RED LIGHTS unlucky genes CD [2005]
$8.91 at iTunes
This now-defunct band from California's central coast was primarily fronted by James Paasche, a long-time friend and former roommate of M. Ward, while he was living in San Luis Obispo and working at the local independent record shop, Boo Boo Records. Red Lights was initially formed and christened with drummer Eric Pettis and two of James' record-shop buddies, Ryan Ratzlaff (guitar) and Shawn Hafley (bass), and later rounded out with the addition of auxiliary players Jim Bowers and Ross Heiman, who would switch off playing keys, guitars, and other random bits.
The band wrote, rehearsed and recorded at bass player Shawn Hafley's home throughout 2004 and early 2005, and eventually the album was released to strictly local acclaim. There are two record shops in San Luis Obispo, and Unlucky Genes immediatly shot to #1 best-selling CD at both shops, and stayed there for 5 consecutive weeks at one of them. This made sense since by then, RED LIGHTS had opened shows with Neko Case, Calexico, The National, Dios, French Kicks, Menomena, M. Ward, Division Day, and a host of similar artists, and consequently was able to draw crowds of 200+ at their own local shows. In 2005 the band embarked on its first and only mini-tour, alongside label-mates The Tallest from Chicago, to the Pacific Northwest and back. Following this tour, James married his long-time girlfriend and was accepted into graduate studies program at Bowling Green University, so the newlyweds picked up and moved across the country. Soon after, Ross Heiman moved to San Francisco and founded the band ARCADIO, while Jim, Shawn, and Ryan briefly played in a band called Midnight Shark Attack with their friend Mike Funk (For Stars, Rodriguez) before Jim moved to Los Angeles.
