Hitting the busy streets of Los Angeles in a tour bus without a road map will either destroy a band or create a bond and trust that will last forever. That is exactly what Anthony Salce (Lead Vocals/Guitar) Ryan Di Cecco (Bass), Adrian Perri (Keys/Vocals) and Joe Torrz (Drums) did in 2008, and as a result, have become a strong hardworking unit.
The band was formed several years ago by Anthony and Adrian, who met in high school. Like most bands, the line up has changed drastically since the beginning: Ryan joined in 2006, after Adrian called one of his lectures at Box Hill Institute of Music in Melbourne, asking if he knew of any bass players looking for a gig. 2008 saw the addition of Joe, who not only brought great drumming but also a great business sense. 2008 saw Skarlet Blue embark on their first 5 week USA tour.
The touring together definitely tested our friendship and whether or not we would sink or swim as a band. There are always problems on tour, especially when you’re in a different country and independent, so how you deal with them as a group will determine each person’s character – and, trust me, we had some major issues…but we pulled through,” says Anthony.
Since then Skarlet Blue have played a host of sold out headline shows around Melbourne as well as an impressive number of supports for national and international acts from Thirsty Merc to Sweet. The style of music Skarlet Blue produced at this time was guitar-driven 70’s rock-‘n’-roll combined with an energetic live show. This was very much suited to the LA rock scene, so the boys embarked on another tour of the USA. Mid way through 2009 Skarlet Blue had come to a crossroad - they could either: a) Make a permanent move to Los Angeles and pursue their musical endeavours with their current brand of music; or b) Re-brand themselves for the Australian music scene, working closely with potential management, to build a new act. The boys chose the latter and have since scrapped their entire catalogue of songs, blocked their websites, deleted all the photos and put the leather pants and bandanas back in the cupboard.
“The new image is less LA rock and more universal. As for the songs, well, the whole approach to song writing techniques and where we are focusing our attention has completely altered. The way we play our instruments is much more sensitive to the melody and lyrics now”, says Ryan. This change has produced Skarlet Blue’s debut EP titled ‘Simple Shades of Grey’ featuring five songs recorded at The Base Studios in South Melbourne engineered by Phil Threlfall, produced by Sam Panetta and mixed in LA by Andy Ellis. The release will be backed by a host of national tours beginning late March 2010. Chupa Chup has since used one of the tracks for an online promotional video.
When asked what they expect from the new EP, Ryan replies, “Definitely something different from Skarlet Blue that people won’t expect from us. We all have a very positive feeling that our new sound will capture the listener’s attention, and they will be able to take something away from the music we spent time crafting.”
‘Simple Shades of Grey’ debuted on the physical singles ARIA charts at #2 and has remained in the top 20 for 3 consecutive weeks. As well as charting in the top 20 of the AIR charts.
