Code Red Riot have released the brand new video, and digital single for their new track “Weapon” today. A hard-hitting anthem of resistance and don’t-fuck-with-me bravado, “Weapon” reiterates the motto Code Red Riot’s Corky Gainsford learned as a kid from one of his favorite movies, Rocky: “It ain\’t about how hard you hit. It\’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Given the tumultuous climate of 2020, this motto rings true now more than ever. The video was filmed and edited in hotel rooms across the United States in early 2020 when Gainsford was on tour drumming for the Blue Man Group (before the nation went on pandemic lockdown). Code Red Riot is the moniker for the music of Gainsford, ex-Otherwise drummer/songwriter/producer. Click here to access single art for “Weapon”. The song is available now on all digital service providers.
“Weapon” is just the first stepping stone into a series of new releases from Code Red Riot via their new and independent imprint, Pop Cycle Records; with more singles loaded and ready to go in the upcoming weeks. For the band’s upcoming efforts, Gainsford wanted the music to hit even harder, be more aggressive, and lyrically more socially aware. “‘Weapon’ was originally born out of the frustration of feeling personally trapped in “a situation I couldn’t get out of,” Gainsford exclaims, “But now it’s taken on a whole new meaning. The struggle of life has never been more real. Economically, racially, psychologically, 2020 has brought the human condition to a crossroads that we’ve never seen – or conceived possible – in this lifetime. I want Code Red Riot’s music to feel like an emotional catalyst for all of that.” Gainsford typically plays all the instruments on Code Red Riot recordings (drums, bass, guitar, and vocals), but “Weapon” was spawned from a co-writing session with guitar virtuoso Chris Lorio (Adelitas Way, Foundry).
Code Red Riot burst onto the hard rock scene in 2017 as a moniker for the music of Corky Gainsford, ex-drummer/songwriter/producer for the band Otherwise (Century Media Records). Code Red Riot’s debut album MASK (Sony RED Music) was co-produced by Gainsford and Shawn McGhee (Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, Papa Roach, Hellyeah), and critically-acclaimed as “an adrenaline rush with vigorous riffs, thrashing beats, and distinct vocals… leaving listeners begging for more” (Overdrive Music Magazine). The band honed their live chops while sharing the stage with Breaking Benjamin, Eagles of Death Metal, Steel Panther, Fozzy, Gemini Syndrome, and were featured as Las Vegas’ Next Big Thing at the inaugural Las Rageous Festival. Their single “Bulletproof” caught fire by landing in heavy rotation on Sirius/XM Octane and Music Choice, peaking at #28 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Indicator Chart and #14 on the Foundations (SMR) Chart.