Interview: Red Rose Way
A Conversation With Misha Feldmann & Tony Sevener
Red Rose Way is an exciting new alt pop project from two Santa Barbara rock and roll alums.
Misha Feldmann (bass/guitar/vocals) and Tony Sevener (drums/guitars/vocals) were roommates in the ‘90s, living on Red Rose Way and serving as the rhythm section for the band Scarecrow. They later formed Summercamp with Tim Cullen and Sean McCue, signing to Maverick Records and releasing the 1997 album Pure Juice.
“Tony and I have a super strong friendship and history together, and it was all based around music,” Feldmann told me for the email interview below. “Post Summercamp years, Tony had moved to Seattle, then to the Bay Area and was playing in the bands Honeycut and Dirty Ghosts there. I moved to Ventura and joined the Los Angeles-based band The Penfifteen Club (who I still play with currently).”
Red Rose Way is the duo’s first musical collaboration since Summercamp split in the early 2000s.
“Given our musical history together and our close friendship, it would be ridiculous not to. The recording aspect made it all possible since we live 7 hours away from each other. We could have a ‘band’ where we are both writing, both singing, both playing guitar, and not have to be in the same city to do it,” Sevener said.
“With Red Rose Way, we’ve both pushed each other to take on jobs that were out of our comfort zone,” Feldmann added. “This project is really a drummer and a bass player who said ‘let’s just write the songs, sing, and split guitar duties ourselves’ outside of playing our natural instruments. It has felt good to be able to pull it off, and is a lot of fun learning together along the way.”
I caught up with Feldmann and Sevener by email after the release of their latest single, “The Impossible Past.”
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I’m loving the handful of singles you’ve released. What inspired you two to start making music together again?
Tony Sevener: I had been getting into self recording for the past bunch of years. So, when Misha expressed interest in getting into recording as well, I knew it would just be a matter of time before we did some kind of collaboration.
Misha Feldmann: Tony and I always stayed very much in touch. He helped me get started with home recording because I felt the need to keep doing music however possible, which eventually led to us talking about a collaboration. Tony instructed me on what gear to buy and then coached me on how to use everything. I am not a tech-savvy person and didn’t know anything about how to record on my own, but with Tony’s coaching and some persistent dedication to learn, I soon figured out the basics.
It has been almost 30 years since Pure Juice was released. How do you feel about that album these days?
Misha Feldmann: I feel like Pure Juice is still an awesome album, and reminds me of a very exciting time in my musical career. It was a lot of fun making it and especially touring it in Japan and Europe, as well as here in North America. That was a real special era and I’m glad we could make our mark in it, even though it was short-lived.
Tony Sevener: I’m extremely proud of Pure Juice. I think the songs and performances still hold up. It’s a great snapshot of the young, enthusiastic rock band we were at the time.
Enough about the past! Your first Red Rose Way single, “Wishful,” came out in 2022. Was there any specific inspiration for that song?
Misha Feldmann: When Tony and I decided to start writing and recording together, the skeleton of the song ‘Wishful’ was the first one I brought to the table. The inspiration musically was for sure ‘90s alt rock/power pop. And the inspiration lyrically was pulled from my personal struggles with anxiety disorder and the motivation to think positively, not letting depression and negativity run your daily life.
Tell me a little about how that one was written and recorded. Did that become the template for this ongoing collaboration?
Misha Feldmann: I had the basic elements for ‘Wishful,’ and when I brought it to Tony that’s when it really started to take shape. We work together on song arrangements and fine-tuning details. We email sections and parts of songs back and forth, as well as talking and texting on the phone almost daily. Tony really helped me find my voice and coaches me through vocal takes. He has had great advice and has been such a valuable music partner.
Typically, the one who writes the lyrics to a song sings lead, while the other sings harmonies. We’ve enjoyed how our voices work together. Because we both have busy lives outside of music, it takes us a long time to complete a song, but we aren’t in any hurry and we’re having too much fun doing it, so who cares?
Tony Sevener: Our songs generally begin with one of us coming to the table with the skeleton of a song. We then go back and forth collaboratively crafting the song in recorded demo form. This is done in the form of phone calls, texts, emails, and file trading. We go in-depth constructing the song, the structure, the arrangement on the demo. Once we feel the demo is fully realized, then we completely start over from scratch recording the final version.
Your second single from that same year was “Flying Low,” which sounds closer to straight ahead pop rock to my ears. How do you describe your own music (either to other people or to each other)?
Tony Sevener: I think of it as power pop/melodic alt rock. We both have a lot of different likes and influences to bring to the table. But for this first batch of songs, we somewhat consciously decided to focus the stylistic scope of what we’re doing toward the power pop neighborhood.
Misha Feldmann: We are Hope Metal.
You recently released the heavy/psych rock single “Change.” This is one I’d really love to hear live. Have you guys ever performed these songs at a show? Any plans to?
Misha Feldmann: No. We have never even been in the same room together writing or recording. It’s all long distance. Us being geographically separated by 500+ miles and the fact that the two of us are playing all the instruments have limited our band to being a “writing and recording project”...at least for now.
Tony Sevener: At this point in time, Red Rose Way is strictly a studio project, but you never know what the future may hold.
Your most recent single is “The Impossible Past,” which really hits a ‘90s alt rock sweet spot for me. Given the track’s title, was that an intentional stylistic choice?
Tony Sevener: The ‘90s alt rock thing is just a part of our DNA really. It wasn’t a conscious choice to go up that alley. I just picked up the guitar one day and most of that song just fell right out. The title isn’t really a reference to the ‘90s or anything. The lyric is basically about the struggle against second guessing yourself and your decisions, letting go of all the ‘what ifs.’
What’s next for Red Rose Way?
Tony Sevener: We’re still steadily writing and recording new songs. Our goal is to put together our first album as Red Rose Way in 2026.
Misha Feldmann: We are now a couple songs away from having enough material for an album. We’d like to compile all these songs into and then decide what the hell to do with it! Other than that, what is next is for us to keep making songs together. It’s been really fun creating music with my long time super-bro and partner in rock, Tony. And having music to work on, for me, is very therapeutic. A needed a distraction from the outside world and a mind break from the duties of daily life.
Being a father to three sons, including 23 year old twins with profound Autism, the challenge for me personally is finding the time to work on music. But somehow, some way, I always do. I guess music is just that important to me. I’m dedicated for life!
