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A bright color, a bright persona and a bright future, the color REDD. represents this international artist well. Music is the bloodline, melody the propulsion, REDD. Is a beating heart of energy & their latest single is a pop heart attack we needed to have. Popping off as a punk confessional, the collision of big drums, choruses and staccato lyrics is a real ‘life’ lesson and endemic to their remarkable songwriting and journey. Wanting as ever to dig in, discover, and be curious we dialed up REDD. in our content cubical to learn more:

OnesToWatch: Who are you? 

REDD: My name is REDD. I'm just a 20-year-old artist-person from Melbourne, Australia. 

How long have you been writing music with the intention to share with strangers? 

I like the specificity of that. 2021 is when I started releasing music. I started out just making music off my brother's laptop, and then he got really sick of that, and then I was like, I should probably get my own computer and start releasing. So I started doing that in 2021. 

I could see that annoying your brother. 

He was actually a really good sport about it. If it wasn't for his laptop, I wouldn't be here. 

I think big brothers have their own way of supporting and it's usually a little more abrasive. 

Yeah, we don’t really talk about anything, and then I remember like a couple months ago, I had a bunch of crazy shows happen, and his way of showing support was no words, no nothing. He's just like, “Give me a hug,” and that meant so much to me. That happens once every like 5 years. He's also way bigger than me and he gives really big bear hugs. You get consumed in that shit. 


When did you decide that you’re an artist, not just someone making music on a laptop? 

I feel like there's 2 different things that happen. I've always wanted to share my music and to connect with people. I've also always wanted to perform. I started off doing musical theater and acting, so that's where I got my start. I love performing, it’s the most magical thing ever. So being on a stage is number one, in any way I can to express art, even if it's someone else's work, I just love it. I’m not sure I’ve even made the switch into thinking I'm an artist. There's a very different mentality when you accept yourself as an artist, and I think that only happened really recently. I only started accepting myself as an artist this year and believing that I'm more than someone just making music. That sounds pretentious, I’m not saying you can't be an artist if you don't make music, but I’ve just recently found my desire to curate a world and make more than just the music part. That's where I tapped into my own artistry and started finding my own journey. 

What is your writing process? Do you come at it from melody, chord structure, lyrics, experiences? 


It's actually really different. I've been really trying to develop who I am over the last couple years, so I've been experimenting and I never want to stop experimenting. Trying out different things because it gives you completely different end results. When I was starting out, I really liked this one method: I would just write down words that I thought were really interesting, and feelings and things that I was thinking, and store them. Sometimes when you get in the studio you’re just so creatively zapped, and you have nothing to write about. So keeping this store of ideas in my notes app was really helpful to launch songs. What I ended up finding, though, was that I was so out of the present, that I kept trying to capture an emotion that had already passed. It was boring me. So then I started building off basslines. I love playing bass. I think bass is top 2 instruments. 

What's the other one? I gotta ask. 

Probably cello. 

That was not my guess. 

I love cello. It's a gorgeous instrument, and definitely one of the most underrated. I got really obsessed with Kate Bush a couple years ago and all her cello parts are gorgeous. She uses a lot of strings and I think that's incredible. And then I got a cello. I'm self-teaching myself cello because why not? So, I started writing off basslines. But things have changed since I got to work with Dan Carey late last year, who's an incredible producer. He has so many different ways to write and start songs. I was following his lead because that’s how you learn. Sometimes he samples, sometimes he's on the drum machine making beats. I think the only way that I can create now is with variants. I just gotta keep it moving, trying different things. Otherwise, I get a bit stale. 

That's a good answer. Let's talk about your upcoming song, “Life.” I hope it's about life. 

It is.

Okay. Tell us tell us more about it. 

