The Red Threat

The Red Threat’s video for Burning Hearts, another tune about a rocky relationship, features the local punks performing in and around some dangling light bulbs. (Posted below.)

The six-piece outfit will open for Ten Second Epic and The Dangerous Summer on Saturday, April 14 at Avenue Theatre. Tickets are $16.50 plus service charges at yeglive.ca. - The Edmonton Journal

music video release - Neck Deep Media

Music Video Release - Stiched Sound

Music Video Release - Dying Scene

Most bands starting in junior high don’t last long, nevermind be recognized at award shows or played on major metropolitan radio stations.

Perhaps Edmonton’s The Red Threat just aren’t your typical band.

Since the days of junior high, the band, which has been operating seriously for the last two years, has surely grown up.


“The Red Threat was something that basically started back when we were actually in junior high,” says guitarist Evan Watson.

Of the members taking part in the earlier group are three of the current members of The Red Threat we see today, including recently added drummer, John Clarkin.

“We just had a really good time obviously in junior high playing the music that we were and we wanted to kind of keep that same passion towards music,” says Watson.

“(The music) was just kind of unadultered and we weren’t really trying to find any sort of specific goal with it. We just wanted to play because it was fun, so we just decided to name ourselves that exact same thing and keep that same sort of momentum.”

The Red Threat is prepping for its upcoming cross-Canada tour, one that kicks off right here at Edmonton’s Avenue Theatre on Friday.

The Red Threat will share the stage with local bands Submerge the Sky and Greater Than Giants.

“The lineup that we have at this show is a very solid lineup and one of the best local lineups I’ve actually had the pleaseure of going to see,” says Watson.

The band, whose popularity has no doubt been heightened since being crowned Sonic 102.9 FM’s Band of the Month in March, is eager to make a name for itself across the country, something Watson says Sonic has helped the band with.

“It was a really, really big honour to be recognized under that guise. It’s something that we’ve wanted to be working towards for a while now,” says Watson.

Not only was the band recognized as Band of the Month, but the band was awarded the Peoples Choice Award at this years’ Edmonton Music Awards, something that highlighted the local fan base the band has been able to attract.

All of these accomplishments are welcome attention for the band, who is eagerly pursuing record deals and is itching to get signed.

“Right now, our main concern is just trying to get management and try and get label representation and we’re hoping to kind of use (our) demos to show, you know, this is what we’re capable of,” says Watson.

Some of the demos include tracks from the album Trees, which dropped in October of 2010.

“When we released Trees, it was one of those albums that we really wanted to use as a showcase for what we’re capable of, both musically, and also really what we wanted to do as a band and what we sort of wanted to pursue,” says Watson.

When touring for the album, he noted seeing “kids from cities we’ve never been to singing along with us so that was a great feeling.”

Needless to say, the band has received positive feedback from that album. It isn’t yet known when fans can expect another album from The Red Threat, according to Watson.

“We want to make sure that our writing style is just as natural and as unadultured as possible,” he explains. “We were thinking to set up dates and sort of keep ourselves to a strict timeline because that’s what we did with Trees, but we’ve slowly kind of started to realize that if we let things fall into place, they kind of work themselves out,” he says.

With the recent drummer change, the band wants to stay focussed and ensure that it puts out the highest-quality work it can.

“We’ve picked up this new drummer over the last little while and we’ve just really been working on our craft and honing it down to the point where we’re super proud of it,” says Watson. “I truthfully feel that this is the tightest we’ve ever been as a band, both musically and what we want to do with our music.”

The tour kickoff at Avenue Theatre is sure to please, as is every live performance with The Red Threat.

“We try to really connect with the audience that we’re playing the songs to. Lyrically, we try to always speak from a point of view that can kind of hit anybody at any point in there life and in any situation that they’re at in their life, so when we play our music, we want to do it less as sort of a showcase of what we’re doing and more of kind of a musical conversation with our audience,” says Watson.

“We try to keep it really high energy and just keep it as passionate as possible and try to do the songs justice as far as playing them just as honestly and truthfully as we wrote them,” he adds.

Be sure to check out The Red Threat as it takes the stage at Avenue Theatre on April 22 and sets out to conquer the rest of Canada. Tickets are $12 at the door. - Plugged in Edmonton

Often bands will treat these words as a recipe – a list of commands to follow as law. Other times, bands will treat these words as stepping stones – a fixed arrangement of properties that require chronological completion.

Allow me to introduce The Red Threat, a band whose sole purpose is to defy this methodological norm and treat these words not as instructions, but as a lifestyle. Hailing from Sherwood Park Alberta with an average age of only 18 years old, The Red Threat seeks to convince anyone who will listen that they are musically mature beyond their years. Their eclectic collection of influences (both musical and social) is only superceeded by their relentless and undying devotion to continuously create and grow.

The Red Threat release their debut EP “A Collaboration of Sharps and Flats” in November 2009 with the goal of making their songs available to anyone who will listen. Stay tuned … this has only just begun. - Vanmusic.ca

"Searching for Signals" performance on Balcony TV. - Balcony TV

Press on Sonic 102.9 - Sonic 102.9

Vue Magazine Press - Vue Magazine

"On the main stage, Edmonton’s The Red Threat got a circle pit going early on in the day.

The fast rising former Sonic 102.9 band of the month delivered an emotionally charged set as the lead singer wished “mother Canada” a happy birthday.

A group of fans chanted the band's name as the group left the stage." - The Edmonton Sun

"Searching for Signals" acoustic performance on City TV's "Breakfast Television" - City TV

Announcement of "People's Choice Award" win at 2011 Edmonton Music Awards - Edmonton Music Awards

In studio performance of the single "Searching for Signals". - Sonic 102.9

Punkradiocast Interview 2009 - Punkradiocast.com