Hit The North: Red alert

Hit the North should really be sitting here alone this afternoon. John-Paul McCorley, lead singer of Red Sirus, could be enjoying the strawberries and cream at his graduation ceremony at Queens, while drummer, Joe Doogan would be much better off back at work.

However, despite the inconvenience, here they are – talking big and thinking practically, going enthusiastically about the business of promoting their band. We’re grateful. But not surprised, because this lot aren’t the type that sit back and wait for things to happen. The much-touted Ballymena five piece are a seriously proactive mob.
“As soon as our student loans have come in,” J.P tells us. “We’ve been straight out to buy equipment. Any jobs anyone has, their wages go on the band. I feel sorry for our girlfriends. But we have a real hunger at the minute to see how far we can push this. We’re really chomping at the bit, raring to go.”
Such eagerness is easy to understand. 2004 has been a good year thus far for Red Sirus. A well-received Radio One session saw them snag a support slot on the series of triumphant Snow Patrol shows that followed in the wake of Run. A stint in the studio with Neal Calderwood produced the ‘After The Fall’ EP – as accomplished and grand a release that you’re likely to hear from an unsigned act this year. Momentum has been built, and the band are keen to stress that they are in no mood to see it squandered.
“You do watch people get complacent,” says Joe. “ They get their song on the radio, their picture in a magazine, a support slot with a big band – and that’s it; they sit back thinking the job’s done. With us, we’ve done those things – Radio One sessions, played with Snow Patrol – but then, straight after, we haven’t sat patting ourselves on the back. It’s been – right, what’s next. You always have to be constantly re-evaluating things, trying to form an honest opinion of just how good you are. You just have to keep on getting better. Like, we’ve exhausted ourselves to make that CD. We’ve put everything into it. But there’s no other way of going about things.”
One wonders how long this kind of work ethic can survive without a significant forward advance in their career. J.P, though, is quick to point out that the boys have been friends since school – they’re prepared for the long haul.
“We don’t have any illusions about how difficult it will be,” he says. “ But I think that the music has brought us all a lot closer together and has kept us close and that will stand us in good stead. I can’t actually imagine being in a band without being friends with the people around you. I can’t see the point in that. We’ve had plenty of rows in the past; we’ve all had to jump in at times to separate people; but it all gets sorted out. We’re a really strong unit.”
And a talented one. ‘After The Fall’ may well showcase a propensity for sign-posted guitar crescendos and careworn lyrical sentiments, but (like the similarly promising Edgeweather) it also has a subtlety and ear for melody that marks the band out as genuine contenders. With some luck we could be dealing with a North Antrim Elbow here.
J.P., for one, has already begun to pick up on encouraging omens.
“We were sound checking in Auntie Annie’s on Sunday night and played ‘Backsliding’. About half an hour after we finished I heard one of the bar men humming the riff to himself as he was cleaning the glasses. You’re doing something right when that starts happening, aren’t you?”

The After The Fall E.P is out now and available through [email protected]