From out of Chicago comes yet another band with the potential to break into the big time. Janus is that band. With their debut album, Red Right Return, set to be released on September 22^nd, the band has already been added on Q101’s play list and other radio stations throughout the Midwest. Janus has also had their music played on several TV shows including MTV’s “Road Rules” and “The Real World”.  

So far early reviews on Red Right Return have been positive and www.Absolutepunk.net raves, “If they were given the chance, and played on some larger radio stations alongside all our alternative ‘favorites’, they would earn themselves hoards of fans.”

Janus will be performing in Chicago on September 3^rd at The Beat Kitchen and then in South Barrington on September 26 at Penny Road Pub. While amidst a slew of Midwest dates and before hitting the East Coast, I was able to talk with singer David Scotney about the band’s unique theme, their live show and how they signed a record deal.      

How’s life treating you?

Great. Keeping busy – very busy.

So you guys, being based in Chicago, where were some of the places you started out playing?

We started out by playing everywhere and anywhere we could in Chicago. We really hit it hard regionally and locally. We played Double Door, which was kind of a regular haunt for us. When we first, first started there was a bar called Big Horse. That was one of the places where Mike, our guitar player, first played a show together. But with our current lineup…I think our first show was at the Metro.

That’s not bad for a first show.

The fist Janus show, we had a different drummer and bass player, was either at Double Door or a smaller venue, maybe Big Horse.

Big Horse was great. It was the only place you could grab a taco and watch a band. I’m sure Janus is inspired by many national and international bands, but what about some of our local bands right here in Chicago?

 I’d have to say Filter. They’ve kind of been an inspiration for us. Filter has been pretty resilient, have written some great singles. I love the sound of their records, too. Disturbed – we’re fans of Disturbed. Chevelle – they’re good guys. We’ve got a show coming up with them in Flint, Michigan.

Your new album is called Red Right Return. It seems to have a military feel to it – at least the artwork. Is it a political piece?

The name Red Right Return comes from an old nautical term “red right returning”. It’s really an old saying ship captains used to remind themselves when returning home to port to always keep the red buoy on the right side of the ship. It’s really a metaphor for the whole record for us. We wrote this record, recorded it ourselves did it as a statement kind of writing the record for ourselves and not to get industry attention and just kind of returning to our core beings as artists. We weren’t looking to make demos to try and get a record deal, but to really put a piece of art together we believe in and felt it was the best we could possibly do.

And what about the album’s artwork?

Well, the artwork is really the result of that. It came out of, Ok, we got this record that we believe in, now we want this artwork, or theme, that doesn’t look like anything else out there.” So we went with this 1920’s style Russian constructivist look to really set it apart from what’s out there.

Can you tell me about Janus’ live show?

Mike [Tyranski] is an acrobat on stage. I don’t know how he plays guitar and moves around the way he does. He and I are very similar in the sense that we like to physically get into the music – just try to bring it to life in a very visceral, physical way. Al [Quitman], our bass player, is a little more introverted but he expresses it in his own way. Johnny [Salazar] is 6’4” and just a monster on drums. You kind of have to get out of his way. We actually carry that Russian theme with what we wear on stage. We have these custom-made uniforms that we wear so that theme stays through. Fans get it from the record, they get it from the songs and they also get it live.  

So everything seems to be moving quickly for you. Would you say that it was greatly in part to generating a local buzz?

I’d have to say the record was generating the buzz. Our management started to shop it around and very quickly we had four showcases that came together in New York last January. We brought the live show with the lights and uniforms and the whole vibe. We took it to New York and played for a bunch of labels and shortly thereafter ended up with a deal with ILG [Independent Label Group] and REALID. It was great because we got some really nice compliments from industry guys who really had no good reason to say something good. 

Tell me about the label you signed with.

REALID Records is an indie label that ILG/Warner Brothers, the parent label, is doing the distribution and promotion. REALID - the core group of the label – didn’t only just get what we were doing, they were really passionate about it. We wanted to find a good partner who could get our songs a good shot on the radio, and also someone who could see where we were coming from at an artistic level, connect with us on a person-to-person level and ultimately be passionate at the end of the day.   

Red Right Return is being released in late September?

Yes, September 22^nd it will be available on iTunes. The single “Eyesore” and the video are available now on iTunes and you can go to our www.myspace.com/janus to check out all of latest and greatest photos from recent shows, Twitter posts and videos.