We might be living in the 21st Century, but musically speaking we still live in the shadow of the mid-1900s. Little Red's understanding of this is perhaps the key to their success. Wildly successful in their native Australia, Little Red synthesizes doo-wop and 60s-style rock grooves with just enough of a modern sensibility to give it a little kick—but not so much newfangled riffing as to constitute an effort to fix what isn't broken. Whether the U.S. will come to appreciate the band's ongoing homage to our musical heritage remains to be seen, as their debut album was all but entirely ignored on this side of the ocean, but perhaps their sophomore album Midnight Remember—which was recently released Stateside—will finally be able to make music lovers the country over sit up and pay attention. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the band's frontman, Dominic Byrne, about their genesis as a band; their time in New York; and their love of good old-fashioned rock'n'roll.Hi, is this Dom? How are you?
Yeah. I’m good, I’m good, how are you? I’m actually going through the New Jersey tunnel right now, the New Jersey Turnpike. I don’t know if the reception might cut out. Anyway, how’s it going?
It’s going well. How about you—enjoying beautiful, scenic New Jersey?
Uh, well, we’re not there just yet, but I’m looking forward to passing through it. We’re on our way to Philly; we just came from New York. I’ll see what I can see when I go through there.
I hope you didn’t tell anyone in New York that you’d be heading through Jersey.
Yeah, I’ve already found out that people in New York don’t like being told they have anything in common with New Jersey. They get quite offended, actually.
Yeah. [LAUGHS] Other than that, how was your time in New York?
Really great. It’s I guess my favorite city in the world. We played a few shows, took the train. I went out to Coney Island; that was really incredible. But, yeah, it was fun. I’m actually sorry to leave it, but I guess there are more cities to get to.
Good on you for making it out to Coney Island. Most people skip Brooklyn when they go to New York.
Yeah, well, they’re missing out. [LAUGHS] It’s a pretty unique kind of place. Okay, see, that wasn’t the Turnpike we were in; that was the tunnel. But, yeah, Coney Island, it’s pretty eerie, pretty run-down, kind of. It’s such a beautiful place.
I’d like to hear about how Little Red was formed.
Well, uh, when we got together, most of us had other bands and none of them were really going. They were on hiatus. So, um, we just wanted to do a lot of Beach Boys, rock, a lot of Beatles, stuff like that, and I kind of wanted really to do, like, sixties harmony because I really like harmony groups. Fortunately I knew three of the other guys, and we got together by night and started doing some harmonies, and it felt really good. [LAUGHS] That was pretty much the beginning of it, and then we got a drummer whom one of us had met at a party, and I guess that’s more or less our story.
I was wondering whether you had any modern influences, because the doo-wop sound you guys have isn’t one you hear a lot nowadays.
I mean, I wasn’t born in the 40s or anything, so I was aware of newer stuff, but I was more into older stuff. Like, I had the Golden Oldies station, and so I knew the classics. But in my time I listened to more of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead—they’re one of the best modern bands, I still reckon. But when we were making the band I would listen to the radio, to the oldies station, and I would hear the Beatles, the Beach Boys, all that old rock, and I was smoking a lot of pot and I forgot that it was 2006. [LAUGHS] Then it kind of came out that on our last record it was more of a modern, it wasn’t so typically doo-wop and rock-and-roll; we’re a little bit more modern now. I do have modern influences, like Radiohead, and I think the Strokes is something we all like. I like the Shins. Yeah, there’s a lot out there, but I don’t know how it changes the influence when we’re writing songs.
Well, one of your first singles was a very retro, almost a Coca-Cola jingle. You can’t get more throwback than that.
Yeah, we can go forward more, that’s true. But we can go back; we can do just about anything. We could do big band or maybe ragtime piano. [LAUGHS] Or we could be like some of the really old retro bands and have a guy with a triangle and such.