I wrote that song with Dan, that was one of the songs that we made in London. It was an absolute turning point in my life. I didn't really know it at the time, but it’s pretty obvious looking back. Me and my girlfriend at the time broke up, and then there was a person in my life who passed away, and I just had a lot of things shifting in my life, really, really fast. Music was starting to like starting to pick up and suddenly I was overseas – that all happened in the span of a week. I was suddenly in London, and I found myself reflecting on everything. I was away from my family. I was away from my friends. I was left with a lot of fragmented pieces of who I thought I was. Previously, I had a very clear image of who I was before that time in my life, but everything that happened in that short timespan very quickly shattered that. So I was just putting the pieces back together. The song's super personal to me and, not to spoil anything, but there's definitely more music to come. There's a body of work that I'm really excited to share. But this song's an absolute perfect introduction. It talks about gender dysphoria, identity, sexuality, grief, and just really tries to stitch it all together. It’s really, really, really beautiful to find out who you are.
Also, this song has production that no one is going to expect. It's so fucking weird and zany and fun. It's a left turn in a really cool way. 

Do you have any ambitions for this record in terms of what you want to achieve with it, what you want your audience to get out of it? 

I don't want to give too much away. I really hope that people can connect. There's a lot of talking points on this project that I think a lot of people don't talk about.
I don't hear a lot of people talking about things like gender and sexuality in this genre in this way, which is really exciting. It's a representation that is rare, especially in Australia. There's a lot of young artists who are pushing these talking points in a really interesting way, and I'm really stoked to be a part of a generation of people who are bringing that to the forefront of the zeitgeist. I hope people feel seen by the music and I hope they feel free and fun and ready to shake ass and connect. And if they don't, then don't come. 

I love it. I'm gonna pivot to some more fun questions. If you could take a dream vacation, anywhere, any place, anytime. Where would you go? What would you be doing? 

I would probably go to Paris. I've never been to France. I've self-taught myself French, though, and I really want to go, I feel like I would fit in really well. I've been told by a few French people that I have a really natural accent. I think the music culture there is dope as well. 


If your brother, your family, everyone, were hungry, can you whip up a meal and what would it be? 

I can but it wouldn’t be the best. I'd probably just make a basic pasta, a bolognese. Nothing crazy. Just because I know I can get it right. I can make sure the flavors are rich. The thing that's gonna throw some people is that I do use a mixed source base. So I get a pre-made sauce with tomatoes, onion, and garlic. And then I chop up my own vegetables – zucchini, some carrots. I don’t have the history, my family’s not Italian, but when you have a solid base, you can make it good. 

I like it. Heaven forbid all your musical talents are removed from you. What would you be doing? 

Teaching. I love kids. I can't wait to be a parent. I think I'm going to be like the best parent of all time. I'm super excited to have my own kids. I was actually a teacher before I did music. I taught theater and dance. Literally right before I got signed, I got the offer to be an after school care assistant, and I nearly did it. I think it's so underappreciated how much teachers do, especially good teachers. I had the worst teachers ever in high school and they made my life hell, but the one good teacher I had, the one who actually cared about me, changed my life. It just takes one to make you feel seen and it shifts everything. So if I could be that teacher for a kid, I would. 

If you could create a dream lineup or festival, who's on the bill? 

Can I do dead or alive? 

Yes.

Mac Miller, Tyler the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Holly Humberstone, Caroline Polachek, Bailey RP, Quiet Light. Chappell Roan, Sade, Geese. 

That’s a solid lineup. 

Oh, throw Turnstile in there too. 

That’s the after party, could you imagine? Last couple questions. I would love a non-music recommendation.

I'm gonna say a spa day. Have a spa day, guys. Look after yourself. I think that's the best thing you can do. When you treat yourself like a million bucks, you start moving like a million bucks. 

Great advice. I would also love a music recommendation. 

I've been trying to consume as much music as possible. Boyish. Quiet light, and Sofia Stel. They've been on my rotation. 

And then lastly, anything in your words. 

Send love. Look after each other. Give hugs and kisses, stream my music, come to my shows, shake some ass. Make sure to never stop creating and sharing that. That's literally the best thing ever. And I hope you have a reason to smile today. 

Thank you so much. That was amazing.