Torn from Red
Band name: Torn from Red
Band members: Brett Shoffner (drums), Mike Landis (vocals, guitar), Matt Diehl (vocals, guitar), Nate Jones (bass)
Who we talked to: Diehl of Dover Instrument: Vocals and guitar Where'd the name come from? It's about being positive. Torn from Red is saying that you're being torn away from things like hate, depression and other things that bring you down.
How would you describe your sound? It's definitely a unique sound for this area. We're not like the area's normal bar cover bands. We are original, energetic indie rock'n'roll. How long have you performed together as a band? About two and a half years.
Who are some of your influences? We have a huge variety. None of us listen to just one musical genre. We're into everything from metal bands to rock bands. If they write good songs, we listen to them.
Best music on the radio right now? Probably bands like Jimmy Eat World and Coheed and Cambria.
If you could open for any band or artist, who would it be and why? It sounds funny but we're all big fans of Elvis. We'd love to share a stage with him. We like how Elvis was Elvis - he was rock 'n' roll and he did his own thing whether he was accepted or not and people loved him for it.
What songs do you or would you like to cover? We don't do any covers right now but we've talked about it. If we did cover a song, it'd be "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. That and other older rock 'n' roll with chunky guitars.
What's the best part of performing live? We've done shows at festivals, and it's really cool to walk out there and see a huge crowd waiting to see your set. Or, if we're in a different state, hearing someone play one of our songs.
The worst? There's always certain things that just happen; you can have your equipment fail on you. We've blown up guitar heads before; people have dropped guitars. Things just happen.
Best local places to play? There's actually people who set up shows in places like the Chiller (York Ice Arena) and book bands that are for all ages, and it's really cool, and you get the place loaded up with kids.
What do you guys need to work on as a band? We need to be more time efficient. We're not on tour right now and we're trying to work full-time jobs while trying to do shows on weekends. We also are trying to figure out when we have band practice and then one of us will have to work - it's just tough to do all that.
Tell us a little about the EP you guys just made: We were on tour this summer and played in a big venue called Rocketown in Nashville. Sam Barnhart, who was in a band called Bleach, had taken over the club. We played our set and he told us that he'd been looking to produce. We heard his offer, thought about it, and we said let's do it. We ended up hooking up with him and headed back to Nashville for two weeks, and he helped us out and find the most sellable songs. We actually did the recording in Huntington, W.Va. We just got the EP ("Beautiful and Strange") completed around two weeks ago. Web site: www.tornfromred.com and www.myspace.com/tornfromred
Next performance in the area? TLC Benefit Concert, 5-10 p.m. Feb. 18 at Providence Presbyterian Church, 400 W. Market St., York.
- JASON COX, FLIPSIDE STAFF