Vendetta Red

Vendetta Red
Origin Seattle, Washington, US
Genres Alternative rock, screamo, emo, post-grunge, post hardcore [1]
Years active 1998 (1998)–2006, 2010–present
Labels Epic, Sony, Loveless
Associated acts Sirens Sister, Alien Crime Syndicate, Loaded, To the Glorious Lonely
Members Zach Davidson
Burke Thomas
Jonah Bergman
Leif Andersen
Past members Michael Vermillion
Justin Cronk
Eric Chapman
Joseph Childres
Jeff Rouse

Vendetta Red is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington that formed in 1998.[1] They released an EP, 6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive, in 1999 and two albums, Blackout Analysis in 2000 and White Knuckled Substance in 2001, before signing their first major label deal with Epic Records.

Their first release on Epic, Between the Never and the Now, charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and No. 101 on the Billboard 200[2] in 2003 with the album's single, "Shatterday", peaking at No. 16 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[3]

The group's fourth album, Sisters of the Red Death, was released in 2005 and charted at No. 21 on the Top Heatseeker's Chart.[4] After a series of lineup changes, the group disbanded in 2006, but announced a reunion four years later.

History

Early career (1998–2002)

The group was formed in 1998 by Erik Chapman, Joseph Childres, Justin Cronk, Zach Davidson, and Mike Vermillion in Seattle, Washington and nearly a year later they issued their debut release, the 6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive EP with a tour of the West Coast following after.[1] A year later they released their debut album, Blackout Analysis, with their second album, White Knuckled Substance, being released in October, through Loveless Records, of the next year, which was well received by local radio,[1] with the band continuing to tour on the West Coast.[5] During their tour, they gained the attention of a number of labels and eventually signed with Epic Records in 2002.[5]

Major label years (2003–2006)

After finishing recording with the late Jerry Finn,[1] the group's major label debut album Between the Never and the Now, which was preceded by the EP Cut Your Noose,[6] was released in June 2003 and charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and No. 101 on the Billboard 200.[2] The album's single, Shatterday, peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.[3] The album itself featured reworked songs from their previous release, White Knuckled Substance.[6] The band supported the album with a North American tour,[1] which included a stint on the Warped Tour.[5][6] The song The Long Goodbye, from the album White Knuckled Substance, was included on the Warped Tour 2002 Tour Compilation.[7]

After opening for AC/DC at the New York Roseland Ballroom,[5][6] singer Zach Davidson stated that the fans during the show were acting 'blatantly homophobic':

“ 'It was scary how blatantly homophobic a lot of that crowd is. AC/DC's music, whether you like it or not, is not socially conscious. You wanna drink, fuck, and smoke weed when you listen to AC/DC... and eat steak. Fuckin' American dream. I can handle anything, but I didn't really like it when, before you play a fucking note, the minute you go onstage, people are yelling 'Faggot!' That, of course, made me have to go down there and start kissing boys.'[5][8] ”

They continued to tour, playing with the likes of Dashboard Confessional, Brand New and MxPx.[5]

The group entered the studio in 2004 with producer Howard Benson to record the follow-up to Between the Never and the Now. For the album, Childres switched to keyboards with Burke Thomas added to the group to record drums. Street Drum Corps drummer Bobby Alt contributed theremin to the album while Phil Perrone contributed backing vocals.[9] The album, titled Sisters of the Red Death, was released in 2005[1] and charted at No. 21 on the Top Heatseeker's Chart.[4]

Later in 2005, Chapman, Vermillion and Childres left the group and guitarist Leif Andersen, of Common Heroes, and bassist Jeff Rouse, of Alien Crime Syndicate and Loaded were added to the group with Andersen also performing on keyboards for the tour.

