Razor Red Noise

Razor Red Noise was created in 2006 by Alex McMillan, now 19, as an experiment into the world of independent music production. The goal at first wasn’t anything too special; to simply have fun making music and facing the challenges that come with it, technologically or otherwise. After a couple of years of doing music privately, Razor Red Noise became public, and the community has grown since then and continues to do so at an astounding rate, and is ever-strengthening its status as a friendly group of like-minded fans whose support is far stronger than any musician could ask for.
 
The first, early songs were written almost exclusively using a guitar and a BOSS BR-600, even going so far as to record the vocals into the unit and using its built-in loops for drum tracks. Production quality wasn’t an issue – the songwriting was the main focus and it never ceased to be an enjoyable hobby. Over time, more equipment was acquired – a Roland Juno-G being the most major acquisition and boost to RRN’s quality at the time, in addition to a Line 6 guitar unit which greatly expanded available effects. Every new piece of equipment opened up so many more places for the music to go – so it’s certainly become more and more adventurous over time.
 
The first official Razor Red Noise release was an EP in June of 2008. At 6 songs in length, it was an diverse mix of airy electronics, effected vocals and strong guitars. Musically and technically, Razor Red Noise has always evolved gradually rather than drastically. This progression can, then, most clearly be seen when comparing the early releases such as the first EP and the first full album, “Blood Winter”, to the likes of 2011′s “The Ghost City”, whose tight instrumentation and carefully-crafted lyrics tell the conceptual story of losing oneself and the resultant journey “back home”. Story is becoming a more important part of the music with every album; “The Ghost City” is the first good example of a story running through an RRN album.
 
The music videos too – an integral part of Razor Red Noise – have come a long way since those first releases. Where original videos were exclusively “performance shots” of the songs (these shots still remain to a degree, of course), newer videos introduce a wider variety of original footage to more properly mirror the theme of the individual songs, and draw the viewer into the music.
 
Alex’s other musical project is In Viridian -  this music is exclusively instrumental and features more ambient, soundtrack-like themes. In Viridian was borne out of the fact that a lot of demos were getting written for Razor Red Noise – but didn’t fit the “mould” of other songs that were going on the particular album. Releases are in the form of chapters – ten songs apiece – and Chapter Three is approaching its release in Summer 2011.
 
What the future holds for Razor Red Noise (and In Viridian) is as yet uncertain, but as the music and fanbase continue to grow, it will undoubtedly be an exciting time.