"Basically, we were on the motorway, forty-five minutes from London, and our van wouldn’t budge,” reminisces an excitable Graham Griffith, drummer of Glasgow alt.rock outfit Flood of Red, as he and band mate Dale Gallagher sit down with Noize .
We were on our way to record the Lost in the Light EP, and the van was done. It was put on the back of a pick-up truck, after which they told us they could tow us back to Airdrie or keep going to London. There was no thought on the matter, really.” Gallagher interrupts: “We told them to take us to London so that we could record our CD and then we would worry about getting home. We spent ten days sleeping in a broken down van in London’s Finsbury Park.”

It is an unusually warming moment in which the pair indulges in the memory of the incredibly dark places in that Flood of Red have found themselves in over the years. Keyboard player Gallagher continues in reference to past misdemeanours: “I think one of the best things about us all as individuals is how we view things, even when things are going really badly. I think that many bands would have questioned what they were doing, but we didn’t. As shite as it was at the time, thinking back on it, we had the time of our lives.”

After five years of relentless touring, the imminent release of debut album Leaving Everything Behind on their own label provides a long-overdue reward for a band that has covered every corner of the UK more than a Megabus could allude to. When questioned on the amount of travelling the band has experienced, Griffith simply describes his own way of keeping track: “I have a map on my wall with pins in everywhere we have played in the UK, and you can’t even see the map anymore.”

Flood of Red are one of the first bands to work with the recently-launched Polyphonic label – a joint-venture between ATC, of which Radiohead manager Brian Message is a partner, MAMA Group, which owns Flood of Red’s management group, and Vancouver-based artist management firm Nettwerk Music Group – which allows artists to keep their copyright. One of the aims of this investment-focused label is to utilise the internet in an innovative and forward-thinking way, something in which Flood of Red have embraced with the release of their debut.

Griffith describes Polyphonic as both liberating and extremely positive for the new age music is falling into. “They thought about directly investing in the artists,” he explains. “Instead of paying for them do things, they let the band choose. They invested in our band; their contacts and ability has helped us to start our own record label, Dark City Records. Effectively we have the finances and full creative control to do what we want. Through working with them we have been able to go to America and record our album with the number one producer we could have wanted in the world.”

Similar to the famous release of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, where fans could choose how much to pay when downloading it, Flood of Red are following a similar route, as opposed to the arguably under-threat traditional means of music distribution, as Griffith describes somewhat modestly. “The deal that we launched where you could buy the album for $1 from our website was simply a way of letting people hear our album,” he says. “If people want to buy something, we will make something special for them to buy. That is why we are releasing the album via packages and bundles, where you can buy the CD and digital download with extras with it, such as deluxe packages where you get nice artwork, vinyl, posters, previous singles, DVD extras and other extra stuff that you don’t normally get when you download a CD. We want to make that sure if people are going to hand over money to us, that it is going to be worth it.”

Since releasing Lost in the Light in February 2007, an EP laden with post-hardcore conformity comparable to touring buddies Enter Shikari, The Blackout and Funeral for a Friend, the Airdrie lads have honed a sound with a maturity beyond their years. Out goes the overcrowded screamo genre that is dying on its proverbial arse; hello to a mellowed and welcoming progression, evident of the bands belated maturity into technical musicians. The development and shift in the sound was duly-noted by fans of the band when new material began to surface, while many followers were not so understanding; the latter being largely frustrating for the band.

“We had spent a lot of time in the studio writing new material,” describes Gallagher as he attempts to put the aforementioned shift and subsequent reaction into context. “People questioned whether it was deliberate, but it was just us growing up. We have simply opened up our horizons and become interested in a whole host of new music.” Griffith continues: “We continued to write songs the way we always would. It was a just a case of seeing what felt right. Many people felt that we had simply changed from heavy to light rock; but if you listen to our earlier material, you will hear that there have always been melodic parts to our songs. Maybe now that we have learned to control our dynamics a bit more, the heavy parts of the songs possibly are not as blaringly obvious.”

One man who may be credited with a hands-on part in the incredible development of the bands sound is legendary producer Brian McTernan. With a back catalogue of artists ranging from Thrice to Converge and Hot Water Music to Cave In, the Baltimore-based Salad Days studio was number one on the bands list of potential recording locations. As the notion is put to the pair of Leaving Everything Behind being placed on a mantle alongside records they have idolised throughout their childhood, Griffith replies with simplicity and a hint of trepidation. “It’s incredible,” he says, before we sit in a silent disbelief at what has just been muttered. Gallagher continues in a final moment of bashfulness: “We are the first band from the UK that he has ever recorded, and he really wanted to record us, which is so special. We still can’t believe it.”

Leaving Everything Behind is out on 19 Oct on Dark City Records.

Flood of Red are on tour in the UK right now. See the bands Myspace for details.

www.myspace.com/floodofred

By Andrew Burns