Understanding Radioactivist – Red Tape’s vocalist Jeff explains the meaning behind the songs a3xe4bcR (intro) This was SUPPOSED to say í¢ä‰åñcatch fireí¢ä‰åŒ in Russian, but it was spelled wrong on the layout. We decided to keep the mistake since it still looked crazy… that’s the whole idea. The music was created by using 3 tracks of guitar with an ebow, octave pedal, and fuzz distortion. It’s basically the soundtrack to the coming Armageddon. Damage Control This song went through several lyrical changes before settling on í¢ä‰åñDamage Controlí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìat one point it was called í¢ä‰åñRelease The Dogsí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìbut a similar sounding punk band (*cough*BoySetsFire*cough*) just put out a song with the same name. Plus the term was kind of clich퀌© for Red Tape í¢ä‰åäóì you know we have to be all weird and shit! It’s a song about rejecting oppression, and seeking revenge. There is a joke version of this song floating around on the internet somewhere… High Revoltage I wrote this about all the cool happenings in my hometown that always end up getting shut down, or cracked-down upon in some way. The whole song is a burst of energy and was written in about 20 minutes. Stalingrad The lyrics started off filled with negativity, thoughts of world destruction, and my own demise… then that got old and I was feeling more hopeful and energized. It’s basically me trippin on life in general í¢ä‰åäóì how the struggles and lessons-to-be-learned seem to never end, but you push ahead. I give a nod to the people that seem to have it so easy… really it’s all your own state of mind í¢ä‰åäóì embracing the struggle and stuff. I don’t know… it just all reminded me of WWII í¢ä‰åäóì Russian tanks and sleeplessness. The music was influenced by Black Flag, Avengers, and Helmet. There’s a cool studio trick in the song where the guitar in the verse is mono, then goes to stereo in the chorus to give it that “uplifting” effect. Radioactivist This song was originally called í¢ä‰åñThe Class of Nuke ‘Em Highí¢ä‰åŒ …named after the movie. Later changed it because I wasn’t feeling the whole naming-a-song-after-a-movie thing. Self-destructive actions, impure thoughts, living dangerously in a poison-filled world. It’s human nature. People have a right to be shitty. In a more responsible way of thinking í¢ä‰åäóì it’s standing up for yourself and others in a hostile environment. Divebomb Rock N Roll. No Future. Live freely. It’s good to acknowledge it! We’ve been playing this song forever and it’s still exciting. í¢ä‰åñChinese bodyguards…í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì yep. Droppin Bombs On Your Moms A little old-school slang for ya… This is one of the few songs where the lyrics were written from start to finish without changing anything… just venting my distaste for bad trends… I guess there’s good trends too í¢ä‰åäóì ok. I say í¢ä‰åñventingí¢ä‰åŒ because I realize following trends is also human nature and won’t ever change. The music was influenced by 7 Seconds and really old Soundgarden. Reactor Originally titled í¢ä‰åñAftermathí¢ä‰åŒ on the í¢ä‰åñHigh Revoltageí¢ä‰åŒ album… it made it’s comeback when Twig joined the band and said it was one of his favorite songs. By the time we tightened up the music and lyrics it ended up as í¢ä‰åñReactorí¢ä‰åŒ. It’s like Crass meets í¢ä‰åñYellow Submarineí¢ä‰åŒ meets Fugazi. Completely serious and ridiculous at the same time. The world is a weird place. This is the closest thing to an í¢ä‰åñanthemí¢ä‰åŒ that I’d ever want to write. Strike Tonight Betrayal, revenge… and freight trains. The 1st verse says í¢ä‰åñWe’re on a trainwreck running ashore…í¢ä‰åŒ, and to this day I can’t stop singing it as í¢ä‰åñWe’re on a freight train…í¢ä‰åŒ! There is some pretty intense single-foot kick drum work going on in this track! It was funny recording this because Amir kept calling JD í¢ä‰åñpussy footí¢ä‰åŒ and would accuse him of í¢ä‰åñpf.’ingí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìnot kicking hard enough. We were laughing our asses off at JD’s expense… he later thanked Amir for egging him on. El Salvador Musical Influences- Fu Manchu, Bad Brains, In My Eyes, At The Gates. It’s a song about saving yourself FROM yourself. I got my lyrical inspiration after several weeks of being around the Hollywood party-crowd. Lots of sad cokeheads and pill-poppers self-destructively trying to better themselves. Ok, the Espa퀌±ol is also a shout out to my Latino homies! When I heard that nasty guitar riff at the end I just thought to myself, í¢ä‰åñhmmm…. ‘El Salvador’.