What’s going on with your music at the moment? We’re in the final stages of [recording] our sophomore album Commercial Break with Label X/Toucan Cove. We’re doing post production and hope to get into the mixing and mastering sometime in the middle of May. We were hoping to get all this done by the end of last year. We’re working with a new production team which is DJ K-Dogg and Scott “SC” Crum. When we first went in the studio we had one type of sound and then as it evolved we saw where this whole thing could go. In the middle of last year we created a whole new batch of songs and took it in the direction where it’s going now. I hate to set deadlines on it, but it’s in the finishing stages. Why do you think your music is so diverse? It comes from the background that each one of us in the group has. We’re different ages; there’s different nationalities; we’re from different parts of the country. When we first came together, we came from that whole underground movement of ciphers and emceeing. We all had this eclectic, diverse musical taste and when we came together we brought out all of our backgrounds to the table and moshed it up. Unlike some other groups that get in the studio and have one dominating force that drives the direction, we actually all have equal input. On each song you’ll get a little bit of Jr. Dread, El One, Manfred, and then you got the producers that solidify the whole vision. We try to make it as organic as possible and go back and listen to a song and refine it. And hopefully when it comes out it’s all Code Red. Who decides what songs get pushed and released on the album? On the first album, probably to a fault, it was mostly us. Even though we had major distribution, our label gave us a lot of leeway creatively as far as A&Ring the album. We did have input from a radio station, but if we put up a fight they let us have the winning hand. On the second album, I think the label is going to have a bigger hand in A&Ring and song selection and what goes to radio. Because we had such an eclectic mix of songs on the album, I think we kinda messed up the whole marketing scheme. It was hard to place us. Now they’ve seen what people are gravitating towards and it helps guide us along this time. What are some of the marketing techniques you’re planning to use on the second album? We’re taking a couple of steps back to take many steps forward. We’re starting all over again to rebuild our grassroots campaign. We did a lot of college tours last year and now we’re going to hit a lot more intimate setting
venues. We want to get more in people’s faces and utilize the web super heavy. We also have a lot of established relationships in the corporate world. We did a lot of stuff with ESPN and we have a really good publicist that’s gotten us placement on TV shows. We’re gonna try to carve a niche in that area – pop up on TV programs, get on some soundtracks, hit the web, tour as much as possible. It seems like Code Red would do well overseas. Do you have a fan base in other countries? Our label head at Label X flew over to Germany to talk about getting overseas placement. The deal didn’t go through but that’s something we’re very interested in. We also just got signed into the U.S.O. program for the armed forces. We’re looking to do a tour overseas this year for the troops. Dread and I are veterans so it would make sense for us to do that. What is the missing piece that would get you to that next level? We sat back and evaluated what was the missing link, like we did this and that so why is it not connecting? That’s when we decided to go back to what we were doing in ’98. We’re not going to turn down offers for shows. We’re traveling as much as possible. If the label doesn’t provide tour support, we’re going to try to do it ourselves. We’re going to get in front of people because our live show is a strong thing for us. When we found out Universal was putting the first album out, we thought they would do a lot of stuff. It’s not that easy and we shoulda kept grinding. Now we got to reestablish the name and let people know we can take it to the pop charts, to the underground, to the streets. We’re not gonna be too good to show up to your spot or collaborate with people. Will you guys be anywhere during the Derby? There’s a teenage event we did last year called Illumination Derby Ball on Oaks Night. We might do that again on Friday. On Saturday we’ll just be kicking it with the rest of the people. What else do you have going on? We found a niche in the sports market. We do stuff for NFL teams and MLB. Chicago Bears had us on WGN and we made their NFC Champion video disc. For all of our Chicago fans, we’re performing at the Bears’ convention June 6th and 7th. We kinda infiltrated the sports market and everybody has been coming at us for sports songs. // Website: myspace.com/coderedmusic Words: Ms. Rivercity