Start Listening To: Red Ivory

South East London’s Red Ivory turn grunge grit and post-punk edge into something intimate, restless and real.

Formed when they were just fourteen, Red Ivory are Berry, Frida, Eiliyah and Ivy, a four-piece whose sound captures the turbulence of growing up and finding identity in noise. Their new EP Please Leave, I Need To Wake Up Now is both reflection and release, shaped by years of change and recorded through Festival Republic’s ReBalance scheme at Strongroom Studios with producer Adele Phillips. Across its tracks, they explore dependence, self-definition and the cathartic power of volume. Still learning, still pushing, and now ready to tour, Red Ivory are a young band whose honesty cuts straight through the distortion.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We are Berry, Frida, Eiliyah and Ivy from south east London, and as Red Ivory we write and perform music inspired by grunge, post punk and alternative rock. We started playing together in 2021 when we were 14.

What inspired the title Please Leave, I Need To Wake Up Now and how does it reflect the themes within your EP?

The title came about in conversation while we were discussing how the EP was made — over such a long time and during so many environmental and interpersonal changes. It reflects the ideas of change, dependence and identity within the project.

How was the EP produced?

The EP was produced at Strongroom Studios, Shoreditch in July 2024 with producer Adele Phillips. We were connected with Adele through Festival Republic’s ReBalance scheme, which also helped us out with getting the studio time, mixing by Orla Carey and mastering by Natalie Bibby. We had two days of pre-production with Adele that helped us get way more comfortable in the studio, and then the EP was recorded over three long days.

Can you describe your collaborative songwriting process?

Rather than starting off our songwriting with acoustic guitar, a set of chords and a melody, we more often than not create a song around a short musical idea that one of us comes up with, and then develop the texture, instrumentation or structure from there. We often have an instrumental base that we have written all together before it becomes a complete song with vocals. This may have come from the fact that we never used to rehearse or write with a microphone. It also helps that all of us can play some guitar, meaning each of our ideas bleed into the different parts.

How did recording at Strongroom Studios shape the evolution of these tracks, and what were some memorable moments during those sessions?

One of the most memorable moments from the recording sessions was definitely recording the scream in My Mind, which we saved until last so we didn’t mess up any of our voices for recording vocals or BVs on the other tracks. It was a cathartic and fun way to end the recording process, which was obviously really fun and creative but also got pretty tiring at points. In terms of shaping the tracks, the time in the studio definitely allowed us to be way more experimental sonically, playing around more with overdubs, effects and vocals in particular, which we can’t do as much with in a live set.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a band since forming, and how has it influenced your music?

One of the biggest challenges we faced as a band was definitely our age up until this year or the end of last year. We weren’t able to play in a lot of venues, or had to do so sneakily, which especially at the start meant that we really had to focus on our songwriting over our live set if we wanted to be taken seriously rather than passed off because of how young we were. This was also the reason we initially recorded and released an EP in 2023 in a pretty rushed way, because we felt like we needed to prove ourselves in order to bypass the age thing.

What role does visual art play in your music, whether it’s in music videos, artwork, or your social media presence?

We have definitely started being more specific with our visual output lately, whereas before none of us considered it too much to be honest. Berry has always done all of our artwork though, so it has definitely always been really directly reflective of where we were as a band. Social media presence is obviously insanely important for new bands, and luckily in going about that we have managed to be really creative and have loads of fun, like during a photo shoot with Addy Nzerem (who did our EP promo photos) in Peckham or in creating the single artworks amongst ourselves and with our friends Ethan Holt and Rosalie Salkeld. We have done a couple of music videos with friends, and are definitely wanting to do more of that kind of thing in the campaign for our new EP.

How have your influences changed since you started making music together, and what new sounds or genres are you exploring?

Our influences have definitely diversified since we first started out, as initially we were very directly inspired by genres like 90s indie rock, grunge and shoegaze, whereas now we have more of an idea of what our own sound is, so when we write we are now able to adapt ideas from dissimilar genres and make them our own. For example, personally I (Ivy) have had elements of folk on my mind recently. I also definitely want to get more into specific, experimental guitar sounds.

What does the future look like for Red Ivory, and how do you envision your sound evolving in the coming years?

We definitely want to tour — that’s a huge aspiration for us. Also record new music, hopefully maybe an album. I think the sound will probably just organically evolve as we do; there is no clear sonic plan, but we know we definitely want to keep our momentum up and keep on working at it.

What do you love right now?

“I love cherry tomatoes and heeled boots.” – Ivy

“I love handbags and girls screaming.” – Eiliyah

“Right now I love Jack Off Jill’s album Clear Hearts Grey Flowers.” – Berry

What do you hate right now?

“I hate my broken AirPods.” – Ivy

“I hate the performative male trend and small plates.” – Eiliyah

“I hate flip flops.” – Berry

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

“I’m still listening to Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins because it made me feel really cool when I was 14. And Plastic Beach by Gorillaz because it was one of the only CDs we had in my car when I was growing up.” – Ivy

“Lush’s Lovelife album because it was the first album that made me love rock music when I was like 14.” – Eiliyah

“I still listen to Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars because it was an album that all my older siblings used to sing to me most nights. – Berry

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

We hope that the drive within our music sticks with people, because we feel like that’s a constant presence in our tracks and one that we aim to maintain. We also hope that the ease and smoothness of the writing process comes through the tracks and sticks to them.