The Brooklyn, New York indie band the Red the Black came together in summer 2001 with ex-Haywood musicians Rob Viola (drums) and Jeff Paretchan (bass), Tim Lauben (vocals/guitar), and Mike Esper (guitar/vocals). They took their name from a Robert Stendhal novel, but the band likes to joke that it came from a Blue Öyster Cult song of the same name. Each had been in various bands over the course of the '90s and were particularly inspired by the no-wave movement led by Steve Albini and the like. Shortly after coming together, the Red the Black signed with Haywood's former distributor, the Self-Starter Foundation, and immediately headed into Fire Proof Studios in Brooklyn. They joined Adam Lasus (Helium, Gigolo Aunts, Matt Keating) for their debut recording; the end result, the Plans for Next Year EP, appeared in September 2002. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi