{"id":1026,"date":"2012-02-24T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/wholenotes\/?p=1026"},"modified":"2012-02-24T02:55:25","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T07:55:25","slug":"a-conversation-with-red-guitarist-anthony-armstrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/2012\/02\/a-conversation-with-red-guitarist-anthony-armstrong.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with RED guitarist Anthony Armstrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There once was a time when Christian rock bands could only hope to aspire a certain level of success before leveling out. And even then, it was a matter of maintaining, not expanding, its fan base. Thankfully, bands like P.O.D., Switchfoot, MxPx, Relient K, Thousand Foot Krutch and Skillet have proven that the previous model can be shattered.<\/p>\n

Hard rock outfit RED certainly can attest to this new reality. Consisting of equal parts melodic and edgy, the band is a mainstay in the Christian market (charting 13 #1 songs on Christian rock radio), but has also seen significant chart success in the mainstream rock realm with hit songs like \u201cDeath of Me,\u201d \u201cAlready Over,\u201d and \u201cBreathe Into Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whole Notes recently caught up with lead guitarist Anthony Armstrong (and twin brother of bass player Randy Armstrong) to talk about, among other things the band\u2019s meteoric rise, why music videos are an important aspect of their career, and what they learned about P.O.D. while out on tour last year:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: When I first saw you guys play, it was a showcase in Nashville with Leeland and Day of Fire and my first thought was, \u201cThis band could be a big deal.\u201d But you just never know anymore.<\/p>\n

Anthony Armstrong: It\u2019s crazy how it works. There are a lot of great bands out there that don\u2019t ever make it.<\/p>\n

Bonham: When you look back to those earliest days, was there any anticipation that you\u2019d have so many big hits on both Christian and mainstream radio and be selling a lot of records to both markets?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Armstrong: You definitely can\u2019t predict it. Back then we were so green and young and we had no clue what it was going to be like. So going into it, we just had to have a lot of confidence in ourselves. But we knew it was going to be an uphill climb because we had never toured before. We had no fans. We just came out of the gates running. We tried to concentrate on playing as many shows as we possibly could and in a lot of ways we honed our band on stage in front of people rather than perfecting it in the studio. It was like a rocket ship in the beginning. We got on good tours and got in with the right people and I think the timing was great with what people were ready to hear and what they were looking for at the time. We earned a lot of respect in that way, but we just remained humble and did our job and got out of everybody\u2019s way and got invited back. A lot of bands learn that the hard way, especially nowadays. People don\u2019t sign those big record deals anymore. They don\u2019t sign $10 million record deals and then not have to do anything for themselves. Bands have to do everything for themselves now. So when you see a band in a van with a trailer, that\u2019s what it takes to get to the point where you can own your own rig and tour the country out on the road. That\u2019s what we did.<\/p>\n

Bonham: In a time when music videos don\u2019t seem to be a priority for record labels, why have you guys put so much effort into the production of music videos for songs like \u201cDeath of Me\u201d and \u201cFeed The Machine?\u201d<\/p>\n

Armstrong: It\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s a lot of fun. We watched the VMA\u2019s a while back and we were asking ourselves, \u201cWhat happened to music? At what point did it all go south?\u201d Videos don\u2019t matter anymore and videos used to launch bands into a new category. MTV doesn\u2019t play videos anymore and there aren\u2019t a lot of outlets for videos. There used to be rules. They had to be three minutes long. You had to cut the song up a little bit to get it all into the video. But we just wanted to make the videos we wanted to make. With \u201cFeed The Machine,\u201d we wanted to make it story, almost like a mini movie. We wanted to make it even longer, like 30 minutes long, but with budgets and time constraints we couldn\u2019t do it. But we just don\u2019t want to stay inside that box. You can\u2019t nowadays. You\u2019ve got to find new and interesting ways to get people\u2019s attention. Now people are downloading music and burning records. You\u2019re not buying anything, so bands have to go back to the drawing board with their live shows and with everything they do production wise. Anybody can burn a record, but can they see a live show that\u2019s interesting and exciting so they\u2019ll want to come back? That\u2019s the majority of what we do. How we make our living is through touring and playing shows. That\u2019s why we\u2019re as busy as we are. The first three years, we did 300 shows a year. We just don\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n