“Out of the Red” into fame

The name “Out of the Red” comes from “Everlong” by the band Foo Fighters, a song that screams with crashing instrumentals, as a gritty voice cuts through singing, “And out of the red / out of her head, she sang.” Creating a sound they describe as a mix between the Foo Fighters and The Vines is the trio Out of the Red, consisting of Aragon senior, lead singer and drummer Phoenix Seevers, Aragon senior and guitarist Dane Kenyon and San Mateo senior and bassist Cole Mannick. The band has released two singles, “Spacing Out” and “Bones,” alongside their album “The Side Project.”
The members have been creating music from a young age, starting from small opportunities that eventually grew into larger projects.

“My dad bought me a cheap electric guitar about five years ago and I started taking lessons—I’m still taking those lessons today,” Kenyon said. “Then I got involved with this program called School of Rock, which is for kids to learn music … and perform as a group.”
Kenyon finds that being in a band is a more rewarding way to make music.
“[Playing] with others … is not easy to do if you’re not in a band,” Kenyon said. “You can get a feel for an entire song … The guitar part by itself can be underwhelming. Being a part of the entire thing feels better.”
For Seevers, his parents served as inspiration.
“Music has always been a part of our lives since we were really young,” said Seevers’ sister and freshman Wynter Seevers. “My parents were in bands when they were … in their early twenties, so we grew up with punk, … rock [and] all sorts of music.”

“Being a part of the entire thing feels better”

Out of the Red was formed at the beginning of last summer. Before that, the members were in another band, Frame the Youth.
“A lot of [Out of the Red’s] songs are more personal to me than the last band,” Phoenix Seevers said. “[We started over] because some of the songs I was working on didn’t fit the previous genre … of Frame the Youth.”
The band has tried to improve their visibility, especially through social media presence, which has mostly been relegated to their manager, senior Sacha Perlson.
“We really want to spread their music and get more engagement within [and outside] Aragon,” Perlson said. “The band [is] trying to book shows and get their names out there because that’s the most important thing if we want their music to be heard.”
Something the group does to promote fan interactions is hand out custom stickers to people who might be interested.
“Phoenix stopped me in the hallways since I’m a fan, and reminded me [that ‘Bones’ came out],” said senior Devika Mehra. “He appreciates people that he knows are listeners of his music, which is really great because he builds a community off of it.”

Out of the Red does the recording themselves, as they feel it contributes to the ambiance of their band.
“We have a family friend that lent us some recording equipment,” Phoenix Seevers said. “Part of the reason this album feels so intimate and personal is because we did all of the recording ourselves. … We [were] in the garage, playing our tracks and holding our breaths so that it doesn’t show up on the microphones.”
For people who are already fans of rock, Out of the Red’s music is a welcome addition. Sophomore Kabir Sulur, a rock music enthusiast, describes the song “Bones.”
“I really, really liked the mix between the first and second vocals,” Sulur said. “The drums … pushing through the whole song is very nice. … The guitar lines are [also] really cool, … going from the clean sound to then the hard, more heavy punk sound. I really liked the interweave between the two.”
For Phoenix Seevers, being in a band creating music is an activity he can pour his heart into, morphing into a potential career path.

“It’s just about doing what I love and being able to finally release everything I’ve been working on.”

“My mindset right now about music is that it’s just something I love doing,” Phoenix Seevers said. “We could put out the album and two people could listen to it and I would still be satisfied because now it’s just about doing what I love and being able to finally release everything I’ve been working on.”
Out of the Red is currently focusing on expanding their local presence, with an upcoming performance in Half Moon Bay on Oct. 31.