"There's no big dream of taking over the world," Bundy said. "For us, success is being able to play with bands and put CDs out . . . that's reward enough."
Music, and creating it in a new way, is what keeps the Red Light together and fuels its collective desires. Its sound tells the tale of musicians enjoying their abilities and pushing themselves to the brink of inventiveness. Each of the four members shares the need to play music, and after two years that intensity has yielded one of State College's sole indie bands.
"All of us had this necessity to play music," Gorman said. "It just matched."
The Red Light combines several aspects to create a melodic instrumental force that allows listeners to either sit back and allow themselves to be consumed by that force or let it send them into a welcomed fury.
Each member brings a different aspect to the musical mentality. Bundy provides the rock elements, where Gorman focuses more on the quiet instrumentation.
"Every song sounds like each member wants them to sound," Gorman said. "All four of us contribute to the writing."
The lush guitars dance with a strong rhythm provided by drummer Justin Staller (junior-art), and this all creates a sound that is rarely heard in State College.
The Red Light was not always one of the few indie bands in the area, however. Bundy recalls a time when he read about the "State College scene" in magazines, almost in contention with other major cities such as Washington, D.C. In the mid-1990s, Gorman said, a lot of original bands were coming together and setting up shows. Music trying to break free of genre-parameters competed with the other strong bands in the area.
But then it stopped.
Bundy did not know when and why State College lost its indie contingency, but he is waiting for the day to see it return. The Red Light is doing its part, playing several shows, including Wednesday night's show at Zeno's.
The venue has helped the band build its local fanbase. Bundy said it even provided the Red Light with some unusual opportunities for building the band's confidence. One such instance occurred after the band finished a show at Zeno's and was stopped by a cleaner for the Corner Room, 100 W. College Ave., who liked the performance.
"We sound good apparently through walls and doors," Bundy said.
The band is also looking to record its debut CD soon, with a release date sometime in December. The songs on the CD are older, and because of that, the band wants to get them recorded and begin work immediately on composing new songs.
The future of the band is a concept new to the Red Light. The members had originally planned to part ways after everyone had graduated. Gorman said that continuing the band is a good possibility because they all enjoy playing together and can honestly see more to come from it.
With this new energy, the band will continue to write and perform and even seek to find a record label to release its CD upon completion. But again, national recognition is not the goal of the band that Bundy reasserts.
"If all our friends have it and like it, I'm fine with that," Bundy said. "I just want something with my name on it so I can show it to my kids when I get older and tell them, 'Daddy used to rock.' "
