The Red Paintings

Trash McSweeney, lead guitarist and vocalist of Brisbane band ‘The Red Paintings’, chats to me about The Uprising of the Robots Tour, the dangers of signing up to a record label and the Virgin Mary.

“In my head I see colours and music as one thing,” Trash McSweeney explains. “You go to a Red Paintings show and you hear the music, you see the visuals, you smell something different. The Red Paintings show as you see it is basically my bedroom. I collect geisha dolls and toy robots. We spent a lot of time putting these shows together and it all just became this big theatrical show”. If ever there was a band to effectively combine art and music together to create one distinctive sound, it would be the Red Paintings. Watching the Red Paintings play live is unlike anything you have ever seen before- the impeccable blend of orchestral rock and art leaves the audience with an entirely new perception of art and creativity in itself. The Red Paintings are Trash McSweeney (Vocals, Guitar, Sequencing & Samples), Ellen Stancombe (Violin, Tin Whistle, Vocals), Wayne Jennings (Cello, Vocals), Amanda Holmes (Bass), and Andy Davis (Drums).The Red Paintings captivating live performances show the band members dressed as geisha’s, while giant robots overtake the side of the stage. Meanwhile massive projectors display disconcerting collages of images in the background and human canvases accumulate the stage. These are just a few things that you will see besides watching the band itself. When their latest EP release ‘Destroy the Robots’ hit stores in May 2006, The Red Paintings embarked on a Destroy the Robots Trilogy Tour, where the band successfully took their love for visual metaphors to the next level. The Red Paintings marched through major cities and towns throughout Australia dressed as giant tin robots to an audience of thousands. The robot march was unannounced, and caused quite a stir, bringing forth lots of police officers, but in turn giving the band some publicity before their shows in the towns. But what does the robot represent? “The robot is a metaphor for people in general being brainwashed,” Trash explains. “People that have lots of money have a lot of power. I see those people as robots”. After making a commotion with the national robot marches, it seemed only natural that the band continued to promote their upcoming shows in the same fashion, by taking their robot march to Parliament house. “We are doing our last robot march at Parliament House when we hit Canberra in August” Trash told me. “We are going to blow the robots up out the front of Parliament House to say ‘This is where the Uprising of the Robots tour ends and where the Destroy the Robots tour begins’. Lets hope I don’t get shot in the head!” Thankfully, he didn’t. Due to creative differences, the Red Paintings decided to part ways with previous label Modern Music/Sony BMG. Although Trash couldn’t speak much on the topic, the video clip for the song ‘Pickles’ is a clear parody of the split from the label. Trash describes the consequences it had on the band. “We were told to be silent, so I just came out with it visually to explain what happened. The lyrics for that song were perfect because the band was in a f@#king pickle!” “Young bands really need to look out for themselves because you can get screwed”. Trash warns. “That’s why we went independent again. We were like ‘what’s the point? You lose your creativity which is the most important thing to you, and you don’t end up with a f@#king cent!” Parting ways with their previous label has come at a cost, as the band now needs to come up with the money to record a new album. “The negative side to it is how do you put together albums that are epic without the funds? That’s where we’re stuck because we can’t record an album unless we’ve got the funds to do it. And it’s not fair to raise ticket prices. A lot of kids can’t afford to go to concerts and charging $60 a ticket is just ridiculous”. One thing that you will notice accompanying the Red Paintings along the tour is the Virgin Mary. She has attended many of the bands shows and made an appearance at the Big Day Out. Trash explains his obsession. “What a lot of people don’t understand about The Red Paintings is that there is always an image used as a metaphor for the music. I was trying to chase purity in my music instrumentally and lyrically, and I just really connected with the image of the Virgin Mary. So what should we expect to see in Part Two of the Robot Trilogy Tour? “The next show is going to be like nothing we’ve ever done before”, Trash says. “We’ve made things more crazier. This tour is going to be more about colour where the last tour was about numbers”. “I’m in my rehearsal room right now and I’m looking at this huge crucifix with these android robots on them with all their skin peeling off.” Trash describes the show further, “At the moment I’m creating what I believe is the best projection I have ever come up with- it’s got this guy that starts evolving into a robot. We’re having human canvases everywhere where people get painted.. it’s going to be like walking into a circus and not having to pay $60 to get in”.