Red N Pink

Last friday, I was lucky to meet with the Broccoli Team and the up and coming Duo Red n Pink. These girls are so much fun and absolutely passionate about their music. You can check them out on the 28th of october at the Nottinghill Arts club.


How did you guys meet?

Red : Well we met 8 years ago, and we both had decided that we wanted to be solo artists. Emma was doing jam sessions and I spent my time writing lyrics and raps. One day I received a call from a guy I’d worked with when I was sixteen, and he was trying to get me to come to this all girl band audition. With Emma he tricked her by coming up to her in a Jam session and saying “Hey we wanna do like a Nelly Furtado with you”. Long story short we went to this audition and I just felt something from her, like she’s talented and she didn’t give a shit and neither did I. We ended up doing this girl band for 2 years and eventually we saw that we could write our own songs so we took risks and became a duo.

How would you describe your own music?

Red : The main way you can identify our music is by me and emma’s writing styles. For the moment we are working with Nutty P and Mr.Sounds so collectively we have created this style like ElectroPunkSoul. Soul being the vocals, punk being the attitude, and electro being the heaviness. But then Nutty P has brought in a dubstep feeling to it. But live I’d say we were indie hip hop because live you get the base and our attitude comes out.

Pink : I think it’s also definitely a London sound.

Who are your influences?

Pink: Were madly influenced by our friends and the people around us who are creating music, they’re so inspirational. To see them fighting for their dreams as well and they make really good music, we’ve got lots of good friends who are really talented

Red: For this album in particular NERD and No Doubt

Pink: Old soul music, Blondie,Prince, Micheal Jackson, The Cure, Dubstep, Massive attack, we just love music. We went to Mexico not long ago, and for some reason electro was huge there. We went out raving and it had this old school garage feelwith a strong baseline. So we took that influence back with us.

Red: We like the content of music, were lyricists so naturally we listen to the words. We also vibe with the dark garage sound. But 80's we are definitely influenced from the 80's

How did you come up with the name Red N Pink?

Red: We were in the car with a guy named Denis who was offering us a publishing deal at the time and we had just decided to go as a duo. So we were driving and thinking we need a name, something like Salt and Pepper, Fish and Chips, Red n Pink just came out and we were like yea.. we really like that. So we just kept it.

Pink: We just used it as a temporary name it just stuck. It grew on us, Red and Pink are just so vibrant and so feminine.

You guys have a huge following in the gay community, how did that come about?

Red : A lot of our friends are gay, I was also on Candy Bar girls but we had a gay following way before that. We do love the gay scene.

Pink: The gay fans are just so loyal, they promote our video and music everyday we are so grateful for them. We’re just open to any type of person who loves our music and who is there for us.

What was is like to have your video on the front of Youtube?

Red: Basically we have no idea how it got on, we think Youtube put it forward, but actually we have no clue

Pink: We thought our fans had voted for us and we were thanking them and saying “OMG thanks so much for everything, you guys are amazing” No one said anything regarding it. So we don’t know how it got there.

Red: It went up 20,000 views whilst it was on the front page of youtube, and ever since then it’s been going up continuously. We’ve received so much hate though but we love it. It’s understandable though because Badman is quite controversial, they just don’t get it.

Pink: There are lot of reasons for that hate, it doesn’t surprise me at all, but i think we’re easy targets. I do think out of controversy issues arises good things, I don’t think they realise that massive favour they’re doing for us, By giving hate they’re actually giving us so many views. If you have something bad to say Do it!! We love it!!

Whats the new video black & white all about?

Pink: It came about from a meteor sighting, it was something we had written back a while ago and just scrapped it. For fun one day we brought it back and Nutty P made this nasty beat, then the chorus just came naturally. It just made us remember the vision of when we saw the meteor and thought to ourselves were going to die, and it just passed. It’s that feeling that something big is going to happen, and all of that came out.. It’s really an apocalyptic song to be honest, it about the changing of time.

Red: On the same day that we wrote the song we came home and had learnt that Michael Jackson had died. For both of us it’s a massive thing, and people thought that because he’d died we wrote the song, but what’s crazy about it is that we wrote the song whilst he died without even knowing it.

