Jeremy Edge - Candlelight Red
Hard rock is about to get another swift kick in the ass with the impending debut release from Candlelight Red. Hailing from Pennsylvania, these guys play like veterans and have a sound that could turn the staunchest rock fan onto them. Jeremy Edge, the fully loaded guitar slinger, took the time to talk to Metal Exiles about the band and how the darkness that The Wreckage is, came to be.
An interview with Jeremy Edge of Candlelight Red.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You are a phenomenal guitar player, what drove you into playing guitar ion the first place?
Jeremy Edge: My older sister took lessons when I was a kid and there was always music in the house. I would watch people play on TV and it was something I really wanted to do.
Metal Exiles: What were you listening to as a kid to help fuel that existence?
Jeremy: We always had a bunch of records in the house like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Maiden, Purple and Van Halen, the usual stuff. When I got older I found the heavier stuff like Pantera and Metallica, I just absorbed everything.
Metal Exiles: You guys are gaining some notoriety, are you endorsed by any companies yet?
Jeremy: Actually we are endorsed by a few companies. Splawn Amplification, which is a great company who provides with our heads and cabinets, SIT Strings as well as Saluda Cymbals. Our major endorser though is Jagermeister.
Metal Exiles: As far as the guitar is concerned, what do you play?
Jeremy: I play modified Fender Strats, which is the first guitar that I learned on.
Metal Exiles: If you were endorsed by Fender, do you think they would modify their guitars like that?
Jeremy: That would be great because my guitar is a hodge podge of Fender parts and everything I can get my hands on.
Metal Exiles: Well you have a thick dark sound so the guitar you created is a monster in itself.
Jeremy: I owe a lot of my sound to the strings I play which are stainless steel strings. They have a louder, growlier mid tone and it sticks out in the mix where you normally have a lot of top and a little bit of bottom with other strings. They also last a long time because they are not super shimery when you first put them on.
Metal Exiles: You guys are from Pennsylvania, how did you guys make it out of there to become a serious buzz band?
Jeremy: We did some regional touring with some local shows and we also won a contest to open up for KISS in Pittsburgh which was a big thing that opened up a lot of people’s eyes. We also had some regional airplay with just our demo out and had people wondering how this band with no record deal was getting commercial radio airplay. This label out of DC called Imagen Records signed us and wanted to put us back in the studio to do our debut record and they have been good to us.
Metal Exiles: Was there a scene where you came from or did you have to create one?
Jeremy: A little bit of both. If you play the big cities it is the same thing, you play with a bunch of bands trying to play the small clubs and then we have a lot of places in rural Pennsylvania, Upstate NY, and Maryland where we cut our teeth. We broke through in a lot of bars and scenes where we had the odds against us because we did not quite fit the mold. We have some great fans back in PA which was a big help in getting the band kicked off.
Metal Exiles: As far as your sound is concerned, stuff like The Dirt and Closer from The Wreckage provokes dark images. What goes through your mind when you play stuff like that?
Jeremy: We have always been attracted to aggressive music but we also wanted to be melodic as well. I have always been attracted to bands that have a touch of darkness to their music as it seems more real and honest. Ryan Hoke, the singer, writes lyrics write lyrics that are very honest about things that are going on in his life and people that are close to him, something that can connect with the listener.
Metal Exiles: Were you surprised that Closer has done so well at radio?
Jeremy: Yes and no. It is a song that we tested at a few local stations when we had the demo version out and we knew we were on to something when people started responding to it. It was one of the simpler songs that we had written but it seemed to be striking a chord with people for some reason. We are thrilled that people are digging it the way they are.
Metal Exiles: The video was pretty dark. How did you pull such a graphic shooting off?
Jeremy: Wade Spencer, who does all of our photography and videography, did that video for us. He did all the after affects as well in the video and the blood splatter is totally CGI. The scene where we have Ryan laying on the floor with his reflection in the mirror singing along, he did that by splitting the frame. He shot Ryan laying in two different places and he combined the screen to make it look like there is a dead body there and in the reflection it is alive. We wanted something dark and suspenseful to go along with the song, something Tarantino/Horror to it.
Metal Exiles: The whole album is great, not a bad song in the set but I must ask, what made you cover She’s Got The Look by Roxette?
Jeremy: That was one of the things we first did when we started playing bars and they want you to play for two hours. We had ten songs so instead of learning the new Godsmack song we thought we would do something off the wall and rewrite the song and play it like we wrote the song. That was one of the songs people would think why are they playing this and then when we would get to the chorus it got heavier and the fans would then understand.
Metal Exiles: You guys have been on some good tours, opened for KISS and did Uproar without the benefit of an album out. How did you pull this off?
Jeremy: Jager got us the date for Uproar so we had the opportunity to open in front of several thousand people. We managed to get some things like that before our deal but now the doors have really opened. We have done a big tour with Saving Abel and about to do a month with 10 Years.
Metal Whats it like for a new band on the road trying to garner new fans?
Jeremy: Its great, we have been fortunate to be on well matched line ups. The audiences have been really receptive to us and after our set we head over to the merch booth and try to meet everybody.
Metal Exiles: The Wreckage is being released digitally through Amazon, iTunes etc but will it see a physical release or just digitally?
Jeremy: This month it will be available digitally through all of the online retail outlets like iTunes for downloads and we will have physical CDs with us on the road and through Amazon.com. We are setting up nationwide distribution but it is taking up longer than we thought to set up so hopefully they will be in stores around January. We are planning some special things to go along with that as well.
