The band comes from humble beginnings in West Jordan, Utah. Initially starting as a Classic Rock Revival group, Scarlett Letter has since explored the realms of Funk, Alternative, and Indie. They have often been compared to bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, and Arctic Monkeys. As a three-piece, they share songwriting duties equally and incorporate a variety of instruments. However, Guitar, Bass, and Drums are the core of the music. The band is comprised of good friends Connor Andrus, Ethan George, and Owen Davis, who have known each other since middle school.
-Interview- (8/12/24)
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? How did the name "Scarlett Letter" come about and is there any meaning to it?
We have all been listening to and admiring music our whole lives, but we all started playing our instruments at very different times. Ethan, our bassist, has been playing music for 7-ish years, and bass for 6. Connor, our front man, has been playing guitar and singing for 5 years now. And Owen, our drummer, has been drumming for four years. Eventually, we all got together to make music, and Connor pitched the name “Scarlett Letter”. We all liked it. When Owen and Ethan asked what the name was all about, he told them it was based on the book with the same name. We just decided to add an extra ‘T’ for flavor. Our sound got developed through each individual member's very specific influences. We all share one big musical influence, that being the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It doesn’t come out all the time, but it’s the one influence we come back to when writing songs, and the thought process behind each song.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
We want people to take away the emotional feelings that come with music. Music has been very stale to us as of late, with not a whole lot of thought or emotion. To us, music is best when it makes you feel something, whether that be joy, sadness, anger or whatever. That's why we have so many on stage jams when we play. We can make our audience experience our emotions through that, and we can experience their emotions.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
Alternative rock is kind of the base. From there we branch out into Funk, hard rock, and just simple old rock.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
These are all totally out of our league, but Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
5. What's your thoughts on AI generated music?
We don’t like it at all. Not one redeeming quality comes with A.I music, or any art made by A.I. It takes the soul out of art and music which is so important. When you see something made by a human, whether some dude shredding a guitar onstage, or a masterpiece of a painting, it makes you go “Wow that is a human being that did that. That's incredible!” But when you see something made by A.I, that feeling goes away, and it just turns into, “Look at what this robot did.” There's no ‘Wow’ factor. There's no soul.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Alternative Rock?
It is in a very weird spot right now. It’s kind of like where it was in the late 80’s before Nirvana blew up. It’s growing, but it hasn’t had that catalyst yet. Nirvana had that catalyst with Nevermind, but alternative and grunge into the mainstream. That spark will come with Alternative. We want to be that spark.
7. What’s the current music scene like there in Utah?
It’s a very odd split. It’s very Metal and punk on one side of the coin, and then on the other its very indie and alternative. We’ve kind of slipped into the indie side, but not near enough to where we comfortably fit in the scene, cause that’s just not how we sound.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
Honestly we don’t really have super strong feelings on this one. Granted, we would like to be getting royalties for our music eventually, but for us personally, we just like to be playing music.
9. What’s next for Scarlett Letter?
We have big things in the work’s right now. A new song on the horizon and (not to jump the gun) potentially an album. We’re very excited to share our music with the world.
10. Any shoutouts?
Just our very small but growing fanbase. We love and appreciate every single one of them.
