UN: You guys have been together for a couple of years now, but seem to be really becoming a much more known band as of late. Does it seem like all of the work you guys have been putting into the band is starting to show?

Matthew: Yeah I mean as much as I feel like it's starting to pay off, I get this feeling like we still have SO far to go. I seriously won't be happy until everyone knows who my band is.

UN: Trustkill seems to be extremely picky with the bands that they choose to sign. Were you guys surprised and excited when the label began to show interest in the band? It has to be very rewarding when a label that prides itself on only releasing amazing bands wants your band on their roster.

Matthew: Yeah we were both surprised and excited when they took interest in us. It's always flattering when a label you grew up on, likes your band. It's like the ultimate compliment.

UN: You guys managed to do quite a bit on your own before the new record. Does having a label this big behind make it easier for you guys to concentrate on the music and not have to worry about things like every day promotion? You mainly have to worry about getting from point A to point B on time to play I’m assuming now!

Matthew: Yeah Trustkill has definitely helped to make our lives easier, especially touring wise. It was so hard to get a promoter to book your band when you’re on "no label" records hehehe. But now they have more incentive to put us on a show. They also help us take care of our day-to-day business, which makes it easier to focus on the music.

UN: “Conversations” is an immediately catchy album yet there are still many layers to the songwriting. Do you think that there is something much deeper then just another collection of rock songs to this album? I find that each time I listen I pick up on different things and that it’s an album that you can listen to numerous times and never become tired with.

Matthew: We definitely spent a lot of time writing and arranging this record. So I’m glad that people can hear it. But yeah I definitely don't think of conversations as 10 simple mandatory rock songs. I mean we definitely spent half a year writing this record, because we wanted it to be the absolute best it could be.

UN: Do you think anyone expected you guys to turn in a more metallic direction after signing with Trustkill? There are some heavy moments, but Roses are Red is about as far from metalcore as you can get. Do you think that works out to your advantage with Trusrkill? After all you guys really stand out amongst the other bands stylistically, although each band on the label does indeed sound different.

Matthew: There's good and bad things about signing with Trustkill.

Good things: Trustkill doesn't really have anyone like us style wise, so they work harder to push us because they have to if they want to brake into this market.

Bad things: Trustkill doesn't really have anyone like us style wise. hehehe it works both ways. I mean if we were metalcore they could just put us on tour with Bleeding Through. But that would never work.

So there are good things and bad things. Bottom line is Trustkill treats us better than we could of ever expected. And we love it.

UN: Do you think it’s important for bands to develop a healthy work ethic early on? Especially these days labels are not going to take chances on bands that haven’t toured. Do you think the best thing Roses are Red ever did was to jump in the van early on and get a taste for touring? You guys were road warriors long before the deal with Trustkill was even on the horizon.

Matthew: Yeah I mean we all decided right when we joined the band that we were all willing to give up everything we had to do this band 100%. None of us have jobs. We all moved back home with our parents. We don’t have cars. I even filed for bankruptcy. We knew that touring non-stop was the only thing that was going to get labels to notice us. It's an old-fashioned way to do it, but it worked. I'm not saying that if you want to do a band you have to give up everything. I mean if you like doing your band as a hobby that’s awesome. But we all wanted it to be our jobs and our lives, and we weren’t going to stop until we got there. And signing to Trustkill was definitely sweet, because it was like FINALLY it all paid off. But now I feel like were at a new level and we have to start all over and prove our selves to even more people. Basically it never stops, every day you’re playing to at least 1 person who hasn’t seen your band, and you have to focus on winning them over.

UN: While I haven’t had the pleasure yet, listening to Conversations makes me think that Roses are Red would be an extremely effective band in a live setting. Would you say that the band is best experienced in a live setting? I know for myself with some bands it just doesn’t click until I see the band live, and then I can go back and listen to the album in a completely different light. Do you think that some people who passed on the disc might give it another try after seeing you guys live?

Matthew: Yeah totally. We definitely are most at home when we're playing live. We try to make our live shows as energetic as possible. I know some people have heard the record and just kind of passed us off as an insincere band. But then they see us live and they see our passion. If you don’t like the record I would definitely strongly recommend seeing us live before you write us off.

UN: Was there any talk about trying to get an album that has a live quality to it? The album sounds amazing, but it’s not over produced and really you guys could have put many layers of guitars, but stayed fairly restrained. Do you think it’s important for a band to be able to reproduce their album live pretty much exactly the same?

Matthew: Yeah definitely. I mean we use a keyboard live just to get the bells in the song oceans. It's the only time we use the key board live and its for about 10 seconds total. But it was important to us, to try and give the audience what they're used to hearing. We definitely made sure that we didn't write or record a record that we couldn't reproduce live.

UN: Would you say that right now is pretty much the ideal time for Roses are Red to be around? You guys have been around for a few years so obviously you didn’t form because of the boom in melodic rock, but playing this style right now doesn’t hurt matters either.

Matthew: Yeah I definitely think we are striking when the iron is hot. Which is definitely sweet. We just try our best to write upbeat rock and roll songs. I mean if I wake up tomorrow and grunge is the coolest thing again, we wouldn’t change our songs.

UN: Right now you guys are out on tour with Boys Night Out, Emery, and From First to Last. How has the tour been going so far? It’s a very solid line-up that I’m sure must be drawing a lot of kids in every single city.

Matthew: The tour has been amazing only 2 shows haven't sold out so far. It's always fun when you get to tour with bands who are amazing musicians but also amazing dudes. It's definitely been a blast! This tour has been extra sweet for us because it's the first time a lot of people are seeing us. So we are trying extra hard to bring it 120% every night.

UN: Then coming up in January you’ll be touring the UK with Underoath, Silverstien, and The Hurt Process, which is an utterly insane line-up for a tour. Will this be the first time you guys get to play in the UK? Playing with The Hurt Process will pretty much mean that each show will be sold out. Does it seem strange at all that a band you started for fun makes it possible to travel half way around the world?

Matthew: Definitely! Every now and then Vinny and I will be like, "can you believe how far we've come" it's hard to believe sometimes. Like I know for a fact that when we're on the plane over there, I’m going to be like "being in a band is sweet" We definitely are fortunate for what we have. We're also lucky to have a label like Trustkill who is so supportive of us. Because I'll be honest with you there's no way we would be able to afford to tour the UK on our own.