INTERVIEW: Zach Davidson of Vendetta Red
If the name Vendetta Red sounds familiar to you, you may have remembered their breakout track, “Shatterday”, which brought the band national attention, and attracted airplay from both MTV and Fuse at the time. The song was also featured in NHL 2004, which helped introduce the band to an even bigger audience. Over the past two decades, the band has seen its share of highs and lows, and are gearing up for a resurgence with a new album in 2017. We talked to frontman Zach Davidson about the state of the band and where things are going:
B&E: I, like many people, remember you from the success of the song “Shatterday”. How has Vendetta Red evolved since then?
Davidson: Vendetta Red has evolved in many forms. Namely, Vendetta Red is currently sprouting horns from the middle of its forehead, a pointy tale from its hind quarters, and wings on its back, as well as six inch claws and three inch fangs, which should enable it to fly faster and take down more aggressive and elusive prey in the wild. But in all seriousness, we have all become much better musicians, and it’s important to always try to do better, and to give back, and to be grateful, which we all are.
B&E: Is there frustration when people treat the band like one-hit wonders, or do you get to embrace that time period a little bit?
Davidson: We are simply grateful and thrilled when people like our music, so it doesn’t really matter to us.
B&E: How does it feel to make the move to Cleopatra Records?
Davidson: It feels wonderful that at this stage of our career, people still believe in us and want to help us make music, and help us reach as many people as we can. Cleopatra is a fantastic label, and we are really really proud to be a part of their roster.
B&E: What’s one thing bands can learn from your experience of being on a big label, and going through that process?
Davidson: Have as much fun as humanly possible, go fucking crazy, stay up all night, meet as many amazing people as you can, try new drugs, new positions, new food, new songs, new chord progressions, and just enjoy yourself because it can all go away in a fucking heartbeat.
B&E: How would you describe working on new material as a band for the first time in a while?
Davidson: We are all incredibly creative and prolific at the moment, so the songs just keep coming out of us. What we really need to do now is start focusing on the arrangements and narrowing things down. We’re at 14 songs complete as of now, with more still in the works.
B&E: Lastly, when can we expect to hear some new music?
Davidson: I’m hoping to have the whole album wrapped up with a pretty little pink bow on it by April, but it might turn into a double album for fucksake. Let’s plan on early this year.