New bands come and go with hardly a bang but Candlelight Red with their debut CD The Wreckage have come with a fully cocked Glock aimed right at you.
Official Candlelight Red Website
BUY The Wreckage!
An interview with Jeremy Edge of Candlelight Red.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You are a phenomenal guitar player, what drove you into playing guitar ion the first place?
Jeremy Edge: My older sister took lessons when I was a kid and there was always music in the house. I would watch people play on TV and it was something I really wanted to do.
Metal Exiles: What were you listening to as a kid to help fuel that existence?
Jeremy: We always had a bunch of records in the house like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Maiden, Purple and Van Halen, the usual stuff. When I got older I found the heavier stuff like Pantera and Metallica, I just absorbed everything.
Metal Exiles: You guys are gaining some notoriety, are you endorsed by any companies yet?
Jeremy: Actually we are endorsed by a few companies. Splawn Amplification, which is a great company who provides with our heads and cabinets, SIT Strings as well as Saluda Cymbals. Our major endorser though is Jagermeister.
Metal Exiles: As far as the guitar is concerned, what do you play?
Jeremy: I play modified Fender Strats, which is the first guitar that I learned on.
Metal Exiles: If you were endorsed by Fender, do you think they would modify their guitars like that?
Jeremy: That would be great because my guitar is a hodge podge of Fender parts and everything I can get my hands on.
Metal Exiles: Well you have a thick dark sound so the guitar you created is a monster in itself.
Jeremy: I owe a lot of my sound to the strings I play which are stainless steel strings. They have a louder, growlier mid tone and it sticks out in the mix where you normally have a lot of top and a little bit of bottom with other strings. They also last a long time because they are not super shimery when you first put them on.
Metal Exiles: You guys are from Pennsylvania, how did you guys make it out of there to become a serious buzz band?
Jeremy: We did some regional touring with some local shows and we also won a contest to open up for KISS in Pittsburgh which was a big thing that opened up a lot of people’s eyes. We also had some regional airplay with just our demo out and had people wondering how this band with no record deal was getting commercial radio airplay. This label out of DC called Imagen Records signed us and wanted to put us back in the studio to do our debut record and they have been good to us.
Metal Exiles: Was there a scene where you came from or did you have to create one?
Jeremy: A little bit of both. If you play the big cities it is the same thing, you play with a bunch of bands trying to play the small clubs and then we have a lot of places in rural Pennsylvania, Upstate NY, and Maryland where we cut our teeth. We broke through in a lot of bars and scenes where we had the odds against us because we did not quite fit the mold. We have some great fans back in PA which was a big help in getting the band kicked off.
Metal Exiles: As far as your sound is concerned, stuff like The Dirt and Closer from The Wreckage provokes dark images. What goes through your mind when you play stuff like that?
Jeremy: We have always been attracted to aggressive music but we also wanted to be melodic as well. I have always been attracted to bands that have a touch of darkness to their music as it seems more real and honest. Ryan Hoke, the singer, writes lyrics write lyrics that are very honest about things that are going on in his life and people that are close to him, something that can connect with the listener.
Metal Exiles: Were you surprised that Closer has done so well at radio?
Jeremy: Yes and no. It is a song that we tested at a few local stations when we had the demo version out and we knew we were on to something when people started responding to it. It was one of the simpler songs that we had written but it seemed to be striking a chord with people for some reason. We are thrilled that people are digging it the way they are.
Metal Exiles: The video was pretty dark. How did you pull such a graphic shooting off?
Jeremy: Wade Spencer, who does all of our photography and videography, did that video for us. He did all the after affects as well in the video and the blood splatter is totally CGI. The scene where we have Ryan laying on the floor with his reflection in the mirror singing along, he did that by splitting the frame. He shot Ryan laying in two different places and he combined the screen to make it look like there is a dead body there and in the reflection it is alive. We wanted something dark and suspenseful to go along with the song, something Tarantino/Horror to it.
Metal Exiles: The whole album is great, not a bad song in the set but I must ask, what made you cover She’s Got The Look by Roxette?
Jeremy: That was one of the things we first did when we started playing bars and they want you to play for two hours. We had ten songs so instead of learning the new Godsmack song we thought we would do something off the wall and rewrite the song and play it like we wrote the song. That was one of the songs people would think why are they playing this and then when we would get to the chorus it got heavier and the fans would then understand.
Metal Exiles: You guys have been on some good tours, opened for KISS and did Uproar without the benefit of an album out. How did you pull this off?
Jeremy: Jager got us the date for Uproar so we had the opportunity to open in front of several thousand people. We managed to get some things like that before our deal but now the doors have really opened. We have done a big tour with Saving Abel and about to do a month with 10 Years.
Metal Whats it like for a new band on the road trying to garner new fans?
Jeremy: Its great, we have been fortunate to be on well matched line ups. The audiences have been really receptive to us and after our set we head over to the merch booth and try to meet everybody.
Metal Exiles: The Wreckage is being released digitally through Amazon, iTunes etc but will it see a physical release or just digitally?
Jeremy: This month it will be available digitally through all of the online retail outlets like iTunes for downloads and we will have physical CDs with us on the road and through Amazon.com. We are setting up nationwide distribution but it is taking up longer than we thought to set up so hopefully they will be in stores around January. We are planning some special things to go along with that as well.
New bands come and go with hardly a bang but Candlelight Red with their debut CD The Wreckage have come with a fully cocked Glock aimed right at you.
Official Candlelight Red Website
BUY The Wreckage!
