Your name:
My name is Elijah Durnell.
Where are you from?
I am from Indiana in the US, but our musical home and
base is in Chicago, IL.
Name of band:
The name of the band is redLYON.
Who else is in your band?
Well, Dustin Odya is in the band…
he handles a lot of the rhythm and does some synth work. Also Daniel Brown is in the band… he does
synth and backing vocals.
How would you describe yourselves?
Hmm… that’s kind of a tricky one. Do you mean musically
or as people? Kidding. Musically I would say we are alternative/electronica/rock/pop. Confusing
enough? I think that pretty much covers us as a band. As people… well… I suppose we shouldn’t get into
that…
Who are your main influences musically?
Well, as a band our influences vary, but tend to stay in
a similar vein. I am the principle songwriter in the group and my biggest influence, easily, is Depeche
Mode. I think what they’ve done and continue to do is brilliant both lyrically and musically. I could go
on and on. My other big influences are Morrissey (greatest lyricist of the generation), The Cure, New
Order/Joy Division… also some newer bands like White Lies and Klaxons… as a group we also are influenced
by Nine Inch Nails, The Kinks, The Killers, The Velvet Underground, Florence and the Machine, as well
as a lot of punk influences… Daniel Brown pretty expertly is able to weave those punk sensibilities
into a primarily electronica band, which is something that I think makes us a little unique. That,
married with Dustin Odya, who is an amazing drummer who can move from drums to guitar to synth while
bringing a unique edge to the music, live and recorded… well, it makes for some fun times. Oh!
And I can’t forget Nick Cave, Erasure, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk (how can anyone pick up a synthesizer
and not mention Kraftwerk?)… we really enjoy toying with the idea of incorporating rock or even punk
rock with electronic elements…
What do you hope to achieve in music?
Wow. That’s a big one. Well, I think the main hope, when
you do something like this, is to make something that speaks to you as the creator and also, in
some way, speaks to the listener. It doesn’t necessarily have to be saying the same thing, and it
doesn’t have to be some deep philosophical musing on life, but if it is saying something to someone
somewhere, that’s a big deal I’d say. I would love to do that for as long as I possibly can. It’s not always an
easy thing when you’re in the stage of establishing yourself and finding an audience… but it’s worth it.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
Well, this may sound a like I’m taking myself altogether
too seriously. I suppose it would be nice to say that we played some giant venue to hundreds or thousands
of screaming fans, but we haven’t. And even if we had, the stuff that I find the best part of
this is the little silly things. Like the time we played a show and the entire crowd formed a conga line to the
song we were playing. Or playing a venue with really good people and bands, even if it’s not packed
with the afore mentioned screaming fans. So the highlights to me are really sitting for hours with a
guitar or a synth writing a song that I feel really strongly about, and playing to people that respond to it.
As general and basic as that sounds, it really never gets old.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
Ha. Well, I think many people and bands who have played
shows for any length of time will say, there are times when you walk into a place and know it’s going
to be an interesting night, straight away. From playing on the same bill with bands that are SO not even
in the same general genre of music as us, to trying to cram a stack of synths into a corner with one
power supply… it is always an interesting time.
There is one particular place that came to mind though. I
am not going to be too specific, but this place just… not great. The show I’m thinking of was one of our
first as redLYON, I was sick, and it was in a gutted movie theatre. Hmm. Concrete floors, synthesizers,
a new sound engineer at the venue, and my voice being about 3 octaves lower than it normally is
made for an interesting, and noisy, night. Though I’m not sure I would go so far as to say I want to forget
that night/moment… just not relive it… ever again.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
I think the song on our upcoming release called “It’s A
Little Funny If You Think About It” would be a pretty good indication of what you get when you listen to
redLYON. Of course we vacillate a bit, but that one is pretty representational because it ticks a lot of
the redLYON boxes. The lyrics are… hmm… not typical maybe? A lot of our lyrics, while often a little
melancholy, have at them a root of a sort of dark humour that I think this song encapsulates. Also,
musically, it covers a lot of what we do. The beat is a little heavy and dirty, along with some dirty distorted
synth with some layers… all of this with a beat that is a little… “toe tap-able” let’s call it.
Where can we listen to it?
Where can we find out more about your music?
Yes, please, find us where you can! redLYON can be found
at:
Official site: www.redlyonmusic.com
Twitter: @redlyontheband
Facebook: www.facebook.com/redlyon
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/redlyonmusic
Our new release “Instinct” will be available May 13th
Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music
that I forgot to ask?
Just that we are really excited for people to hear our
new album “Instinct” when it comes out on May 13th. We hope everyone has a chance to check it out and
enjoys it. Also we would like to say that, as you may have noted from our influences, the UK has always
been, for lack of a better term, an artistic home, for me and the band and the music we make. We would just
like to say thanks very much for giving us this opportunity let you know a little bit more about the
band and any chance we might have to be even a little part of a musical scene that has done so much to
influence me personally as well as the band, is taken with the greatest gratitude! Thanks again and please
keep listening and watching for redLYON…good stuff is coming!
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