In the Studio with Redline Graffiti from DCist on Vimeo.
By DCist Contributor Lang Kanai
They call it “stew music.” Composed of musicians from all over the country and steeped in traditions that range from delta blues to go-go, Redline Graffiti is a band that defies classification. DCist recently caught up with the group in their NoMa studios to get a peek into their sonic kitchen.
Donnie Martin and Drew Moten first met at Mousai House, a residence and gathering place for artists in D.C.’s Brookland neighborhood. After jamming only a couple times, they both knew they had caught on to something wonderful. “The house is really responsible [for us], and also just nature taking its course,” reflects Moten, who sings and plays bass. Mix in Ajene Harley on guitar and Dante Pope on drums—two talented composers in their own right—and Redline Graffiti has all the ingredients necessary for serving up complex compositions to satisfy the most discriminating of auditory pallets.
Photo by Lang Kanai
When asked to describe their sound, Martin is cagey in his response: “it’s whatever happens in the center of the room.” To avoid placing limitations on their identity as a band, and, as Martin puts it, to “keep their sound open,” they eschew broad labels. “People make names for the sake of talking,” he elaborates. “We’re an amalgamation of everything.”
And Redline does boast an impressive stylistic range. “End of the World,” a track from their first EP, 2011’s About and Because, is an arresting blend of dreamy keys, gritty rhythm and an expressive vocal call-and-response between Martin and Moten. It’s ribboned with distant guitar riffs to mirror a lyrically apocryphal song. With lines like “It’s the end of the world / I knew it would come / So, do me this solid and die in my arms,” the track is an example of how the band occupies a fraught space between the narrative and the confessional.
Photo by Lang Kanai
While “End of the World” contains more poppy flavors, tracks like “Junior June” from their 2014 EP The Drill feel a bit more risky. Unexpected shifts in melody and tempo stretch the ear while brief silences seem to indicate a mature confidence in the rich movements that unfold operatically.
Photo by Lang Kanai
Which is not to say that the quartet has become something heady or inaccessible. Listening to cuts side-by-side, the band’s growth is evident. Harley explains the cause behind this evolution: “As individual musicians, we all have people we look up to, reasons we got into [music] in the first place. Growing into the craft as people and as musicians is an interesting process because they can be two different things sometimes. Things go in, things come out and work themselves in ways that you wouldn’t have imagined two, three years ago.”
You can catch Redline Graffiti with RDGLDGRN and Mista Selecta this Thursday at the 9:30 Club.
