JENNIFER MAHAL -- In The Wings

This Halloween, I got a treat. It’s not every day a girl walks into an

interview with an up-and-coming local band and finds out that their music

actually rocks. Or at least the song I heard, “Eastbay,” did.

Redline 5 could be the next band to make it big out of Newport Beach.

At least that’s what this gregarious group of five is working toward.

Tonight, the band plays its first gig at the Galaxy in Santa Ana at a

CD release party for rockers Something Corporate.

“It’s a milestone for us,” acoustic guitarist Scott Kramer said.

Fraternal twins Scott and Chris Kramer, Drew Englebrecht and Hunter

MacDonald -- four fifths of the band -- have known each other since their

days at Corona del Mar High School.

“Chris and I met Drew in seventh grade and started playing together,”

said Scott, 21. “We met Hunter in jazz band.”

Though the friendships run deep, the band, as it is now, is fairly

new. In 1999, Chris, Scott and Drew were working together as a band

called ThreeSense.

A chance meeting with Hunter’s mom at a mall lead to the four getting

back in contact. At the time, Hunter was at Fairfield College in

Connecticut.

“They said, ‘When you come home, come play,”’ Hunter said. “I played

with them for two days and they said ‘You’re in the band.’ That was the

start of all this.”

The 20-year-old bass player decided to come back to Southern

California -- he now attends Saddleback College -- and the foursome

committed themselves to their career path.

But something was missing. The band placed an ad for a singer in the

Music Recycler. Enter 26-year-old Mika Greiner, who prefers to just go by

his first name.

“He walked in and we said, ‘This guy’s a rock star,”’ Hunter said.

With Mika’s vocals added to Drew’s drumming, Chris and Scott’s guitar

playing and Hunter’s bass work, Redline 5 was born in late July.

“In four months, we’ve gone from bringing 20 people to a show to

bringing 200,” Scott said.

Their e-mail list of fans is between 500 and 600 people and growing

constantly, thanks in part to a sharp Web site, o7 www.redline5.comf7 ,

designed by Rob Osterman of AW Designs.

With sponsorship from Chronic Industries and Eddie G Eyewear, the band

has played sets at a couple of clubs including the Lava Lounge in Long

Beach. Their September Lava Lounge performance was taped and broadcast as

part of “PTV: New Music Videos,” a program airing late night on UPN-TV

Channel 13.

The self-managed group has also gotten some interest from a record

company. Angela Shelton, co-writer of “Tumbleweeds,” has asked them to

contribute music to her next film.

Band members thank their parents and God for the luck they’ve had so

far.

“Our parents have been very supportive,” Scott said. “They’ve come to

every show.”

“They’ve signed for our credit limits,” Drew, 21, added.

Redline 5 plans to go into the recording studio sometime in the next

month. They are looking for the right place to record at. Influences on

the band are varied. Rage Against the Machine, Primus and Red Hot Chili

Peppers are mentioned with Dave Matthews, Creed and Shawn Mullins.

“We’re what you want to hear when you’re stuck in traffic,” Mika said.

Any band in which a member names David Wilcox as an influence

immediately gets extra credit in my personal grading system.

Every member of Redline 5 helps to write their music and all of them

are cross-trained on instruments, with the exception of Mika. The band

has been known to suddenly stop and change instruments in the middle of a

show.

“The whole dynamic of the band changes,” Mika said.

“I think it makes us musicians,” Chris added.

This Newport Beach band is not waiting for success to come to them.

Redline 5 is proactive in promoting their shows, creating fliers and

passing them out.

And everyone in the band has a day job.

Chris is a marketing major at Vanguard University and crews a ship in

Newport Harbor. Hunter, when not attending Saddleback, is working his way

to assistant manager at the Balboa Beach Company. Drew attends Orange

Coast College and works for Z Pizza. Scott works for a commercial real

estate company and will be attending Vanguard soon for a night program in

business. And Mika is putting his master’s degree from Medical College of

Ohio in Toledo to use, working as a hand therapist.

But at night, they rock, using empty office space as a makeshift

rehearsal studio.

Drew can’t wait to get out there and start touring.

Someday, said Hunter, “I want to play Irvine Meadows.”

It could happen.

Do you know a local artist, writer, painter, singer, filmmaker ...

etc. who deserves to get noticed? Send in your nominee to In The Wings,

330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627, fax (949) 646-4170 or e-mail o7

jennifer.mahal@latimes.com.f7

* JENNIFER MAHAL is features editor of the Daily Pilot.

FYI

* WHAT: Redline 5 at the Something Corporate CD release party

* WHEN: 8 p.m. today

* WHERE: Galaxy Concert Theater, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana.

* COST: Tickets are $15 at the door, but Redline 5 is offering $4

advance tickets by calling (949) 246-4776.

* CALL: (949) 246-4776

* WEB SITE: o7 www.redline5.comf7