í¢ä‰åŒ Social Meltdown A bad hair day. An outpouring of frustration, boredom, and self-consciousness. Yet keeping the faith that things will change í¢ä‰åäóìit’s in your hands. The music was a result of just toying around with several different drum beats and guitar riffs. We joked at the thought of calling this one í¢ä‰åñChernobylí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìbecause of the word í¢ä‰åñmeltdowní¢ä‰åŒ. Image that… í¢ä‰åñStalingradí¢ä‰åŒ AND í¢ä‰åñChernobylí¢ä‰åŒ on the same record?! People would trip on my obsession with Russia… really all I want is a mail-order bride. We ended up changing the breakdown in this one right before we entered the studio. It seemed like a good idea at the time but I kind of miss the original way… it did this out-of-tempo slow down and heavy lurch. Yeah, I guess it was kind of stupid í¢ä‰åäóì whatever! Golden Gold… nowadays if you REALLY want to bling, you gotta have PLATNIUM. í¢ä‰åñRocky IVí¢ä‰åŒ is that one where Apollo Creed gets knocked-out dead and was all convulsing and shit. Chuck Norris rocks by virtue of being a kung-fu master and having a beard. He also gets to say í¢ä‰åñBruce Lee may have kicked my ass, but at least I’m still alive!í¢ä‰åŒ. The rest of the song should be self-explanatory. Motorhead meets Bad Brains. The Waltz This was the last song written & recorded for the album. We wanted to try something a bit different from what we normally play. So I got together and jammed with Amir and we came up with the chorus. This ended up being a fun track to record since nobody knew what to expect. Our engineer Matt, had this old piano in his studio and started playing the main riff of the song, so we added his performance in on the last chorus. It was originally named í¢ä‰åñThe Waltzí¢ä‰åŒ because of the 6/8 timing of the breakdown. When the lyrics were finished í¢ä‰åäóì this tale of cut-throat living, the title still seemed to fit so we kept it. Shoot!Move!Communicate! My friend Ben from the band the Hoods wrote me a letter from the county jail and signed it í¢ä‰åñstay up!í¢ä‰åŒ. The í¢ä‰åñshoot, move, communicateí¢ä‰åŒ is U.S. Army talk for battlefield strategy í¢ä‰åäóìthe song parallels life as this battlefield of sorts… yeah, like Pat Benatar’s í¢ä‰åñLove Is A Battlefieldí¢ä‰åŒ. í¢ä‰åñI put the tape in and drive…í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì I actually still have a tape deck in my old ’86 Ford van. Mark heard a demo of í¢ä‰åñS!M!C!í¢ä‰åŒ & wrote the guitar solo in this song before he was even officially in the band! This song was originally written and recorded at the same time we did a Christmas song (í¢ä‰åñHoliday Suicideí¢ä‰åŒ) for the í¢ä‰åñElves Built My Hot Rodí¢ä‰åŒ compilation í¢ä‰åäóì a benefit for the Sacramento Skatepark Advocates. Who says we don’t help the community?! Bl’ast! The System The spelling of í¢ä‰åñ Bl’ast! í¢ä‰åŒ pays homage to the late, great 1980’s hardcore band Bl’ast! I actually met the singer, Clifford at our last show in San Francisco í¢ä‰åäóìand yes, we played this song! Bl’ast! is a huge influence on Red Tape, so I was super-stoked to play for, and then hang out with one of my musical heroes. The song is about loud music as civil disobedience. Jiu-Jitsu (B-side) This is the opposite of í¢ä‰åñSocial Meltdowní¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìan outpouring of positivity and excitement. The lyric í¢ä‰åñinsomniac dojoí¢ä‰åŒ refers to your own personal space where you write, draw, build, practice, or create your art. The musical influence is drawn from Snapcase, Bl’ast!, and Sick of It All. The Program (B-side) í¢ä‰åñFucking up the program.í¢ä‰åŒ …more old-school ghetto slang! It can be GOOD like, í¢ä‰åñyeah, we are…. !í¢ä‰åŒ or BAD like í¢ä‰åñhey man, you’re…í¢ä‰åŒ The song is kind of like that movie í¢ä‰åñOffice Spaceí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì I actually wrote it at work in my cubicle. Dealing with robotic business-minded í¢ä‰åñprofessionalsí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì you long for some humanity out of the rat race. It’s another way of saying í¢ä‰åñyoung ’till I die!í¢ä‰åŒ. í¢ä‰åñTrust youthí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìI saw those words scratched into my friend’s Zippo lighter… he’s Japanese by the way, where punk rockers have more freedom to be fucking weird! That’s why I can’t wait to go there.