Interview with Scarlet Avenue: Achieving Dreams

10 years in the making, Scarlet Avenue has finally attained every musician’s goal: releasing their own album. The local duo’s first album, 2024, will land in March this year (psst, you can however, preorder it now on ITunes), 2 years after their first EP, Happy Heartbreak.

With a tour under their belt and perhaps another soon, alongside numerous performances in schools and institutions, what lies ahead for the brothers? Scarlet Avenue answers some of our burning questions in an interview after they serenaded us during their cafe hop.

1. What did Scarlet Avenue do in 2015?

Amos: Last year we *laughs* had our concert, our first

Adam: Last year we released Paper Planes, the single, in March

Amos: yeah, right after Lighthouse. And straight after Lighthouse, we had our own concert.

Adam: And we went to the Philippines! We went on 1 big tour, we had our concert there and we visited radio and TV stations. Last year was in Bacolod, the previous year we went over to Manila for an interview. This year, we’re planning to tour Manila. at least maybe 4 places?

Editor: That sounds hella tiring.

Adam: Very. That one week (in Bacolod) was really tiring. It was sing, rehearse, sound check, hotel. Sing, hotel, wake up, exercise. Eat, sleep, music and repeat. But we’re grateful that all these doors opened for us. We never knew we could do this.

Amos: We never knew we could work so hard for music!

Adam: Yeah, which was our dream: to work hard in music.

Amos: Last year, we also did a lot of school tours: we visited many different tertiary schools and secondary schools. I think 20 over schools.

Adam: We just had this idea to start playing in schools. We just thought it’ll be cool.

Amos: also because we wanted to do our best in the music industry, to inspire the youths to support local.

Adam: We just wrote into some schools. We had this momentum going on and the schools kept calling.

2. Where did you both start wanting to do music?

Adam: Ever since we first started playing the guitar. The moment we touched it, we never let it down.

Editor: We know why Amos picked the guitar up since big brother did it but what made Adam want to play the guitar?

Amos: Ever since young, I’ve been fascinated by the guitar sound. I always asked my dad but he didn’t want me to pick it up. But I was too young: hands were too small! But what happened was when we were in France, we grew older and we had a lot of holidays and my dad asked if I wanted to pick something up. Yes, I wanted to pick up the guitar.

Adam: I think I was there when my dad asked that questions so that’s how I got it too.

Amos: We had our first concert there, because we were in a music school. It was kinda just us, as guitarists, performing. So when we saw the crowd, it’s when we figured: this is what we want to do.

3. As said, this album is 10 years in the making, how much did your years in France impact the album?

Amos: A lot.

Adam: The album is a mixture of not really the country but of our experiences, from France to Singapore. It’s a collective of what we’ve been through.

Amos: Growing up in France, it’s where we first started music, firstly. Secondly, it’s the music we listened to: it was very old. Songs from bands like Guns and Roses. It was the exposure to music (of course, we listened to French music too). Growing up listening to all these songs, I think it helped us in writing our songs, the melody, the lyrics…

Adam: the vibe

Amos: Yeah! And a lot of our experiences were also in France. Like *laughs* relationships, I mean, a majority of songs are about love; life. It was an eye-opener there. Coming back to Singapore, it was another eye-opener too.

Editor: Perhaps mild disappointment too?

Amos: *Laughs* Nah, Singapore is great too!

4. Who are your favourite artistes? If you had to pick 3 to collaborate with?

Amos: Right now, I listen to a lot of One Direction. I’m a big One Direction fan (Directioners, pay attention!). I love One Direction! I mean, we grew up listening to punk rock, classic rock…umm…now the blues, John Mayer…

Adam: Indie. Quite a wide spectrum.

Amos: Adam has grown a lot actually, now that he’s studying in La Salle: the exposure is greater!

Editor: Is it part of your coursework?

Adam: No. It’s just that you’re always searching for new sounds so the only way is to be exposed to a wider genre of music. So I fell in love with the blues, indie, even electronic music. It’s an ongoing search to discover more music.

Amos: If its artistes from anywhere, you’ll need a lot of paper man.

Adam: Arctic Monkeys, John Mayer and uh…

Amos: For me, it’s One Direction. I just want to sing a song with them! James Bay, I love him a lot. And uh, Bon Jovi.

Editor: How about someone local. If you had to pick just one?

Adam: I would say Charlie Lim.

Amos: I’d go with Joel (Gentle Bones). I like his songs.

5. How is Scarlet Avenue’s songwriting process?

Adam: Very random.

Amos: Very random. Like just yesterday, I wrote a new song (we certainly hope to hear it soon!)

Adam: Yeah, the next morning he’ll play the song for me and then we’ll work on the song. Or sometimes, he has already finished the song and we’ll see how to make it better.

Editor: How many of 2024’s songs were written in France?

Adam: August Time was written in France. I think it’s the only one written there. The rest was written here (in Singapore).

Amos: Paper Planes was written on the way back from the Philippines!

6. Do you guys intend to stick with the genre?

Amos: I think maybe not…

Adam: When we write, we don’t really think what genre. We didn’t specify.

Amos: it’s not like: we’re this genre, let’s write it like that. It just comes out this way. Whatever you hear is what you hear.

Adam: Not even sure what genre we’re in.

Amos: But moving on from 2024 and from Happy Heartbreak EP, the songs and songwriting are different

Adam: More adventurous. It’s quite a big difference.

Amos: Our sound is just going to mature.

7. What do you guys intend to do in 2016?

Amos: We’re looking forward to touring the Philippines again. With this album, we’re hoping the it will be well received by  fans, the people, the media.

Adam: Play in more schools.

Amos: Yeah, have more performances. I mean, this is what we live for, we love singing for people, performing for people. It’s not so much about ourselves: we’re just 2 dudes who love music. Yeah…we’re in the midst of planning our tour. This album 2024 is very close to our heart because it’s 10 years in the making, the songs are about our experiences, our relationships and all that: so it means something to us. It’s a  dream that every musician wants to have.

8. Any plans for more music videos?

Amos:  We have one but I’m not sure if we’re allowed to say no (Duly noted on the hush-hush secret)

Adam: We’re planning for at least 2, though we haven’t decided which songs: we’re on the bench about them.

Amos: We already have a few MVs on Youtube and we’re excited for these 2 new ones. I think music videos are always exciting.

Editor: They’re always fun to do right?

Amos: Very fun! And very tiring.

9. What do you brothers do in your spare time?

Amos: I work in United Records.

Adam: Spare time, spare time. Working isn’t spare time. Working out?

Amos: Yeah! Working out, boxing.

Adam: He knocked me out. He boxes, I try.

Amos: I’m more of a sporty guy and I need to keep fit. Dieting is so hard, because in front of the camera you just look 3 times bigger…

Photos courtesy of DANamic.ORG

Check out 2024 when it comes out and don’t forget you can preorder it on ITunes!

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