St. Louis based REDBAIT have announced the follow up to their debut EP “Cages” to be a full length slated for mid 2021 on New Age Records.
Comments the band: “Yes, we are still working on an LP! We have a dozen new songs written, but they need some polishing before we go into the studio and lay them down for New Age. At our yearly planning retreat in December of 2019, we had expected to turn in a finished record to the label in June of 2020. Sigh.
It has been over a year since our last release (“Cages”), and it seems like ten. We have truly taken our time on these songs, partially because of our own process and partially because instability is everywhere. Let’s get real. This is an extremely difficult time for everyone. Even if you are living in the sticks, you feel the effects of the pandemic known as covid-19. So, for the sake of posterity and those who will be born after covid-19, let’s talk about these difficult times.
Shortly after Redbait put out “Cages”, we experienced three (3) lineup changes. The first was the addition of our new drummer Davo (Resolve, Extinctionism). He is a long time friend from across the river in Granite City, IL (“St Louis Metro East”). The next change was Nicholas (7 Generations, Hellfire Trigger) moving from bass to lead. Third was the addition of Richard (Shallow Breath) from Grand Rapids, MI. We still have love and respect for Cody and Will. There is no shade there.
With the changes in lineup also brings changes in songwriting. For the most part, B and I write the bones of a song together; then flesh it out with Richard and Davo; and then present it to Rebecca and Madeline for lyrics and final touches in dynamics. It takes a long time, but we believe the outcome to be better than if we tried the usual “one person writes music, one person writes words”.
Covid has been ruthless. Those of us in the band with kids suddenly had to stay home from work as schools and most daycare places were closed. By jam time, we were too tired to play; plus babysitters became a huge health risk overnight. One of our members went through a divorce since the last release. Some of us were laid off; some of us had crazy overtime; and some of us worked twice as much for half the money. Two of us have jobs with the public and large work forces. Every time a coworker got sick, it was another two weeks before we talked about possibly practicing together. It’s pretty difficult to arrange for an engineer nowadays, as well. Lastly, depression and anxiety are real, and both of those situations shove everything creative onto a backburner.
These are not normal times. As much as we want to get back to some semblance of normality, the truth is that not everything is up to us.
However, we have done what band stuff is possible. We have continued to write riffs and lyrics separately, and work on them with one or two members of the band. We put up Plexiglas dividers in our practice space and we mask up in each others’ presence. We recorded one song to be released any day on a fundraiser comp being put together by Racetraitor. We recorded a live set for the Mutants of the Monster Virtual Fest (August 28-30). In the spring, we had a letter writing campaign with our bored comrades. We have done so much merch stuff, it is ridiculous. We also raised $2000 for bail funds in Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland, and Louisville. We have also taken part in the actions following the murder of George Floyd.
As far as the new record goes, expect a heavier release than the two previous. The new songs have some noticeable NYHC, Crimethinc, and powerviolence influences that were not as obvious on Cages or Red Tape. We are working as hard as we can. Thank you for caring about it enough to read this.
All power to the workers.
-Nicholas o/b/o Redbait”
