By: Shelby Lum
When I was 11 years old, I was graduating 5th grade, and trying to fathom what middle school would entail. When Steven from Redd Kross was 11, he was starting a band with his brother, Jeff.
Over three decades later, the band that was formed in middle school is still touring (although with a hiatus beginning in 1999). “I made life career decisions at the age of 11,” Steven said.
Most can’t claim more than attempting to survive puberty, but the band stuck, most likely due to the fact that they kept it in the family.
“Well we are brothers. That’s impossible to kill,” he said. “We really love playing music and we’ve been able to deal with each other and navigate the adversities of being in a rock band.”
But even through fighting the struggles that nearly all bands go through, Redd Kross still needed a break from the stresses of a touring lifestyle. 20 years as a band can take its toll, and in 1999, the band took a hiatus.
Yet in 2006, Redd Kross began coming back together.
“It just seemed like some sort of natural, authentic desire,” Steven said. Unlike most other bands who take time apart, Steven was still hanging out with brother and band mate, Jeff. They still saw each other and lived within a few minutes of one another. “We never stopped seeing each other,” he said. “It just came together organically.”
In 2012, Redd Kross took their tour national after the release of Researching the Blues.
“I love our new record, for me it’s my favorite thing we’ve ever done,” Steven said. He also said little has changed since the band took a break and then came back together.
“I think the major components are the same. I think the big difference is as far as the recording of the record is concerned, we do it all ourselves now,” Steven said, thus making a more authentic sound, true to the original intentions of Redd Kross.
30 years is well over the time that most bands are able to last in the music industry, and Redd Kross has been around for a reason.
“All the big rock stars we knew were very unhappy. They were all on drugs or speculated to be on drugs and very tumultuous people, and that just seemed like, well I have no idea if that’s what I want because it doesn’t look like fun,” Steven said. Although he said the financial security would be nice. “Everything else is totally insecure around it.”
Coming back to playing seemed inevitable for the rocker. “I have known for a very long time that music is my calling,” he said.
“I want to see all the Atlanta freaks make their way out.”
Redd Kross is scheduled to play at The EARL on Wednesday, April 3rd.
