With “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed)” out now, we took some time to hear from Red Tree Religion. Read below to learn more about Red Tree Religion, the story behind “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed),” and what’s to come.
Hi! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?
Hi there! We could troll here and start talking about secret and mystical Satan churches and things like that, which would sound catchier! But, the answer is simpler and less mysterious! It comes from combination of three of our favorite bands of all times: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Porcupine Tree and Bad Religion! Someone would argue that these three bands share totally different music styles and genres and this is true. But also our music, although based on funky rock, it combines lots of other influences!
What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?
We come from Greece, Attica region and more specifically from the city of Piraeus. Piraeus is the harbor of Athens with a great local cultural history, including also underground subcultures.
When and how did the band form?
We formed in the early 2010s. That was when Greg, our bass player, after having played in various bands, he wanted to try some music ideas that he had in his mind. Lots of friends joined this effort and continue to join with several alterations until now. Greg took over the vocals too! In fact, no one has ever left or re-joined the band. We are just a group of friends experimenting in any lunatic idea that comes to Greg’s mind!!!
How would you all describe your band’s sound to readers who may not be familiar with you all?
Our self-definition of our sound is funky-rock. Funky not just funk rock! We prefer this term as we believe it fits with the fact that we like to experiment and include various influences on our music, from classical music to ethnic. We also have a strong punk-rock music influence and attitude that sometimes reaches the borders of Oi; like in the songs “DIY” and “Drinkin’ All Night” from our previous EP, Quick’n’Dirty.
Who are some of your group’s main musical influences?
There has been a strong influence of bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More and Living Color. We also love Bad Religion and Porcupine Tree as described above! But further to that there are various influences ranging from Deep Purple (Roger Glover has ruined Greg’s life!!!) to Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and from J.S. Bach to Greek traditional music.
What’s one of the proudest moments of your band’s music career so far?
Definitely, when we recorded live at the studio of ERT, the Greek Radio Television. It is a so prominent and professional studio, the sound engineer, Kostis Giannakopoulos, is among the best in Europe, having also a strong family tradition on this. In the recording room, there were the instruments of a classical orchestra, which also rehearses there. Last but not least, this institute was developed by Manos Hadjidakis, the world-renown Greek composer, and we could feel his spirit all around. It was a unique experience!
What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?
Lesson number 1: Make always the right choices!
Lesson number 2: You can’t always make the rights choices, you gotta live with this!
Lesson number 3: Never give up!
Now onto “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed).” What inspired this song? What is “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed)” about?
This song derived from a bass riff that was kind of a variation of the main bass riff in Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues.” Apart from that during the last couple of years there has been a lot of social turbulence in Greece, in response to extended corruption and state decline, with riots, demonstrations and clashes with the police. That inspired some Rage Against the Machine and Gill Scot Heron influences to come in and start to form the song. We have highly our political eyes on Chiapas and the Zapatistas, this is how the Spanish lyrics were added. Elissavet Karamichail, a great vocalist and founding member of the Greek street activist big band, Open Orchestra, was the perfect match to perform the Spanish lyrics part.
What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed)?”
We always like to combine colors inspired from Jamaica and all the Bob Marley’s kind of thing, or alike. The song is itself revolutionary, so the fists were natural to be there. Afterwords, we thought that it also reminds the colors of Rojava which is also in our political interests. Rojava now defends itself and we deeply wish that they can stand up.
What was the creative process like when making ”Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed)?” How long did it take to complete “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed)?”
It was quite loose and experimental. It did not have much pressure. We recorded many basslines – as you might have seen there is no guitar! – which afterwords we had to clean up. That was with the co-operation of Vassilis Karagiannis, who is always great fun to work with! In total it took about six months, including the mix by Lazaros Karagiannis and mastering by Yiannis Christodoulatos (Sweetspot Productions), both of them great friends and collaborators since years.
What do you all hope fans take away from “Libertad (Revolution Has Not Failed)” and your band’s music in general?
We hope that they will get groove and raw power. Apart from that, to be inspired that our life on this planet has not been easy at all. We need to do something about that.
What’s next for you all? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
For the moment, no shows. After the COVID-19 era, there were no live gigs from our end. But, we already entered the studio to record some new material. We have in our immediate plans, recordings and some new single releases. After we finish with that, we will consider live shows.
Where can we follow you all on social media?
Band’s website: https://redtreereligion.com
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@redtreereligion-official2915
Bandcamp: https://redtreereligion.bandcamp.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/redtreereligion
Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4SUX9zJI3bTFmvBTwtXC0I
ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/redtreereligion
Any parting words?
Just one message! Peace, Love and Solidarity! No more war, no more dead people, no more dead children!
Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!
