Artist Spotlight: Red Letter Day
This LA based rock trio is a band of boys, but don’t call Red Letter Day a boy band.
"I know that for a fact music is going to be a part of my life forever, definitely. There’s nothing else that really compares to it, so why would you try to do anything else?” — Will Davila
You guys have been compared to everyone from Weezer to the Beatles. Who else do you draw inspiration from?
Will: “For me, Blink 182 was a huge inspiration. The Beatles of course, Neil Young, and also Weezer.”
John: “I can go from jazz to folk music to polka to heavy metal… I think anything that sounds good to my ears I’ll listen to and take from.”
Do people tend to be surprised by how good you guys are, given that you’re a younger band?
Will: “There are times when people come up after the show and say, ‘I saw you guys get on stage and thought you were just a bunch of kids, but then I listened and, wow, I love you guys’. And that’s so cool to hear. Having the drive of proving that “kids” can play music too… that’s a drive that helps, sometimes.”
John: “There have been times when those older bands have come up to us and said, ‘What you guys are doing, I wish we were doing that when I was your age’. The music industry is competitive but it’s really a big community, you know?”
On college, music, and the future of Red Letter Day:
Will: “Obviously college is a huge, important deal to me, but I know that for a fact music is going to be a part of my life forever, definitely. There’s nothing else that really compares to it, so why would you try to do anything else?”
John: “I’d just be so happy if this took off, and we got a chance to show a lot of people what we do and how we play. But even if we go our separate ways—I don’t want to, but if if if—I don’t think music will leave me either. Now that I’ve been in this band for a while, it’s just become a part of me. I just see music differently, I comprehend it differently. I thank my band members for that, because they taught me a lot and I don’t think it’s gonna leave me.”
Will: “Aww. You’re making me all emotional, John.”