Red Dye No. 5 was a widely regarded noise-pop quartet from San Diego, California at a time when the city was notable for exporting noisy, frenetic angular rock and hardcore. Between 1993 and 1996, Lisah Nicholson’s voice and Patrick Padilla’s guitar, coupled with a rhythm section of James Reader’s bass, and Scott Frazier’s drums made the band’s extremely loud performances stand apart from those they shared a stage with.
Shortly after forming, Red Dye No. 5 recorded their first demo at Hit Single Studios. A close friend of the band, Gary Strickland, of Honeyrider, shared it with his network of friends and fans including Keith York and Paul Piskor of San Diego label Silver Girl Records. Within weeks the small label released the band’s debut 7" single.
Affirmed by glowing reviews in Raygun, CMJ, Alternative Press, Cake, and a slew of magazines and fanzines from around the globe, Red Dye No. 5 quickly released a follow-up single on Candy Floss Records.
With their second single just as well received by the press and college radio stations, the quartet joined Julianna Hatfield, Elastica, Low Pop Suicide, Everclear, Hum, Versus, Licorice, The Swirlies, The Raymond Brake, Hula Hoop, and a host fellow indie standouts on stages across the country. Live, the band was hitting its stride and building quite a buzz.
In early 1995, The Replacements’ bassist Tommy Stinson’s girlfriend, Kelly Spencer, an A&R staffer for IRS Records, initiated talks with the band which led to several demo sessions at the label’s in-house studios. Decades later, bassist James Reader recalled the exact date of one of these sessions as February 18, 1995 - recalling the day Spencer took a phone call from Tommy that his brother and fellow founding member of The Replacements, Bob Stinson, had been found dead. Though these sessions for IRS went unreleased, the recordings motivated another label staffer, Rynda Laurel, to help the band find a recording contract.
In addition to Silver Girl offering to release their debut album, following the praise of their live shows and early vinyl releases, the band also entertained interest from Darla, March, TVT, Giant and Atlantic in quick succession.
Following their award as 1995’s Best New Artist at the San Diego Music Awards, the band signed to Flip Records and hired Concrete Blonde’s manager. Flip agreed with the band to put producer Tim O’Heir at the helm of the recordings.
The Fort Apache Sessions
By 1996, Fort Apache Studios had become a legendary venue to record. By the mid-1990s Tim O’Heir and his colleagues at the Cambridge, Massachusetts studio had recorded Billy Bragg, Boo Radleys, Buffalo Tom, Cold Water Flat, Dinosaur Jr., Firehose, Folk Implosion, Juliana Hatfield, Lemonheads, Lush, Mission of Burma, Morphine, The Pixies, Radiohead, Sebadoh, Superchunk, Throwing Muses, Uncle Tupelo, Volcano Suns and Yo La Tengo among a lengthy list of noteworthy artists. With an advance from their label, Red Dye No. 5 was set to record in a studio - and with a producer - they had deeply admired from their humble practice space on the West Coast.
The band spent over a month in Cambridge rehearsing, tracking and mixing what would have become their debut LP. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the label or the band’s management, internally the band was beginning to fracture. The once prolific team of songwriters had become uninspired and distant from one another. By the time they arrived in Massachusetts, they had not written a new song in over 8 months. Distracted by their rigorous schedule the quartet ended up a dysfunctional collective, despite carefully maintaining a public façade that they were still a productive team. Eventually, the band fell victim to clichés, as alcohol, drugs and egos tore apart their camaraderie. The mixing sessions at Fort Apache Studios were among the last moments the band would work together. Red Dye No.5 broke up shortly after returning home – on the eve of great potential.
The Aftermath
Following the dissolution of Red Dye No. 5, Patrick went on to perform with various bands in Los Angeles, including Black Songs who were slated to record an EP with Mike Martt (Tex and the Horseheads, Thelonious Monster, The Gun Club) before they imploded. Lisah would front the band AM Vibe. Scott and James formed Dewey Defeats Truman. Both the latter two bands saw full-length releases on Silver Girl Records.
Two decades following its creation, Red Dye No. 5’s long-lost album is finally a reality. In collaboration with Colin Ritchie of San Diego’s Capricorn Mastering, we sifted through a large number of song variants and mastered songs originally planned for release as the band’s debut album. Coupled with some extras – favorite tracks of the band and label – the ‘Fort Apache Sessions’ serves as more of a retrospective than simply the realization of an unreleased album in its entirety.
The Songs
Side One
Hope + @
Speedball +
Pigeon +
Supro +
Sugar Time +
Train Ride +
Side Two
Green Ranch +
Redo +
Not Again You +
Head Fuck #*
Heart of Glass (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) %$
Super Duper +
The Bonus Songs – Digital Only
Colors (unreleased)*
New Number 2 +
Sleep it Off +
Broken Jesus (unreleased)*
+ Recorded/Produced by Tim O’Heir at Fort Apache Studios in Boston
* Recorded/engineered by Randy Fuelle at Hit Single Studios
@ Previously released on Pure Spun Sugar (Australia)
# Previously released on Fuzzbomb 7”
% Previously released on Not Again You 7”, recorded by Andy Machin and Eric Nielsen
$ Previously released on Attack of the Terrible Boots (Japan)
The Band
Lisah Nicholson – vocals
Patrick Padilla – 6-string & vocals
James Reader – 4-string
Scott Frazier – drums
The Discography
Fuzzbomb 2-song 7”
‘Head Phuck’ b/w ‘Pigeon’
Released in 1995 by Silver Girl Records (SG-020)
Not Again You 2-song 7”
‘Not Again You’ b/w ‘Heart of Glass’
Released in 1995 by Candy Floss (CF-008)
‘Redo’ on Pop American Style compilation≠
‘Heart of Glass’ on Attack of the Terrible Boots compilation (Japan)
Released in 1997 by Mint Sound (MSRCD4)
‘Hope’ on Pure Spun Sugar compilation (Australia)
Released in 1998 by Candy Floss (CF-017) / American Pop Project (AmPop 201CD)
credits
released June 30, 2016
Lisah Nicholson – vocals
Patrick Padilla – 6-string & vocals
James Reader – 4-string
Scott Frazier – drums
Tim O'Heir - producer
Between 1993-1996, Red Dye No.5 was a San Diego noise-pop quartet comprised of Lisah Nicholson (vocals), Patrick Padilla
(guitar), James Reader (bass) and Scott Frazier (drums). Shortly after forming, Red Dye No.5 recorded their first single - which was released on April 1, 1995). Patrick would perform with Black Songs. James and Scott formed Dewey Defeats Truman and Lisah fronted AM Vibe....more
supported by 6 fans who also own “Fort Apache Sessions”
This is an unbiased review. That being said...I fell in love with Beth Arzy's voice the first time I listened to Aberdeen. I could listen to Beth sing the instruction manual for a dishwasher. But I'm grateful she's surrounded by talented and totally capable band mates instead. I'd rate Misplaced Words 4.6 out of 5. And had a devil of a time picking a favorite track. Tomorrow I might pick a different one as they're all very good. My biggest complaint is the album is over way too quick. CEF121
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supported by 6 fans who also own “Fort Apache Sessions”
‘Parallel lines’ is a fantastic track. While Love Dance’s sound has evolved and experimented into dance/electronic on the past release… this particular song sounds to me it’s demonstrating a more welcomed back to their roots approach. Matthew Nangle