Dundee alt-rockers Red Vanilla are ready to put the ‘star’ in starving artists.
Founded by Forfar frontwoman Anna Forsyth and lead guitarist George Weller, from Elgin, Red Vanilla formed three years ago in the City of Discovery.
Back then, George was the eldest at 18; Anna close behind at 17; meanwhile Dundee drummer Lucas Mander and Carnoustie-born bass player Sam Roberts were both just 16.
And unlike others at that tender age who may insure themselves against the notoriously slim chance of musical success by pursuing steady career paths or education, the four-piece decided to quit all their Plan Bs in favour of Plan A – make music, and make it big.
“We really formed the band with the intention of making it,” says Anna, now 21. “We quit uni and started working full time to make it happen.”
For George, the decision to leave behind his degree and put all his eggs in the band’s basket was “the easiest one I’ve ever made”.
“We’ve all tried to make sacrifices to make it work,” explains the 22-year-old guitarist, crediting drummer Lucas for leaving school early to show his total dedication to the project.
“Anna and George have definitely taught me how to be a bit more grown up over the years,” Lucas smiles.
And while Anna admits that the band’s families “hated us at the start for not going to uni or quitting” she says they changed their tune once they heard Red Vanilla’s songs and “saw how serious we were”.
Songs push against ‘rubbish 9-5 jobs’
Inspired by 90s alt-rockers like Nirvana and Foo Fighters, as well as aughts outfits such as Wolf Alice and Paramore, lyricist Anna finds herself writing often about the struggle to break away from career conformity in 2024.
“There’s a total recurring them in my lyrics about hating the way you’re kind of forced to live this life that you don’t want to live,” she explains.
“Going to work rubbish 9-5 jobs, and things like that. A lot of my lyrics are centred around trying to get out of that and focus on what I actually care about – which is this band.”
All four members work low-paying jobs in hospitality or retail, as these are the roles which offer the kind of flexibility needed to make gigging a priority.
“Gigs can pop out of nowhere so we need to be able to ask for time off,” Anna says matter-of-factly. “So it’s not fun or glamorous, but it’s a necessary evil to make it work.”
‘No handbook’ for band success
But forming a band post-pandemic, when music venues and the live industry has been suffering, has meant Red Vanilla have faced a rocky road so far.
“It’s really difficult these days knowing the best course of action,” explains Anna. “What direction do you go in? Do you focus on social media? Or do you focus on gigging?
“There’s no handbook for how to make it as a band, it’s a lot of faith.”
Still, the plucky musicians doubled down in the face of disappointments, and they’re starting to reap the rewards of their resolve.
“There was a time when we were gigging and we didn’t even have a bass player,” admits Lucas, whose dad’s home studio provides a base for the band.
“We knew the sound wasn’t as good as it could be, but it didn’t stop us from gigging because we knew we needed to get ourselves out there.
“We were just rehearsing one day, getting our songs nailed down, and then George showed up to rehearsal and was like ‘We’ve got a gig’.”
Red Vanilla resolve paying off
After that initial gig – at Broadcast in Glasgow – the band took on a steady stream of spots on bills across the UK across 2022 and 2023.
Now, the unsigned foursome have a headline gig at King Tut’s under their belt – a rite of passage for any Scottish band – and are looking forward to a hometown headliner at Beat Generator later this year which will coincide with the release of their debut EP.
And the two singles already released, All These Better Things and Embers, have garnered a response the band can’t help but shout about.
“We played at Beat Generator last year before heading off to gig in Switzerland for a bit,” recalls George. “We had people singing along to the songs and people shining their phone torches when we started playing Embers.”
“We had our first wee mosh pit too!” grins Anna. “It was fantastic.”
For the band members, Red Vanilla’s origin story is similar to that of any great band who made it big back in the day.
But Anna insists it’s “not about the backstory – it’s about where we want to end up”.
Well then, let’s watch this space.
Red Vanilla will play Beat Generator, Dundee, on June 8 to celebrate the release weekend of their debut EP. You can keep up with them on social media @redvanillaband
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