OC Music Awards 2012: Red9 Cause Hysteria With Hard Alternative Rock

[Photos] OC Music Awards Showcase Series…

“ I feel like the singer is really telling me something, is trying to reach me, is not trying to mince words. I feel like they're right there, in the room and telling me something. I need to listen and I do. I listen.
” Jeff Lyons from Red9 Celebrating its 11th anniversary, the OC Music Awards kicks off on January 3rd with seven weeks of free showcases at different venues across the county. 35 local artists will compete for the titles of Best Live Band or Best Live Acoustic and a performance slot at the 2012 OC Music Awards, March 3 at the Grove of Anaheim. And, the voting is open now!

“For me, there’s an honest energy to it…There’s emotion. When I listen to the vocals and how it’s presented, I feel like the singer is really telling me something, is trying to reach me, is not trying to mince words. I feel like their right there, in the room and telling me something. I need to listen and I do. And I listen,” said Jeff Lyons, bassist and lead vocalist of Orange County hard alternative rock trio, Red9.

I asked him probably one of the most difficult questions to ask a rock musician: how do you define rock ‘n roll?

These days, the definition of rock vacillates greatly. Indie rock is so vastly different from progressive rock; hard-edged guitar-driven alt-rock is so different from “Americana.” But when most people think of rock music, Red9 could be dubbed as a quintessential “rock” band.

“ I approach the bass almost as a percussion instrument...So, I tend to be very rhythmic with it versus melodic. I try to lock in with the drums as much as I can.
” Although a working graphic designer as his day job, Lyons ostensibly began to “write music that he likes” and “hang out guys that are mellow and easy-going” when he met guitarist and back-up vocalist Paul Frislie in 2007 when he was a “drummer in another band.”

Lyons admits to being “picky” because of his drumming history and Red9 didn’t officially come about until 2009 when the pair found current drummer Giovanni Fuentes. Lyons said that Fuentes “came in and he pretty much blows me out of the water as a drummer.”

With basically two drummers in the band, one trying his hand at playing bass and singing (at one point Lyons was looking for a singer and then decided to take the role himself) and one literally playing, Lyons said that Red9′s music is definitely centered around the rhythm of the song.

“I approach the bass almost as a percussion instrument,” explained Lyons. “So, I tend to be very rhythmic with it versus melodic. I try to lock in with the drums as much as I can.”

“ The idea of mind control and political parties and religion and what that kind of does to people's heads. Think for yourself.
” “It’s a tremendous influence,” continued Lyons. “Paul kind of has to work around that. Vocally, I have to work around that and I’ve never sang in a band prior to this one. I’ve never written vocals prior to this band. At least, nothing serious, so it’s kind of the center. It’s the core of the whole band—the rhythm.

“The beats and how things kind of mesh together. I like to play pretty hyperactive basslines if I can. “Hysteria” from Muse is one of my favorite songs. I love that bassline.”

Fittingly, Lyons himself is interested in a sort of “mass hysteria” when writing the songs for Red9; he said that some of the songs are about mind control.

Lyons elaborated, “The idea of mind control and political parties and religion and what that kind of does to people’s heads. Think for yourself. I know that creeps into a few of my songs, but not every song.”

The rest of the songs are unfinished products until the end. Lyons elucidated that when he writes lyrics  for Red9, “they kind of evolve into something and there’s usually a couple of meanings in there.”

“I will write about stuff in the world that kind of bugs me and it’s just a way of getting it out. Or things that are happening personally. But I try and write in a way that isn’t too specific. I like when a song has multiple meanings.”