Spotlight On... Red Vanilla

Scotland’s sunniest city is still one of its smaller ones, so we’re always keen to hear what’s new out of Dundee. On 7 June, Red Vanilla release debut EP Days of Grey. The alt-rock four-piece have dropped some select singles leading up to the record, but these origins are far from humble – vocalist Anna Forsyth has high-flying ambitions for her and her three bandmates, and the group proved to be a popular headline at 2022's Outwith Festival in Dunfermline.

So what’s Red Vanilla all about? It’s all in the name; the sanguine, and the sweet. Forsyth belts out cathartic lyrics on coming-of-age difficulties, which resonate as clearly as the gang’s perfectly-unpolished grunge style. After the sombre riffs that open the EP on Embers, George Weller's guitarwork through Days of Grey is fast and distorted. On All These Better Things, Forsyth sings, 'I know it’s not worth the time that I give / To these stupid things that mess with my head / But I give in every single time'.

In the lead-up to the EP's release, and the launch party at Beat Generator Live! in Dundee, we speak with Forsyth to learn more about the band.

Could you start by telling us a little bit about yourselves, and how Red Vanilla came to be?
[George and I] were 18 and 17. I had just left school, and George had just moved to Dundee to start uni. George found my advert on some crappy local website, when it had already been up for about six months. He thought with such an old ad I wouldn’t reply, and I thought by that point no one was going to reach out to me – so when we both got in touch with each other it was such a nice surprise.

We spent the first couple of months playing the same Wolf Alice, Paramore, Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters covers, since they were the only ones we knew, then once I felt comfortable telling George my honest thoughts about being in a band, I was like "I’m starting a band to try and make it – I’m not playing covers, we’re going to write our own material and we’re going to go somewhere with this.”

George came to me with the guitar riff for Oria, and I knew right away I’d found someone who was going to be in this for the long run with me. We then found Lucas [Mander, drums] through an online advert, and Sam [Roberts, bass] through his bass teacher, who Lucas’s Dad happened to know. We all have the same intentions, and it just feels right with the four of us. There’s no way to explain it – we’re like family to each other, and it feels like there’s a connection that was just ‘meant to be’. If we’re going to go somewhere in music, it’s going to be the four of us together.

Who, or what, are some of your biggest inspirations as a band?
Musically, we’re massively influenced by bands such as Foo Fighters, Pixies, Wolf Alice, Paramore, Nirvana and Biffy Clyro. We each bring our own individual influences to the table, and all mixed together, they become Red Vanilla songs. They’re just our version of what we already love – distorted guitars, big drums, and always something that translates well at a live show. We’re so inspired by bands like The 1975 who start off as nobodys in their local scene, stay focused on their dreams, and work tirelessly to achieve them. We’ve always promised ourselves we’d never stop trying until we make some kind of success with Red Vanilla, and we’ve every intention of seeing that through. I’m such a firm believer in ‘if you want it enough, you’ll make it happen!’

Tell us a bit about Days of Grey – what was it like developing your first EP?
It’s been a long process – some of these songs are three or four years old now and they’re only just being released. We spent the first few years behind the scenes [...] trying to figure out some kind of plan that would help us actually get somewhere when we were finally ready to release. Recording the EP was such a rewarding experience – we’d never done anything like that before, and it took us months of going back and forward to our producer Kieran Smith’s studio, adding little bits to each track at a time until we were finally happy with every one. We’re total perfectionists when it comes to anything band related, so we really took our time, and we’re so proud of the end result.

Filming the music videos was a big thing for us too. Full credit to George for The Know-How and Outside In music videos – he spent weeks planning them out scene by scene and made them totally unique. We’ve always loved how the Foo Fighters use their music videos as a way to have a bit of fun [...] The filming process was such a laugh, and we just want people to enjoy watching them.

What can listeners find across the record?
The opening track (Embers) is about the happiness I found when I started this band – it really is the most genuine and extreme joy I’ve ever experienced. I’m so grateful for the guys, I love them endlessly!

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve watched tour diaries of my favourite bands, and always fantasised living that one day. You only live once, and have to chase your dreams! There’s also a lot of lyrics about growing up, finding yourself, navigating relationships with friends and family at this age while you’re going through so much change – a lot of heavy stuff, but writing is a form a therapy for me, so my lyrics are always very honest and unfiltered.

Beyond this release, what does the rest of the year look like for Red Vanilla?
We have our Dundee headliner coming up on 6 July to celebrate the EP launch. We’re playing at Beat Generator Live! – the same venue we headlined about two years ago, and it was insane; we can’t wait to do it again! We’ll be back at King Tut's on 3 August as part of the Summer Nights Festival, which we’re buzzing about. And we have our biggest news to date to share in the next couple of weeks… We’re still writing too – we have so many more songs that are ready to record, so hopefully we’ll be back in the studio later this year. We’re excited just to finally have music out there, and see what opportunities come out of that!

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Days of Grey is out 7 Jun; Red Vanilla play Beat Generator Live!, Dundee, 6 Jul; King Tut's, Glasgow, 3 Aug

Follow Red Vanilla on Instagram @redvanillaband