Breakup (2006)

Vendetta Red announced through MySpace on March 8, 2006 that they were going separate ways to create different styles of music. Zach later made the following statement:

“ 'A few good things happened to us, a lot of bad things happened to us. A lot of people wanted to kill us. We were always outsiders. We were always alone, and after a 7 year legacy of struggle and torment we now have to posthumously defend the ghost of a band that meant everything to me. Regardless we always told the truth even if it meant alienating ourselves from everyone, and I continue to do so. If you would like to know more write me at myspace.com/sirenssister and I will try to answer any questions you might have. I don't have any idea who runs the Vendetta Red website, thanks friends. Zach D.' ”

Vendetta Red played their final show at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington on April 8, 2006. They ended their set with A Joyless Euphoria.[1]

Post-breakup (2006–2010)

Following the breakup, Davidson, Andersen and Rouse formed Sirens Sister in 2006[10] along with drummer Ben Libey. They signed to The Control Group and released their debut album Echoes from the Ocean Floor in September 2006 produced by Martin Feveyear.[11] In 2007 Rouse left the group and was replaced by Andersen's brother, Levi Andersen, on bass with the group going on to release Unspeakable Things in 2009

Vermillion has been enjoying a solo career now playing his own folk and American roots songs as well as covering many classic but perhaps lesser-known American country artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Merle Haggard and Jim Croce. He plays shows frequently in the Seattle area and also DJs under the name "Sad Bastard" usually spinning country, Motown, folk and soul. His first official full-length solo album will be released May 21, 2008[12]

Justin is now playing drums for With Friends Like These.[13] In addition to Justin the band consists of fellow Bakersfield native Matthew Shaw, local producer Tyler Coffey, and Brian Pake. Justin also owns a recording studio with bandmate Tyler Coffey in Seattle called The Toy Box.[14]

Eric Chapman has been enjoying life outside of the music industry as a bar tender at a Seattle area up-scale bar. He was married in 2006 to girlfriend Andrea and they currently reside in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.

Their song "Silhouette Serenade" is featured in the video game Saints Row.

Joseph Childres is now playing for Blood Hot Beat.

Burke Thomas formed a band called Megasapien, along with Lian Light (formerly of Magneto). Their second album is expected to be released at the end of March 2011. Megasapien songs can be heard on radio during Loveline.[15]

Reunion (2010–present)

In December 2010, it was announced that Vendetta Red would reunite for a one-off show at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington on March 5, 2011.[16] This turned out to be an extended reunion. The band members later announced they had also begun working on new material and have enlisted noted rock/metal producer Terry Date to produce what would be their first album in six years.[17]

Vendetta Red performed some of this new material at Bumbershoot 2011, as well as material from their previous studio albums, a Sirens Sister song, and a solo (Davidson) acoustic version of Seconds Away. A new song called Blank Screens was released on January 15, 2012[18] as a single on various digital music services including iTunes, and the album title Scripture was announced.

Discography

Studio albums
EPs

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
Alternative Songs
2003 "Shatterday" No. 16 Between the Never and the Now
2005 "Silhouette Serenade" Sisters of the Red Death
2012 "Close to Me" Scripture

Current Members

Past Members

See also

List of Warped Tour lineups by year

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Vendetta Red > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved Mar. 29, 2010. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. 1 2 "Between the Never and the Now - Vendetta Red". Billboard. Retrieved Mar. 29, 2010. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  3. 1 2 "Shatterday - Vendetta Red". Billboard. Retrieved Mar. 29, 2010. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. 1 2 "Sisters of the Red Death - Vendetta Red". Billboard. Retrieved Mar. 29, 2010. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Vendetta Red Interview". lifeinabungalo.com. February 21, 2006.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Bleeding Hearts :: Vendetta Red rock for the kids, not the scene.". Seattle Weekly. July 3, 2003.
  7. ↑ "Various - Warped Tour 2002 Compilation". Discogs. Retrieved Mar 29, 2010.
  8. ↑ "VENDETTA RED Singer Says AC/DC's Fans Are 'Blatantly Homophobic'". Blabbermouth. July 5, 2003.
  9. ↑ "Vendetta Red Sisters Of The Red Death CD". cduniverse.com. Retrieved Mar 29, 2010.
  10. ↑ Scanlon, Tom (2006-09-15). "Vendetta Red ends, Sirens Sister beckons". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  11. ↑ Asher, Tizzy (2006-09-15). "Seattle Noise: Sirens Sister". Seattle Noise. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  12. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/vermillionsongs
  13. ↑ http://myspace.com/wflt
  14. ↑ http://toyboxrecording.com
  15. ↑ http://www.megasapien.com
  16. ↑ Reid, Sean (December 2010). "Vendetta Red Reunion Show". Alter The Press.
  17. ↑ http://www.punknews.org/article/42905
  18. ↑ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vendetta-Red/106046226094190
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