Inside Mascara: Cherry Red on the Take Recorded in Mark Morrow's Edinburgh Studio
A Five-Piece Edinburgh Band Recorded Its 2023 Alt Rock Pop Single in a Local Studio
Cherry Red made Mascara in one room in Edinburgh. The five-piece indie and alt rock band from the city recorded the single with Mark Morrow in his studio there. They filmed the session themselves, then put the single and the video out together on 16 June 2023.
Cherry Red’s songs are in the playlist below, and the band’s coverage so far sits on the Cherry Red profile. Mascara reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Press play on the single, then keep reading for the story of the take.
Idlewild, The Snuts and a Steady Line of Scottish Guitar Bands Set the Stage for Cherry Red
Scotland has never been short of guitar bands, and Edinburgh has its own line of them. Idlewild formed in the city in 1995 and have released ten studio albums since. Further out in West Lothian, The Snuts formed in 2015 while the members were still at school. They have since played across the UK and Ireland.
That is the wave Cherry Red are riding. It runs on small rooms and loyal crowds, and bands earn their audience one gig at a time. Their own Facebook page has trailed a show at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow. The St Vincent Street venue sits at the heart of that circuit.
The band also carry the circuit’s sense of humour. Their Instagram calls them the capital’s greatest band, while their TikTok promises your new favourite Scottish band. Neither claim is modest, which is rather the point.
Cherry Red Fit Indie Rock Instrumentation and Pop Hooks Into Three and a Half Minutes of Mascara
Cherry Red have been at this since at least 2020. That summer they introduced themselves on YouTube with a live take of their original Cigarettes and Wine, recorded by Stage Time Promotion. They also posted a cover of KT Tunstall’s Suddenly I See and an acoustic version of Mr Valentine. Then, in January 2021, two members, Joshua and Rachel, went to Chambers Studios in Edinburgh to record an acoustic take of November.
The singles followed in a steady run. Cigarettes & Wine (Demo) came out in May 2021, then Mr Valentine in August 2021. Darlin followed in March 2022 and C’est la Vie in August 2022, before Mascara arrived in June 2023.
The take itself is the point of interest. Mark Morrow recorded it in his Edinburgh studio while the band filmed the session. The video and the track therefore come from the same room. On the record, Cherry Red pair indie rock grit with sharp, melodic songwriting. As a result, Cherry Red put Mascara at the pop end of alternative rock. Guitar-driven instrumentation carries hooks that are easy to pick up first time.
It runs three and a half minutes and does not hang about. That economy makes sense for a band that plays its originals alongside a cover or two. The song is built to work in a set as well as on a playlist.
From the IndieRock.News Curator Team: “Putting the studio footage out on the same day as the single is a smart move for a five-piece. New listeners get to see exactly who is making the noise before they ever buy a ticket.”
Who Else to Play Next to Mascara, From KT Tunstall Fans to The Mash House Headline in November
If Mascara lands, the obvious neighbours are the ones above. Idlewild fans will know the Edinburgh guitar lineage. The Snuts, meanwhile, show where a Lothians band can go with the right chorus. The cover is a useful clue too. KT Tunstall first gained attention in 2004 with a live solo performance of Black Horse and the Cherry Tree on Later… with Jools Holland, and a band that covers Suddenly I See is telling you how much it values a chorus.
The band were also quick to move on. A week after Mascara, they posted a short clip of Rearranged asking whether anyone could match its harmonies. Since then, they have released Rearranged in May 2024, with an official video that August. Before Summer Falls followed in March 2026. Next up is a headline show at The Mash House in Edinburgh on 6 November 2026. Syrena, Nova Scotia and Filthy Casuals complete the bill.
Mascara by Cherry Red is also on Apple Music. Follow Cherry Red across platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
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