We (finally!) got the chance to speak with Scarlet Grey after many attempts to track down their singer, Ben. However who can blame him? He’s a very busy boy in the studio these days as the band is recording their debut CD. Hear what he had to say….

EpicBull: Scarlet Grey is a bit different (thankfully) of what’s going on in the mainstream music scene right now. Can you explain the sound of your band?

Scarlet Grey: We make pop music, but without the modern negative connotation… Pop in the way the British used it in the 60’s. It’s hi-fi and it definitely embraces the hook, but we approach our music in a very serious way. Modern top 40 radio is dominated by auto-tune, ugly subject matter and people who don’t respect the art form, so the word gets lost. You used to be able to be a taste-maker and still have integrity and so we hope to fly that flag in our own way.. We also definitely bring a much need rock element to pop. We’re not afraid to get some dirt under our nails.

EB: Who are some of your musical influences and/or what inspires you to write?

SG: Our musical influences cover everything from The Beatles to Minor Threat to Bloc Party to my Dad haha… There’s so much cool stuff out there that it’s hard to zero in on what exactly is influencing me/us at the moment. The other guys would probably give you a whole mess of other examples, but for me musically… I’m currently listening to the new Metric album “Fantasies,” Does it Offend You, Yeah? and revisiting the Bloc Party record “Weekend in the City.” I also just heard the mixes for the new AFI record and I’m extremely excited about it.

As far as the writing goes, my process revolves around ‘lightning in a bottle.’ I never know what is going to happen to me or what someone will do or say or what I will do or say or feel… but I’ve been able to sharpen my ability to recognize and articulate those moments into songs for SG. That’s the key to most art is being able to capture that lightning when it strikes.

EB: I heard you guys had a couple of recent shows at Doug Westin’s Troubador and on the Warped Tour. What was that like? Were those your biggest audiences?

SG: The shows were really cool. The Troubadour is definitely like our home-base and it’s definitely the best venue in Los Angeles. Best sound, coolest people, best vibe. They actually treat you like a person which is a plus. We also like that venue because when you’re a band from Los Angeles, you don’t really feel like you have a hometown. There’s no real community here… But that room makes you forget that for a little while.

Warped Tour was fun too. Extremely different… A lot of sunscreen for poor ol’ Ben Grey… But yeah it was great, we made a lot of new friends :)

EB: What can fans expect to see at a Scarlet Grey show?

SG: You’ll see Keith our drummer in his new suspenders. He looks awesome.

What you’ll experience is something that transcends a rock show, in that once you come to an SG show, you’re part of the family. The Grey Family is one of the things I’m most proud of with this whole thing, because we managed to create something that’s bigger than just some band. It means something to everybody who’s a part of it. I was always looking for something like that when I first started going to shows and getting into music, and now I finally have it. It’s a really amazing thing. The Grey Family is what gives Scarlet Grey real purpose.

EB: How did you come up with the name Scarlet Grey?

SG: Scarlet Grey is the name of the title character in a children’s book I wrote a few years ago… Without giving too much away because I believe it’ll be coming out someday soon, the lead character is this sort of protector in the book… And in the same way she protects the boy in the pages we could protect our audience.

Plus our band used to be called ‘The Manatee Band’ once upon a time… Something had to change haha.

EB: Who is this “Nils” guy everyone is telling me about that has joined you onstage? Is he an official member of the band?

SG: Haha… Nils is one of my best friends in the world. We’re extremely close. He is and he isn’t an official member of the band, how cryptic can you get?! haha… We have him play a song or two when we play locally and he will be coming with us to the UK when we do our video and shows. He’s basically involved in most of what Scarlet Grey does but I don’t think he would call himself a full member, even though some of us would haha.

He’s also the reason SG became close with AFI, which lead to Davey asking me to do guest vocals for the new record. Nils puts people together. He makes things happen. He’s awesome. Can’t say enough nice things about him.

EB: So when will Scarlet Grey be hitting the studio to record a full LP?

SG: We actually just finished it earlier this year. We’ve been debuting some of the songs at our recent shows and I’m absolutely thrilled for people to hear them. We really stepped it up on this one and I think it’s going to take a lot of people by surprise. That’s all I can say for now… I’m sworn to secrecy ;)

EB: Thanks for taking the time to talk to EpicBull. Any last words for our readers?

SG: Of course, sorry it took a million years to get back to you guys! My life has been nonstop chaos.

But thanks for having me and look for our music video for our new single “Naomi” in September <3

Love you guys
xo ben

Links to learn more about Scarlet Grey:
http://www.myspace.com/scarletgrey
http://twitter.com/benjamingrey

Or here is a cute little documentary video about Scarlet Grey: