By Kreig Marks, October 24, 2020

 

TRR:  Hi guys.  Let's begin this with you telling me a bit about the band.  I know you’re from Gainesville but let’s hear some more.

PR: We’re a three-piece Alternative Metal band. The band was formed by Griffin Williams (Guitar, Vocals) and he eventually met Raphael Bichier (Drums) through their mutual teacher, who taught both guitar, drums and bass, and they eventually met Collin Stivender (Bass) a year later.

 

TRR:  A new power trio.  This I like, a lot.  As a young band, in both age and sound, you seem to be more influenced by the music of the 70’s and 90’s rather than some of the music that’s out there today. What’s your thought on that?

PR: There’s definitely a huge influence of music from the 70's-90's in our music, even the early 2000's. There’s nothing wrong with bands who follow some trends out there in music today, but it’s not what we’re completely inspired by.

 

TRR:  Listening to your music, I like that you guys have your own direction, keeping it original.  That being said, what do you guys listen to?  What's on your individual playlists?

PR: It’s constantly changing for us, but this is what's on there right now. 

Griffin: My Chemical Romance, Tool, John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, John Mayer, Metallica.

Collin: Bring Me the Horizon, Radiohead, Oceans Ate Alaska, Deftones, August Burns Red, Brand New.

Raphael: Converge, Kate Bush, Aphex Twin, Idles, Radiohead

 

TRR:  You guys are ecclectic!  Very cool.  That's a pretty diverse play list. 

PR:  It is.  And, like I said, it's constantly changing.  

 

TRR:  For Purely Red,  when the three of you sit down to write new songs, who is the lyricist in the band and who’s putting the music to the lyrics?

PR: Griffin Williams is the lyricist in the band, but we all work together on the music. One of us will usually bring in an idea and we’ll further develop it from there.

 

TRR: Who produced your current EP?

PR: Ryan Williams of Black Bear Studios engineered, mixed, and mastered the album. He’s a very talented guy, and one of the biggest reasons the record sounds the way it does sonically and production wise.

 

TRR:  Take me back to the first time the 3 of you stepped on stage and played together. How did that go?

PR: It was at a venue in Gainesville called the Hardback Café. It was a solid show, crowd was small, but gave us a chance to work out some kinks.

​

TRR:  What sort of kinks?  

PR:  The usual types of things, transitions, sections of songs, overall tightness of the music

 

TRR: When is the last time the 3 of you had the opportunity to play live?

PR: We played 2 days ago in Daytona (10/22) at a place called The Patio. The show went great, the crowd was very supportive, and we got to play a lot of material we haven’t had a chance to play in a long time, so it was a nice change.

​

TRR:  Was there a big crowd?  People being cautious?  What about you guys?  Did you hang out with the fans or did you keep a safe distance? 

PR:  The crowd was a decent size for what it was but nothing enormous. Most people distanced themselves amongst their groups. At our shows we try to engage with our audience, as well as keep ourselves as safe as possible by wearing masks and things along those lines.

 

TRR: How has the current pandemic affected the 3 of you as a band and individually?

PR: It definitely put a halt on things for a little while. We didn’t practice for a while and we had to cancel a lot of shows due to the venues closing. It gave us the chance to improve on some things and write new material.

 

TRR: What are some positives you’ve taken from the pandemic?

PR: Due to the down time created from the pandemic we were able to really commit to writing our latest album and refining our current repertoire. It was an unfortunate time, but we've tried to make the most of what we can do during this period of time.

 

TRR: Being a “college” town, who are your fans in Gainesville? Do you feel you’re competing against Hip Hop and pop culture there?

PR: Gainesville is a somewhat strange town musically. It has a very rich and deep musical history, but it’s definitely dominated by the college scene. We love playing here though, it gives us the opportunity to play in front of our friends and family, as well as people who may be seeing us for the first time, or who have seen us before.

 

TRR: Are you actively scheduling gigs?

PR: Yes, we’ve got many gigs scheduled over the next two months, and are constantly on the lookout for more.

 

TRR: What’s the main focus right now?

PR: The main focus right now is to keep playing shows as safely as possible, and to promote our album through that process. Hopefully, at the end of this year, we’ll start putting together material for our next album.

 

TRR: Anyone you’d like to give a shout out too?

PR: We’d like to give a shoutout to our friends and family for coming to the shows and supporting us, and anyone who has ever come to a show, bought merch, given us an opportunity to play, or listened to our music. You all make it worth it.

​

For further information about Purely Red, follow them on Facebook or on Bandivious.