I remember noticing the temporal difference from the first record to the second record that you mentioned, and I was wondering if you were deliberately trying to bring more of a modern sound to it or whether that just developed.
It all sort of changed kind of quietly, both consciously and unconsciously. It was just what we felt like doing, really. [LAUGHS] I don’t know, I never cared about being a niche band; maybe it was limiting. It might have been limiting to us to be doing too much of that stuff, and I wanted to be unlimited.
Midnight Remember is out now.
Yeah. I’m good, I’m good, how are you? I’m actually going through the New Jersey tunnel right now, the New Jersey Turnpike. I don’t know if the reception might cut out. Anyway, how’s it going?
It’s going well. How about you—enjoying beautiful, scenic New Jersey?
Uh, well, we’re not there just yet, but I’m looking forward to passing through it. We’re on our way to Philly; we just came from New York. I’ll see what I can see when I go through there.
I hope you didn’t tell anyone in New York that you’d be heading through Jersey.
Yeah, I’ve already found out that people in New York don’t like being told they have anything in common with New Jersey. They get quite offended, actually.
Yeah. [LAUGHS] Other than that, how was your time in New York?
Really great. It’s I guess my favorite city in the world. We played a few shows, took the train. I went out to Coney Island; that was really incredible. But, yeah, it was fun. I’m actually sorry to leave it, but I guess there are more cities to get to.
Good on you for making it out to Coney Island. Most people skip Brooklyn when they go to New York.
Yeah, well, they’re missing out. [LAUGHS] It’s a pretty unique kind of place. Okay, see, that wasn’t the Turnpike we were in; that was the tunnel. But, yeah, Coney Island, it’s pretty eerie, pretty run-down, kind of. It’s such a beautiful place.
I’d like to hear about how Little Red was formed.
Well, uh, when we got together, most of us had other bands and none of them were really going. They were on hiatus. So, um, we just wanted to do a lot of Beach Boys, rock, a lot of Beatles, stuff like that, and I kind of wanted really to do, like, sixties harmony because I really like harmony groups. Fortunately I knew three of the other guys, and we got together by night and started doing some harmonies, and it felt really good. [LAUGHS] That was pretty much the beginning of it, and then we got a drummer whom one of us had met at a party, and I guess that’s more or less our story.
I was wondering whether you had any modern influences, because the doo-wop sound you guys have isn’t one you hear a lot nowadays.
I mean, I wasn’t born in the 40s or anything, so I was aware of newer stuff, but I was more into older stuff. Like, I had the Golden Oldies station, and so I knew the classics. But in my time I listened to more of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead—they’re one of the best modern bands, I still reckon. But when we were making the band I would listen to the radio, to the oldies station, and I would hear the Beatles, the Beach Boys, all that old rock, and I was smoking a lot of pot and I forgot that it was 2006. [LAUGHS] Then it kind of came out that on our last record it was more of a modern, it wasn’t so typically doo-wop and rock-and-roll; we’re a little bit more modern now. I do have modern influences, like Radiohead, and I think the Strokes is something we all like. I like the Shins. Yeah, there’s a lot out there, but I don’t know how it changes the influence when we’re writing songs.
Well, one of your first singles was a very retro, almost a Coca-Cola jingle. You can’t get more throwback than that.
Yeah, we can go forward more, that’s true. But we can go back; we can do just about anything. We could do big band or maybe ragtime piano. [LAUGHS] Or we could be like some of the really old retro bands and have a guy with a triangle and such.
I remember noticing the temporal difference from the first record to the second record that you mentioned, and I was wondering if you were deliberately trying to bring more of a modern sound to it or whether that just developed.
It all sort of changed kind of quietly, both consciously and unconsciously. It was just what we felt like doing, really. [LAUGHS] I don’t know, I never cared about being a niche band; maybe it was limiting. It might have been limiting to us to be doing too much of that stuff, and I wanted to be unlimited.
Midnight Remember is out now.
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