Glenn Donaldson of The Reds, Pinks & Purples Discusses New LP, Emo, and Goth

“ I felt like I had some more songs to write,” Glenn Donaldson says. He’d been in dozens of Bay Area bands since the ’90s, including Skygreen Leopards and The Art Museums, but had given up on indie rock in the 2010s. “I realized just walking around the neighborhood I live in, that it just would be about me and about the neighborhood, about my life being in San Francisco and kinda my friends here, my friendships I’ve had here that have come and gone, or romances that faded or romances that were rekindled.” Donaldson saw The Reds, Pinks & Purples as his opportunity to make his own version of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society .

The Red, Pinks & Purples began life in the early pandemic with songs going up on Bandcamp whenever Glenn finished them. “Bandcamp really relaunched me into doing all this. I realized people weren’t buying cassettes and CDRs like they used to, and I didn’t have an outlet anymore. And then I just really liked the aesthetics of Bandcamp and how low-key it was, but it just still felt like I can connect with a few people this way.”

With a distinct style — gloomy lyrics, often about being in bands, set to low fi hazy janglepop, and artwork that featured the flora and architecture of his San Francisco neighborhood (Richmond) — The Reds Pinks & Purples took off in ways that Donaldson’s other bands never quite did and he was soon putting out records on long-running indie label Slumberland. The solo project became an actual band and the RPPs are now signed to Fire Records, who just released his first album for the label, Acknowledge Kindness, which is the project’s most accomplished record so far.

I talked with Glenn about the making of the album, its musical inspirations and lyrical themes, whether or not the RPPs are emo or goth, balancing sincerity and humor, the exaggerated version of himself that exists on his songs, the current crop of Bay Area indie bands, why The Reds Pinks & Purples haven’t played New York, five albums he thinks everyone should own and more.

You can check out my whole conversation with Glenn Donaldson on the May 25 episode of BV Interviews which is available wherever you get your podcasts. Listen and subscribe HERE and below.

_Originally reported by [Brooklyn Vegan](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/the-reds-pinks-purples-glenn-donaldson-talks-new-lp-emo-goth-more-bv-interviews/)._