So Red, what was your experience like in Candy Bar Girls?

Red: I was just seeing someone at the time and she was going to be a main character in it, but it was hard. My family didn’t know anything about it and I don’t like to be put in a box, it’s not about being gay or straight I just am who I am. Then they wanted to start following my band, and there was much jealousy there. I would get told stuff like don’t do that so I would just try to limit myself so I wouldn’t be on it too much. I was so scared though, I kept thinking that this was too gay for my life, and so I’d drink because i was nervous. People who tweet me asking if I drank a lot and I was like no I don’t, it was just my nerves. But I’m met some brilliant friends though it, people i didn’t know until i did the show and they’re all doing so well. It’s also been good for the fans they’ve told me like “Oh I Saw you on TV!!!!! ” and it’s been wicked in that perspective.

Tell me about your family history in music?

Pink: My dad was in a band when he was young, that’s how my parents had met. My mum saw my dad on stage and thought he was a god but once off stage he had like black roots and he was actually quite short but they still managed to get together and have me so it still went well. I grew up with music, sound engineering for rock bands and so on, but he is so supportive of our work and he really loves us. I would say that my background is quite jazzy with jam sessions and that’s how i got into it.

Red: My experience is my granddad who has one of the most amazing voices I’ve ever heard, he is amazing, he used to sing in Cyprus. Then my aunty Penny was famous in Egypt and all the Arab countries. Finally my Aunty Nicky was working for record labels and singing for soul to soul as a backup.

What’s your favourite Beatles song?

Pink: When i was a kid I always loved strawberry fields, my dad also did a remake of Give Peace a chance and I really loved that. I can’t say I have a favourite.

Red: I can’t answer that question, I have no idea.

Who is your Celebrity Crush?

Pink: Pharrell Willams, I love him and Prince. I know he’s like 50 something but i love him and I’d marry him tomorrow.

Red: Id say Jessie J and Russell brand, I love the way he moves, I wanna be him. He’s very feminine I like him, i like him in Get Him to the Greek where he’s a rock star. I find he’s just so clever and I like how he speaks, it’s the same thing about Jessie J plus she’s fit.

What’s on your list for Santa?

Pink: I want an iPod that someone has put all the most wicket tunes on, something I can work out to. That’s what I want.

Red: I just want someone to come and say “I want to release your album” Can Santa do that?

If your house is on fire and you could only save 3 possessions what would you save?

Red: I’m not in love with anything, I’m just trying to think what I’d save and to be honest I’d just save myself. Depends how big the fire was, I’d probably get my phone so I could call the police. I’d make sure i got my clothes on and jump out the window. I just don’t give a shit about possessions.

Pink: If I could save anything it would probably be my stereo and my computer.

Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?

Red: On tour. With really really cool bands selling out arena’s and being really happy.

Any Last Words

Red: Just that we’re really excited about our gig on the 28th and we’re excited about our video shoot. And that we really real really appreciate all the love that we’re getting.
- The Ladies Toilet

Are u a badman?” Well, in the context of this song I would hope not. But Red N Pink (Yoda and Emma) sure as hell look like bad ass nu-wave punk girls, leaning against the ropes of a boxing ring with a big sneer beneath their, ahh, red and pink hair. It’s a fitting image for their slightly grimy electro-dubstep hip-hype sound that fits in the current moment.

But this sisterly like duo seem to be all about bitchy hooks with a touch of good humor, fun, and realism. The first line “Badman is trying to find all the Marajuana. Living in his house in his old pyjamas “ says it all. We’ve all known or met this type of “badman”, and you can’t help but pity them. They just don’t have an ounce of motivation or fight in them: weak.

Red N Pink though, they’re gonna duke it out and fight through life to the very end while having a blast doing it. The image, attitude, and influence of M.I.A. and P!nk sort of combined should put these two not only on the map of London and the UK, but over the pond as well. They’ve got just the right spunk and appeal to eventually attract the following their after.

Rate: 9/10

Reviewed by Tomas Hughes - Independent Music News