Meet Scarlet Fever, New “Indie Pop Rock” Band on the Rise in the East Van Music Scene.

By Jenny Chi (11)

“OUR MUSIC IS VERY TEEN GIRL, THAT’S THE GENRE”

- Bec Ly, Scarlet Fever member

Photo from @thebandscarletfever on Instagram

Scarlet Fever is composed of four teenage girls, Grace Caruso (guitar and bass), Elsie Iwankow (lead guitar and rhythm), Bec Ly (guitar and bass), and Neveah Willson (drums). The band was first formed with only Grace, Bec, and Elsie around last November after finding a spark of harmony while playing music together, specifically with Brazil by Declan McKenna.

“It was a rocky start, we thought we were just having some fun, playing with some friends, but then we were like we should really start a band, we all play instruments.” Grace recalls, “I remember we were using a drum pad at the time, so oh, we needed to find a drummer.” With coincidental timing, Nevaeh, Scarlet Fever’s soon-to-be drummer, has just recently transferred to their school, completing the band.

In only a year, Scarlet Fever has written and composed over 20 original songs and debuted live; where they performed at numerous local East Van venues and events, such as 648 Kingsway and Redgate. Recently, they’ve released their first single, Dream Scheme, on all streaming platforms.

Nevaeh shares how “It's been about a year since we all officially began a band, and I feel like starting to actually play gigs together and to perform for other people that aren't our family is really cool.”

AS SCARLET FEVER.

When creating music, Scarlet Fever finds inspiration in poetry, the music of other musicians, but especially from their own personal experiences. Grace describes songwriting as taking “really heavy emotions and to [then] put it in a song.” Elsie elaborates on this, saying, “With music, you feel it, so you can find emotions in chords, you don't have to use lyrics that describe it. I guess for me personally, inspiration comes from things from my life, things I want to write about, and things that happen, but [also in] other music.”

The artists and bands that Scarlet Fever look up to include Pretty Sick, Lizphair, Slow Pulp, Beabadoobee, and Boygenius. With Boygenius, they specifically relate to the band’s tight-knit friendship, and how it shows in the music they create. Elsie looks back to a past conversation with her grandpa, and how he said that their band needed “one person at the front, a head person”, but Elsie says that is not how Scarlet Fever works. “Like even thinking about our instruments,” Elsie continues, “Bec and Grace switch instruments, like that's not usually common, it's a really collaborative thing.”

Scarlet Fever also finds confidence in being a band made up of girls. Bec shares how growing up, she's never seen a female lead guitarist, and how they mainly played bass. Nevaeh mentions how "most younger AFAB (assigned female at birth) people are scared to pick up the drumsticks because it's just mainly guys who do it." Including how being a girl-only band is also a source of safety and community, Elsie comments on how it is “really powerful when young women, and young women only” are playing music in such a male dominated industry.

JUST START A BAND.

Scarlet Fever shares their own advice for forming a band, their most adamant advice being: to just start. "Start a band, find people to start a band. If none of your friends play an instrument, force them to play an instrument," Grace says. Bec shares how she originally only played guitar until Grace made her learn the bass. The problem of affording a jam space is also a big hurdle for most starting bands, and Elsie highlights looking into opportunities in your communities. Scarlet Fever themselves use the Ray Cam Co-operative Center’s jam space, which is completely free to use. Nevaeh and Elsie also add that if the band starts rocky, not to get upset or embarrassed. "If you are a beginner, you won't be a beginner a year from now because when you play, you will get so much better." Grace continues with this point, saying "and it doesn't matter how successful or how many songs you have on Spotify, just playing music with people is just cool, and you're writing your own songs, and you're being creative, and you're singing. And confidence, it's just cool to see when young women are confident."

Stay updated on Scarlet Fever’s future releases and shows through their Instagram @thebandscarletfever