Red Shag Carpet

“There’s been a lot of chatter about Edmonton being the next
Montreal, but I don’t know; I’d be happy with the next Winnipeg,”
jokes Red Shag Carpet’s guitarist Ted Ani. However jokingly Ani
explains his thoughts on the matter, Edmonton is becoming a
diverse, burgeoning musical metropolis. The city has exported
Shout Out Out Out Out, Veal, the whole Normals Welcome
Syndicate and Cadence Weapon as of late. And now folks outside
the more often than not frozen capital of Alberta hear Red Shag
Carpet and their exceptional sophomore release, Lift and Drop. So expect the ‘another Winnipeg’ claim to further cement itself. “It’s not like there’s magic in the air,” explains Ani, the focused
guitarist of the quartet, “but there are a lot of good people here.”
Founded in 2003, Red Shag Carpet emerged from Edmonton
with a debut album before ever performing live. Along with Ani,
drummer Allan Pickard, keyboardist Matti Darrah and bassist Dan
Yarmon, they released their self–titled debut independently and
then hit the road, focusing on expanding their repertoire with
constant touring and stretched–out, improvised sets. The more
miles on the van, the better the band got, as they outgrew the
sound laid down on Red Shag Carpet, prompting a return to the
studio with producer Nic Kozub to lay down Lift and Drop. Now
the songs are stronger, the improvisation has been slashed
considerably and the quartet has an excellent, eclectic album that
effectively captures their sound. “We recorded the first album
before doing any real touring, so in between albums we spent a
lot of time on the road and developed our sound as a band. All
four of us started writing songs and I’d say that’s the biggest
single difference since the beginning. We wanted to keep the new album edgy and raw to some extent and avoid an overly polished sound, so the trick was to clearly communicate the songs while keeping it spontaneous at the same time. I think we accomplished that,” he affirms. Lift and Drop is a sprawling tour–de–force in aggressive, yet poignantly melodic rock that draws new boundaries by avoiding the ones usually entwined into rock and roll. At times the
foursome sounds like a pissed–off bastard child of Gomez, while
other moments Jeff Tweedy’s visage appears and leads them
through soft pastures of country, folk and blues. There are
quieter, more introspective tunes, and there are rough–edged,
rhythmic corkers as well. While “Our St. Drum” could have easily
been found on an Arcade Fire b–side, the horn–laced single “So
and So” sounds more like Big Sugar crossed with Jackson Browne
fumbling over richly textured piano–pop. A grandiose,
accomplished work, Lift and Drop is the album Red Shag Carpet
was supposed to make, adding another notch on the ‘make
Edmonton the next Winnipeg’ chart. “We really had no idea how people would react, because it’s a big change for people who had the first record,” explains Ani. “We have had reviewers talk about every single song on the album and fans have all different favourite songs. Also, “So and So” worked really well on commercial radio in Edmonton
and the press has been really supportive.” In addition, every
member of Red Shag Carpet sings, prompting more comparisons
with Gomez (yet again), Phish and Umphrey’s McGee. While Ani
acknowledges the disparate, yet apt comparisons, they even mention some of these bands in their bio, he knows that while Red Shag Carpet encompass elements from a various genres, very few acts combine the ingredients quite like the quartet. “We’ve had the full slice of society at our shows, for example. We would never say “our music is impossible to classify” because we definitely have a lot of apparent influences,” responds Ani. “If each of us made a solo album, I bet they would be a lot easier to fit into a scene. That is because in Red Shag Carpet, we
all have our 25 per cent say on every note. That can be good or
bad, but for us it’s just kind of the way it’s been. Sometimes I
think it’d be nice to ride the latest trend to stardom, but we’re not
cool enough to keep up on the latest trends anyway.”
And now that the new album has been released nationally,
the band will once again embark on yet another cross–country
tour to promote their new baby. The band has already played over
250 times across the country, and six weeks have been booked
from Victoria to Halifax, stopping in Hamilton on October 5 at the
Casbah. “There’s no better way to get your music to people,”
explains Ani. “You can sit at home and mail your EP to as many
people as you want, but that never made sense to us. It is a lot of
driving, and the gas prices suck, but I love it. We get along really
well and that makes it possible. This country isn’t designed for
touring though. Sometimes I wish we lived in Malta.” - Shain Shapiro 10/05/2006

"If I moved to Edmonton I would try to freestyle with Cadence Weapon, get married to Shout Out Out Out Out and make Red Shag Carpet be my Best Friends Forever, because they are the best kind of rock band around." - Lauren Burrows - 06/12/06

