Red Lightning were a Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

-based rock band composed of English guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Alain Whyte

Alain Whyte

Alain Gordon Whyte is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is most known for being Morrissey's main songwriting partner since 1991 and his lead guitarist from 1991-2004...

 (of Morrissey

Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...

's band) on lead vocals and guitar, John DiMambro on bass guitar and Milo Todesco on drums. The band lists U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

, The Clash

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

, The Cult

The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

, The Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

 and Morrissey

Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...

 as its influences.

Background

The three band members have a diverse musical background spanning punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 to rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 to English pop

English pop

English pop may mean or refer to:* pop music in the English language* Britpop, the British alternative rock genre* Hong Kong English pop, the genre including English music from US, UK and Hong Kong...

 to orchestral.

Alain Whyte

Alain Whyte

Alain Gordon Whyte is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is most known for being Morrissey's main songwriting partner since 1991 and his lead guitarist from 1991-2004...

 was most renowned as a guitarist, supporting vocalist and co-writer in Morrissey

Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...

. Whyte has a background in rockabilly.

John DiMambro (aka Johnny Anger) is a long-time fan of Morrissey and The Smiths. John grew up in Los Angeles' punk scene. He has recorded on bass with Down by Law

Down by Law (band)

Down by Law is a punk rock band formed in 1989 by former All frontman Dave Smalley, who is the their only permanent member. The band has recorded 7 studio albums. They stayed on Epitaph Records until 1998 and have since switched to labels. Down by Law has never achieved substantial commercial...

, Jack Grisham

Jack Grisham

Jack Grisham is an American rock musician, raconteur and political activist. He is the vocalist for the punk band T.S.O.L. , which emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Social Distortion. Grisham has also fronted the bands The Joykiller, Tender...

 of T.S.O.L, and the psychobilly

Psychobilly

Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...

 band The Rocketz . He performed live with Pearl Harbor, Jane Wiedlin

Jane Wiedlin

Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the all-female New Wave band The Go-Go's.-Early life:...

 of The Go-Go's

The Go-Go's

The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....

, and Agent Orange

Agent Orange (band)

Agent Orange is an American punk rock band formed in Orange County, California in 1979. The band is one of the first to mix punk rock with surf music. They first gained attention with their song "Bloodstains" which they released on their own 7" E.P. An early demo of the song was presented to...

.

Milo Todesco had recorded and performed live with Down By Law

Down by Law (band)

Down by Law is a punk rock band formed in 1989 by former All frontman Dave Smalley, who is the their only permanent member. The band has recorded 7 studio albums. They stayed on Epitaph Records until 1998 and have since switched to labels. Down by Law has never achieved substantial commercial...

, Armen Chakmakian

Armen Chakmakian

Armen Chakmakian is an Armenian-American musician, composer, recording artist, and producer. Formerly the keyboardist for the Grammy award-winning band Shadowfax, their 1992 CD, "Esperanto" was nominated for a Best New Age Album Grammy Award. He has released two solo albums on his label TruArt...

 of Shadowfax

Shadowfax (band)

Shadowfax was a new age/electronic musical group, best known for their albums Shadowfax and Folksongs for a Nuclear Village. In 1988 they won the Grammy for Best New Age Performance for Folksongs for a Nuclear Village...

, Jim Cherry of Strung Out

Strung Out

Strung Out is a Californian punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1992. They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of punk rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. They have released seven albums on Fat Wreck Chords and appeared on numerous...

, Pully

Pully

Pully is a municipality in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron.It is one of the eastern suburbs of the city of Lausanne, located on the shores of Lake Geneva and at the foot of the vineyards of Lavaux on the road to Vevey and Montreux.-Prehistory:In 1826 a...

, Zero Down

Zero Down

Zero Down was a punk rock trio formed by former Strung Out bassist Jim Cherry, former Down by Law drummer Milo Todesco and former War Called Peace guitarist John McCree...

, and played timpani with UCLA Choir conductor Roger Wagner.

Band history

Red Lightning played their first official show on April 30, 2005 at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

. They recorded a full-length album with producer David Newton (Mighty Lemon Drops, Fonda, The Blood Arm and Blue Aeroplanes) in 2005. Due to irreconcilable differences Red Lightning split in November of 2006. The band announced their split via their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/redlightningmusic

EPs

LA Crash Landing (November 2005)

1. "Something out of Nothing"
2. "Crushed"
3. L.A. Crash Landing
4. Sign Up
5. I Miss You
6. Black Dog Day
7. Stuck (Acoustic Version)
8. Were you ever in my Life (Acoustic Version)

External links

• http://redlightningmusic.com
• http://www.myspace.com/redlightningmusic
• http://www.alainmatters.com