Red Electrick’s latest album, Inside You, is up for release. Ramona Depares catches up with the band to find out more about the journey that led them here.

Red Electrick are set to launch their third studio album, Inside You, in March and excitement is running high among the band’s followers. It’s been two years since Matthew James Borg, Peter Borg, Ivan Borg and Jonas Delicata were joined by Robert Spiteri on the drums and, since then, the influence of the new addition is very much evident in the new direction the sound is taking.

With the live launch of the album taking place at the Salesian’s Theatre in Sliema, this is set to be a milestone for the band as the musicians promise a recording that is more mature and more focused on the lyrics.

Describing the album as detailing the Red Electrick journey and all those meaningful moments the musicians spent together through all these years, the musicians confess that they can’t wait to see their followers’ reactions to the shift, even though they feel that their fans are expecting a different approach to their previous albums.

The evolution of a band’s sound should be a natural process that is ‘not manu-factured’ and the band says that their evolution happened exactly in that way. I met up with four of the band members to find out more.

There’s a bit of reggae, some funk… it’s not quite what the fans expect from your typical Red Electrick album

What has the journey towards the launch of this album been like?

Peter: Exciting. We changed drummer one year ago when Robert joined us. We were already halfway through the album with our previous drummer, but we decided to rewrite most of it. A new band member always brings in a new sound and with Robert things were really working, so we decided to explore this new direction immediately.

Robert is an extremely versatile musician and also technical on his instrument, which meant that we felt free to explore a more experimental sound that goes beyond straightforward rock, something we always wanted to do due to the fact that we listen to all kinds of music. There’s a bit of reggae, some funk… it’s not quite what the fans expect from your typical Red Electrick album, we are very excited about the final result.

Matthew James: Although the album ended up taking longer than planned, we feel that it was worth it. Also, Robert’s strength on drum sampling was used during song-writing and this really opened doors to new creativity, and it will also be used to full advantage during the live launch. His ability to handle backing tracks and drum triggers is invaluable for our new live set, plus he’s a bit of a prodigy who never stops learning and improving. In fact, he just came back from studying drums in London bursting with ideas and possibilities. He really lives the passion. He’s the real thing, a full-time musician. Which meant that he fit in beautifully with Red Electrick.

Ivan: The next album will be different – three months max and we finalise and release. Many of our fans have been asking what took so long to complete Inside You, but it was unavoidable. A change in line-up is a major thing. For our next album, we are likely to do something completely different, again. Maybe an acoustic recording, or even a live one. We are already bouncing ideas off each other, though nothing has been set in stone, yet.

So, is the new sound completely unrecognisable?

Jonas: I would not say that. Reggae and ska were always at our roots, thanks to Ivan. Rather than offering an unrecognisable sound, I would say that the new album is more moody than our fans are accustomed to. Usually, Red Electrick is pretty loud. This time round, I’d describe the music as more atmospheric, which may come as a surprise to some. The album includes singles like Young Again and Shake, which were never part of any previous album and we will also be releasing a new single before the full album is launched.

Besides the change in line-up, what other challenges did Inside You bring with it?

Matthew: Inside you is very much about the vocals. Our first albums were more about guitars and drums… With this one, the vocals are more exposed, as opposed to hidden behind layers of sound. To finalise Young Again, it took some 40 vocal takes to complete one solid vocal track. This was probably the biggest challenge.

Peter: We produced this album ourselves at my studio, Railway Studios, and we had more hands on control over the direction to take and even on the final product. Self-producing gives you more leeway to be experimental but, of course, it comes with its challenges too. The best thing about it is that we really took the professional approach, taking as long as we needed to finish the album, as opposed to having to finish it off in the time we had pre-booked.

Still, the flipside is that when self-producing it is difficult to know where to draw the line. You need to be able to figure out when to let go, which isn’t always easy. In fact, I decided not to mix the album myself, unlike I do with most of my other clients. I felt that I was too attached to the songs, having been there from their inception and I felt it would have been irresponsible to mix them myself. We got Howard Keith from Jagged House studios as a totally fresh ear and we mixed it together in his studio.

Also, in principle, I do not agree with having one person in charge of recording, production, mixing and mastering. Foreign albums always have people assigned to each process and this is why they sound so great; each person is focused on one thing, which means the album benefits from a fresh approach each time. Obviously, they are backed by insane budgets. But luckily, considering budgets here are much smaller, we were able to get someone else on board for mixing, so we are very happy.

This concert will have a different kind of vibe to the usual Red Electrick gigs, mainly because of the venue

Ivan: We will be performing the entire new album, of course, as well as some old favourites. There will be accompanying visuals, tying in to the tracks themselves and showing the Red Electrick journey. Our guess is that this concert will have a different kind of vibe to the usual Red Electrick gigs, mainly because of the venue. We are quite looking forward to the fact that a seated audience is typically more appreciative of the actual music. A good party vibe is fun, of course, but this time round we really wanted the audience to focus on the music. Having said that, we are not going to stop anyone from getting up and dancing, of course.

Peter: As for the album itself, there are a couple of surprises. For Lonely in the Dark we collaborated with Ira Losco for the first time in what was pretty much a last minute decision. The track is not her usual style, but it worked immediately. Matthew’s and Ira’s voices really work well together. There is also a guest appearance by Joseph Calleja on a track that is very Queen-inspired with classical undertones. A different kind of experience... working with him was amazing. He knows exactly what to do and nailed it immediately in what turned out to be a very fast and successful session. We have collaborated with Kris Spiteri as session player on about three tracks which include the piano.

Inside You will be launched at the Salesian’s Theatre, Sliema, on Saturday and next Sunday at 9pm. Tickets are available online.

http://new.ticketline.com.mt