✪✪✪✪✪
While sitting around the Intercamp
meeting table, I peruse the selection of CD’s for review this week. The pickins' were slim but fortunately there was a secret gem tucked away in there. They’re a local band, they have an aesthetically
pleasing album cover, and
they’re called Red Shag Carpet. I was instantly sold. It’s not unusual for a situation like this to unfold into disappointment, but when I put on Lift and Drop the first time, I
loved it. It’s the kind of music that even though the lyrics can be somewhat dark and moody, the music makes you feel so damn happy that you want to dance around like a giddy child. “Paint,” which evokes a softer sway may be the only exception, but the tune still has the same 'sunshine after a rainy day feeling that the others have. This is definitely the album of choice
when you need to dance off your frustrations.
Some bands have a difficult time playing
with the same energy in the studio
as they have onstage, but Red Shag
managed to capture the energy of their
live show flawlessly. No complaints
about this album at all, it's solid all the
way through.
I'll be eagerly awaiting their next CD
release.
By - Andrea Webster - 02/02/2006

Soul! That's what The Vines are missing. It becomes readily apparent after listening to Red Shag Carpet's second album, Lift and Drop, which smoulders with a ragged piano-pop, folk and punk spirit. The last line of the album - "I'll find music in the sound of anything that brought me down" - is really the theme of the entire recording. Best track: Drop, which spills forth with a rush of drawly rasps about information overload, then tries to sooth listeners with a lilting piano melody. Red Shag Carpet, who happen to be Sonic's band of the month for April, roll out the tunes on April 27 at The Globe, 10045 109th st. - Sandra Sperounes - 04/01/2006

"The energy that Red Shag Carpet brings to the stage only strenghtens their already stellar debut CD" - Bill Roach "Radio - Active"

"Today I said all of my thoughts out loud." This drubbing, well-made rock confessional has the stain of honesy upon it, and the smell of success too. From the second album by yet another band to know about from the City of Champions (Edmonton). - Robert Everett-Green 09/08/2006

One of the oldest tricks in the rock and roll hand-book is forming a band with more than one singer/songwriter.
Such a move adds variety to the sound, divides the workload, lessens the focus on a single member (i.e the lead singer or the best looking), and increases the odds of garnering a hit song. After all, it's a helluva lot easier to write three good songs than it is to write 10. Regardless of all these benefits, due to the lack of cohesion and volatile nature of having too many talented minds contributing to one project, the one-band/many-singers rarely works out.
In the case of Edmonton alt-indie rockers Red Shag Carpet, however, it sounds like it's working out just fine.
Comprised of bassist Dan Yarmon, pianist Matti Darrah, drummer Allan Pickard and guitarist Ted Ani, the members of Red Shag Carpet have brought their varying lyrical and songwriting styles together to create a distinct, unified sound reminiscent of an edgier Wilco, a diverse Spoon or an exciting Sloan. Their highly acclaimed latest release, the Nik Kozub produced sophmore effort "Lift and Drop", is a testament to the potential power of the multiple singer band. And with more than 250 live shows under their collective belt it's little suprise that this quartet has the chops to carry that recorded magic over to the stage. If only the rest of us could get along so well. - R.C Joseph 11/02/2006

Although the long weekend’s boasts of hot weather and clear skies had drawn a number of last-minute vacationers out to some lake or another, a considerable crowd still managed to manifest itself within the brick walls of the Power Plant. However, those left-behind Edmontonians looked as though they’d be tough to please: a large chunk of the audience had a bad case of flittering eyes, their minds silently wondering how they ended up on campus instead of somewhere involving sand. But that all changed when Red Shag Carpet took the stage...

One by one, the guys picked up their instruments and dove headfirst into tracks from their sophomore effort, Lift and Drop. Their alt-rock electricity and poppy soul flicked a switch in the audience; within a matter of seconds, the floor was being trampled and stomped on by those–both young and old–who couldn’t stop the music from tickling their dance nerves.

Guitarist Ted Ani’s scratchy voice floated from his lips, reaching out to the microphone like natural gas waiting to touch a flickering spark. Matti Darrah was supposed to play in a kiddie pool onstage (they had claimed this in an e-mail), but unfortunately, he didn’t. No worries, though: Darrah’s keyboard became his playground instead, and he splashed fresh jolts of energy anywhere and everywhere possible. Similarly, Allan Pickard couldn’t restrain himself from using one set of cymbals as drumsticks, and bassist Dan Yarmon was so mesmerized by the music that a kick in the groin by the leaping Ani probably wouldn’t have made him falter.

Indeed, watching Red Shag Carpet was like believing you were on a plane to Yellowknife, but later finding yourself landing in Tahiti. The Shag kicked off their cross-Canada tour punching out their tunes with such incredible force that I’m sure we’ll be hearing them all the way from Halifax.
- Amanda Ash 09/07/2006

"We got jobs that bite our tongues." Beat that for brutally capturing the quiet despair that accompanies capitulation to the realities of being an adult now. Anyone who lives in or near Edmonton already knows about this alt.pop four-piece, whose just-released second album ends with this sombre song, which actually ends on a defiantly non-sombre note: "But I'll find music in he sound/Of anything that brought me down." (From Lift and Drop, redshagcarpet.com) - John Sakamoto - 08/19/2006