was a genuine consensus that the tour with the Brides Of Destruction was a real turning point for the band and that the subsequent Gilby Clarke tour simply allowed them to improve even more

  

On Song Writing... generally we start out with a concept for a song claimed Meady, perhaps surprisingly. Start with a title and then get the basic melody and chorus in place acoustically. Lyrics though are definitely important as, despite being jotted down haphazardly on post its, scrap paper etc before being finalized, the band like to capture situations that fans can relate to and may be going through themselves.

On Getting A Record Deal... seemingly Red Star Rebels have already been offered some single deals but, as a band, felt it better to wait until an album deal was on offer as they feel they have strong enough material to justify recording a full album. Indeed current plans see the band looking at a potential March 2007 release should such a deal be forthcoming as they already have nine tracks laid down and have started showcasing new material live and writing even more tracks.

On The Sacrifices Needed To Become Successful... Everyone was adamant that the real sacrifices surrounded their families whilst out on the road. The general lifestyle of being in a band also makes it hard for any of them to form any real relationships with anyone but , to be honest I don't think that is really bothering them at the moment as they seem more than happy with their lot and simply enjoying life to the full.

On How They Would Quantify Success... According to Blackie success for the Red Star Rebels would mean when they know they can live life as musicians & not have to join the 9-5 routine, perhaps getting to play at some of the larger outdoor festivals or picking up a support slot on a really major tour.  

  

Red Star Rebels are a band that are obviously hitting all of the right notes just at the minute. Support slots with both Slunt and Vain in October and November will see the band expose themselves to even more potential fans and as both Tracii Gun's & Gilby Clarke are still taking a interest in them there may even be the possibility of some US dates somewhere down the line. For now though they are certainly heading in the right direction and I wouldn't bet against seeing them playing much larger venues, to many more fans a year from now....

For more information on Red Star Rebels you cna visit  www.myspace.com/redstarrebels