Vendetta Red is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, that was formed in 1998. They released an EP, ''6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive'', in 1999 and two albums, '' Blackout Analysis'' in 2000 and '' White Knuckled Substance'' in 2001, before signing their first major label deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. Their first release on Epic, ''

Between the Never and the Now ''Between the Never and the Now'' is the third album by Vendetta Red Vendetta Red is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington, that was formed in 1998. They released an EP, ''6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Aliv ...

'', charted at No. 1 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

and No. 101 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 2003 with the album's single, "Shatterday", peaking at No. 16 on the

Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. The group's fourth album, ''

Sisters of the Red Death ''Sisters of the Red Death'' is an album by Vendetta Red, released in 2005. It was the band's second album for Epic Records. Production ''Sisters of the Red Death'' is a concept album about nuclear war. It was produced by Howard Benson. The tra ...

'', was released in 2005 and charted at No. 21 on the Top Heatseeker's Chart. After a series of lineup changes, the group disbanded in 2006, but announced a reunion four years later.

History

Early career (1998–2002)

The group was formed in 1998 by Erik Chapman, Joseph Childres, Justin Cronk, Zach Davidson, Adam Garcia, and Mike Vermillion in

, Washington and nearly a year later they issued their debut release, the ''6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive EP'' with a tour of the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

following after. A year later, they released their first album, '' Blackout Analysis'', with their second album, '' White Knuckled Substance'', being released by Loveless Records in October the next year, which was well received by local radio, with the band continuing to tour on the West Coast. During their tour, they gained the attention of a number of labels and eventually signed with

in 2002.

Major label years (2003–2006)

After finishing recording with the late Jerry Finn, the group's first major label album ''

'', which was preceded by the EP '' Cut Your Noose'', was released in June 2003 and charted at No. 1 on the

and No. 101 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album's single, ''Shatterday'', peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The album included reworked songs from their previous release, ''White Knuckled Substance''. The band supported the album with a North American tour, which included a stint on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

. The song ''The Long Goodbye'', from the album ''White Knuckled Substance'', was included on the ''Warped Tour 2002 Tour Compilation''. After opening for

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

at the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Roseland Ballroom, singer Zach Davidson said that the fans during the show were acting "blatantly homophobic": They continued to tour, playing with the likes of Dashboard Confessional, Brand New and

MxPx MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead gui ...

. The group entered the studio in 2004 with the producer Howard Benson to record the follow-up to ''Between the Never and the Now''. For the album, Childres switched to keyboards with Burke Thomas added to the group to record drums. The drummer from

Street Drum Corps Street Drum Corps is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 2004 by Bobby Alt, of S.T.U.N. and Faculty X; Adam Alt, of Circus Minor; and Frank Zummo, of TheStart. To date the group have released four albums and have been part of tours su ...

, Bobby Alt, contributed

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

to the album while Phil Perrone contributed backing vocals. The album, titled ''

'', was released in 2005 and charted at No. 21 on the Top Heatseeker's Chart. Late in 2004, Chapman and Childres left the group and the guitarist Leif Andersen of Common Heroes and Pris joined the band on lead guitar and keyboards. In late 2005 Vermillion left the band and bass guitarist

Jeff Rouse Jeffrey Norman Rouse (born February 6, 1970) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Rouse represented the United States in two consecutive Olympic Games in 1992 ...

, of

Alien Crime Syndicate Alien Crime Syndicate, often abbreviated to ACS, were a rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1997. From 1999 to the band's breakup in 2005, the lineup consisted primarily of Joe Reineke (vocals, guitar), Jeff Rouse (bass, backing voca ...

and Loaded was added to the group.

Breakup (2006)

Vendetta Red announced on MySpace on March 8, 2006, that they were going separate ways to create different styles of music. Davidson later made the following statement: Vendetta Red played their final show at El Corazon in Seattle, Washington, on April 8, 2006. They ended their set with "A Joyless Euphoria".

Post-breakup (2006–2010)

Following the breakup, Davidson, Andersen and Rouse formed

Sirens Sister Sirens Sister is an American rock band based in Seattle, Washington. The group was formed in 2006, following the breakup of Vendetta Red, former members Zach Davidson, Leif Andersen and Rouse, as well as local drummer Ben Libay, formed Sirens Si ...

in 2006 along with the drummer Ben Libey. They signed to

The Control Group The Control Group is an independent record label, founded by Nabil Ayers in Seattle, Washington in 2002. Notable artists who have released albums on The Control Group include El Perro del Mar, Lykke Li, Cate Le Bon, Alice Boman and Wildbird ...

and released their first album, ''Echoes from the Ocean Floor'', in September 2006, produced by Martin Feveyear. In 2007, Rouse left the group and was replaced by Andersen's brother, Levi Andersen, on bass guitar with the group going on to release ''Unspeakable Things'' in 2009 on The Control Group recorded by John Goodmanson and mixed by Martin Feveyear in Seattle. Vermillion enjoyed a solo career now playing his own folk and American roots songs as well as covering many classic but perhaps lesser-known American country artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Merle Haggard and Jim Croce. He plays shows frequently in the Seattle area and also DJs under the name "Sad Bastard", usually playing country, Motown, folk and soul. His first official full-length solo album was released on May 21, 2008. Cronk is now playing drums for With Friends Like These. The band includes fellow Bakersfield native Matthew Shaw, local producer Tyler Coffey and Brian Pake. Cronk owns a recording studio with bandmate Coffey in Seattle called The Toy Box. Chapman has been enjoying life outside of the music industry as a bar tender at a Seattle area up-scale bar. He was married in 2006 to Andrea and they currently reside in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Their song "Silhouette Serenade" is used in the video game ''

Saints Row ''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...

