Scarlet Rebels Talk New Album, Supporting Foodbanks And More

Welsh four-piece Scarlet Rebels are back with a new album ‘Where The Colours Meet’ which is scheduled for release on 16th August 2024. Lead vocalist and guitarist Wayne Doyle kindly sat down with us to talk about the new record, supporting foodbanks and more: 

Who is in Scarlet Rebels, what do they play?

We are Wayne Doyle – Singer / Guitars, Gary Doyle – Drums, Chris Jones – Lead Guitar and Carl Oag – Bass

Your new album ‘Where The Colours Meet’ is released on 16th August 2024 . How did you want to approach the making of the record?

It sounds really daft to state out loud, but we wanted to make a collection of great songs. Songs that would be able to stand alone and also make sense as a collective. We wanted to be as open to ideas that were floated to us and be willing to go in whatever the direction the song naturally went in, so if that meant that a guitar riff or solo should be cut down, or a vocal line changed etc as long as it worked for the greater good of the song we would do it.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

We recorded the album in Andy Sneap’s ‘Backstage Studios’ in Belper. It was produced by Chris Clancy and Colin Richardson. They were amazing. They were honest with us about the material we had and they gave us that third party perspective of new fresh ears. They brought a focus to what we recorded and I think it shows. They’re both so massively talented, but were absolutely amazing to work with. Real gentlemen, who put us at ease when recording and got the very best out of us. We presented the songs we had written to them and then we changed the arrangements around to make them flow better. Some were changed drastically, some were minor tweaks. But we trusted them and didn’t push back because we wanted it to be a collaborative effort.

One of the tracks is your new single ‘Secret Drug’ which is out now. What was the story/inspiration behind the song?

Chris came to us with this riff and we all loved it. He had the idea of the riff, to start, going into an AC/DC type riff in the verses, before hitting the repeat riff in the chorus.

Lyrically, I’d made a note in my phone about the line ‘I’ve got a chemical dependency’ and that was all I had. When we jammed the song out whilst recording the demos I just blurted the line out and it stuck and it framed the theme of the song and what I was going to write. When we hit the chorus, in the same take, the melody and line ‘She’s my secret drug’ just dropped out of my mouth. It’s weird how it can happen.

I changed the lyric to ‘I ain’t got a chemical dependency’ as it made more sense, suggesting that someone’s touch or kiss is the addiction and is the secret drug. The song has that perfect balance of an old school rock riff, with an almost pop song chorus hook. It would have been so easy to go down the whole AC/DC route on the chorus and take the song to a place that many bands have in the past, but we didn’t and I’m glad we tried something different. It’s the perfect opener for the album and introduction to ‘Where the Colours Meet’.

 In addition, the single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

It was directed by Shaun of Loki Films. We shot it in KK’s Steelmill in Wolverhampton as it has a big video screen we could perform in front of. We wanted there to be an element of us playing in front of a screen that had different colours melting into each other, as it matched with the album title. It came together really well, we’re super happy with how it turned out.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals etc?

I have a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Telecaster. I’m quite straight with effects and that sort of thing. I only have a tuner pedal at the moment, as I don’t have the capacity to work them all as I’m singing.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

We’re from Llanelli in South Wales. Literally the end of the M4. I’d say it’s working class, picturesque, proud, rugby, deprived.

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?

We are doing some album launch shows in Swansea on the day of the launch. We have UK tour dates to announce shortly. Hopefully we can extend that into another run in 2025 that will include Europe.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

 The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Of Mice and Men’. The themes that run through the book would give you the opportunity to write and produce songs and pieces that have different feels.

 Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Happiest is “Secret Drug”

Angriest is “Divide and Conquer”

Most reflective is either “It Was Beautiful” or “Out Of Time”

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

I’m a huge Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Foo Fighters fan, but I love anyone who writes good songs…Recommendations, ones that people might not be hugely aware of – Jason Isbell, The War On Drugs, Stephen Wilson Jr, Colter Wall, The Lone Bellow, Goodbye June, Whiskey Myers… There’s so many!

Was it a difficult album to write?

It was to start as I was really conscious of the fact of having to follow up a Top 10 album. I’d written the bulk of 5 albums before without second guessing anything. Of course I wanted them to be heard, but there wasn’t any expectations of it. Being an independent band, you just have that bit of hope. Even writing the last record, we did it without knowing it would get picked up by a label and end up having the attention it did. This record we knew that it would be put in front of people and there was an expectancy after the previous record. So yeah, there was a sense of pressure surrounding it. But when I started to write things just started to flow. I wasn’t aware of if the songs were any good, but I just wrote as many songs as I could. Earache were hugely supportive of us and would check in and push me and the band to write as strong a record as we possibly could. They arranged the sessions with Ricky and Elles and were totally supportive of what we were trying to achieve.

Who designed/created the album artwork?

Carl Cozier of Holy Moly UK designed the artwork! We love it! It’s totally different to the average rock bands album artwork, and we love that it stands out.

How do you look after your voices?

I do a good hour of warming up before shows. Keeping hydrated is important. I rely on honey and lemon as well as all sorts of tea’s and lozenges. I totally avoid alcohol when on tour as it completely dries my voice out. Which can suck, as I love to have a beer. But even one or two can affect it. Also trying to eat and sleep right as well doing everything you can to avoid picking a cold or virus up. It can mean isolating totally and away from people who come to see us play, which can come across as rude, but it’s a necessary evil at times in order to keep things rolling.

Do you have any musical collaborations on the album?

Yes! I wrote 3 tracks with Ricky Warwick of Black Star Riders, The Almighty and Thin Lizzy. One made the album, it’s called ‘My House, My Rules’ and it closes the whole record. We’ve kept the other tracks to use again. We were having weekly sessions on Facetime, me in South Wales and Ricky in LA. We met online for a few weeks and sent ideas back and fore…He’s such a lovely guy. A total dude. I also co-wrote ‘Out Of Time’ with the lovely Elles Bailey. I went to her studio in Bristol and we sat and chatted for ages and eventually put together the song. We recorded the track and sent it over to Elles and she recorded her vocals and sent them back to us. I didn’t hear them until I had the first mixes back and it was one of them moments that stopped me in my tracks, just a total out of body experience hearing her interpretation of the track. It’s such a beautiful song. A real high point of the whole record.

In addition, the band has been known for supporting food banks and charity. Do you have any plans or live shows to support any charities at all and if so, what are they and which charity will you be supporting?

Yeah, we want to keep on with the foodbank donations. We donate the food we collect to the area that we’re playing, so we are trying to help as many areas as possible by being in the position of being in several different areas within a short period of time. We aren’t stowing the food and then bringing it all home. Well, maybe a pack of Jaffa Cakes. Ha ha, only joking. Or am I? 😃

We’ve also donated some rare copies of the new album sleeve into charity shops across the country, where people can go in and donate to the charity and then get the new album sleeve with a link to stream some new tracks as well as a physical copy of our old album on vinyl.

What makes Scarlet Rebels happy and what makes you unhappy?

Playing live makes us happy, making that connection with an audience is the best feeling in the world. What makes us unhappy? Listening to the people who run our country lie, backpedal and gaslight us into trying to divert our attentions away from what’s going on and what they’ve caused. Oh, and football. Football makes me unhappy quite often.