''. Childres was playing for Blood Hot Beat. He was reported dead on June 3, 2020. Thomas formed a band called Megasapien with Lian Light (formerly of Magneto). Their second album was expected to be released at the end of March 2011.

Reunion (2010–present)

In December 2010, it was announced that Vendetta Red would reunite for a one-off show at El Corazon in Seattle on March 5, 2011. This turned out to be an extended reunion. The band members later announced they had also begun working on new material and had enlisted the noted rock/metal producer Terry Date to produce what would be their first album in six years. Vendetta Red performed some of this new material at

Bumbershoot Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend (leading up to and including the first Monday of September) at the ...

2011, as well as material from their previous studio albums, a

song, and a solo (Davidson) acoustic version of Seconds Away. A new song called Blank Screens was released on January 15, 2012 as a single on various digital music services including iTunes, and the album title ''Scripture'' was announced. On January 24, 2017, Vendetta Red announced on their Facebook page that they had signed with Cleopatra Records and were in the process of recording the new album. The album, titled ''Quinceañera'', was released on April 13, 2018.

Band members

Current members

* Zach Davidson – lead vocals, guitars, piano, organ, tambourine, glockenspiel, percussion (since 1998) * Leif Andersen – lead guitar, lap steel, mandolin, violin, keyboards, programming, synthesizers, backing vocals (since 2005) * Jonah Bergman - bass guitar (since 2010) * Burke Thomas – drums, percussion (since 2000)

Past members

* Eric Chapman – guitar (1998–2004) * Justin Cronk – guitar (2000–2006) (d. 2022) * Michael Vermillion – bass guitar (2000–2005) * Joseph Childres – drums, percussion, keyboards (1998–2004) (d. 2020) *

– bass guitar (2005–2006) * Adam Garcia - drums (1998-1999)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1998 till:12/31/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1998 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1998 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Percussion value:claret legend:Percussion id:Strings value:drabgreen legend:Strings id:lines value:black legend:Studio_Albums Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1998 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1998 LineData = at:03/03/2000 color:lines layer:back at:01/30/2001 color:lines layer:back at:06/24/2003 color:lines layer:back at:08/30/2005 color:lines layer:back at:04/18/2018 color:lines layer:back BarData = bar:Davidson text:Zach Davidson bar:Chapman text:Eric Chapman bar:Cronk text:Justin Cronk bar:Andersen text:Leif Andersen bar:Vermillion text:Michael Vermillion bar:Rouse text:Jeff Rouse bar:Bergman text:Jonah Bergman bar:Garcia text:Adam Garcia bar:Childres text:Joseph Childres bar:Thomas text:Burke Thomas PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Davidson from:start till:04/08/2006 color:Vocals bar:Davidson from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Vocals bar:Davidson from:start till:04/08/2006 color:Guitar width:7 bar:Davidson from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Guitar width:7 bar:Davidson from:01/01/1998 till:04/08/2006 color:Percussion width:3 bar:Davidson from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Percussion width:3 bar:Chapman from:start till:01/01/2004 color:Guitar bar:Cronk from:01/01/2000 till:04/08/2006 color:Guitar bar:Andersen from:01/01/2005 till:04/08/2006 color:Guitar bar:Andersen from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Guitar bar:Andersen from:01/01/2005 till:04/08/2006 color:Strings width:7 bar:Andersen from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Strings width:7 bar:Andersen from:01/01/2005 till:04/08/2006 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Andersen from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Vermillion from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2005 color:Bass bar:Rouse from:01/01/2005 till:04/08/2006 color:Bass bar:Bergman from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Bass bar:Garcia from:start till:01/01/1999 color:Drums bar:Childres from:start till:01/01/2004 color:Drums bar:Childres from:start till:01/01/2004 color:Percussion width:7 bar:Childres from:start till:01/01/2004 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Thomas from:01/01/2000 till:04/08/2006 color:Drums bar:Thomas from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Drums

Discography

Studio album

*'' Blackout Analysis'' (2000) *'' White Knuckled Substance'' (2001) *''

'' (2003) *''

'' (2005) *''Quinceañera'' (2018)

EPs

*''6 Kisses, A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive'' (1999) *''

Cut Your Noose EP Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

'' (2002) *'' Shatterday EP'' (2003) *''Scripture'' (2013) *''Light Year Anniversary'' (2013)

Singles

References

External links

* *
Vendetta Red
Facebook
Michael Vermillion interview
on MyNorthwest.com {{Authority control 1998 establishments in Washington (state) 2006 disestablishments in Washington (state) 2010 establishments in Washington (state) Alternative rock groups from Washington (state) Emo musical groups from Washington (state) American post-grunge musical groups American post-hardcore musical groups American screamo musical groups Epic Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups reestablished in 2010