Scarlet Rebels are one of Wales’s great success stories of the past decade. The Llanelli quartet have risen to prominence alongside the likes of Florence Black, Those Damn Crows and Cardinal Black in recent years, with their last two albums scoring Top 10 and Top 20 chart success.
Catching up with singer and guitarist Wayne Doyle after a working day to discuss the band’s excellent new album Flawed By Design, we explore life on the road, the pressure of having Top 20 albums, the joy of promotional work and the forthcoming shows.
Like many bands, Scarlet Rebels hold down day jobs, spending all their annual leave to cover shows across the UK and Europe. It is a gruelling schedule, and Wayne explains the balance he and his fellow bandmates juggle between promotional work and their daytime roles.
“I like getting to chat to people about the record and stuff, but especially when you’re trying to balance work every day as well, it can get quite intense, should we say. Especially now, when we are so close to release time.
“It’s like all the activities happening now when there’s a million other things that need to be done on top of all this kind of stuff as well.”
Having had previous chart success with both Where The Colours Meet and See Through Blue, is there a pressure on the Rebels, or does Wayne feel that the music still comes first?
He is categorical in his response. “The music obviously has to be something that we’re all resonating with and on board with. So that will never change.”
But there is pressure that the band feel. “It’s the pressure that we’re putting on ourselves as well to try and replicate. There is that level of acknowledgement within the band that whatever we do will be critiqued. Whether that’s positively or negatively, we know that’s going to be put in front of people that people are going to hear it.
“In terms of the chart success and stuff like that, the success of it, it’s pointless lying. The charts have shown, as you know, people have diminished their importance in the past. I’m not saying that it is the same as what it was when there was no streaming.
“But the fact is that you chart based on the amount of sales and the amount of people that stream. So it’s an audience who are purchasing it. So it is important because. First of all, the investments made in the albums that you’ve referred to are big.
“Certainly the investment in the band that we’ve had since we’ve signed with Earache has been so much bigger than anything we’ve ever had in the past, which is why, I guess, the profile of the band has been raised due to the work and the investment that they decided to put into us”.
For Wayne, that investment brings a responsibility to deliver, but it also gives the band a chance to keep growing. “So the best thing that we can do to pay that back, obviously, is to give them the best music we can and then obviously try and push to sell as many albums as we can in order to make sure that they get their investment back as well.
“So, it means that we can grow and then it also means that if we sell enough that the appetite is there for them to keep helping us make records.”
The Rebels have always been focused on emotive and gritty subject matter. How has opening in the lyrics changed the connection with listeners?
Wayne considers this for a moment. “I just think I’ve personally felt, the more that I’ve opened up and the more that I’ve been authentic with the message in the songs, the more it resonated with people.”
As for the approach with Flawed By Design, Wayne is clear that it was an even bigger opportunity to speak from the heart. “I think when I came to writing this one, it was just a case of just being more open and more raw and authentic with what I was trying to say and just reflecting really in the times that I was kind of living through at the time.”
It was Wayne that put forward the majority of the songs on the album, although as always the rest of the band joined in with their input.
With discussions about the next release already underway, Wayne began writing while the others were still coming out of the previous album cycle.
“The majority of the material that was put forward was songs that I had written myself. Chris also contributed starting points for the songs. We had a few songs which Chris brought ideas for, which I added the lyrics and melodies to later on.”
Scarlet Rebels have an immediacy with a radio-friendly appeal, but scratch the surface, and you will find much deeper issues in the lyrical content. Balancing this is something Wayne is very aware of. “It’s all upbeat, and it’s all quite in your face. But I think for those then that want to dive a bit deeper, the lyric content can be at times sort of opposite to what the tone of the music is, how it sounds sonically.
“It is something that I aim for, but also, it’s got to stand on its own two feet, to be catchy and to be able to be something which people can sing along to as well. So, it’s just trying to meet that balance really, I think.”
With Earache Records giving the band a boost, it seemed appropriate that the Chains video from Chepstow Castle was released as a video. “It kind of made sense that we had that big gig in the middle of a campaign to try and capture it. That idea was floated to Earache, and they sorted it out, basically,” Wayne explains.
We move onto the promotional demands of social media and whether the band are becoming more comfortable with it. “It has to happen. So yeah, I think we’re getting better at it, and I’m getting more comfortable doing it, but it’s a long road.”
The Rebels give their all in every high-energy live performance, so the in-store appearances on their upcoming promotional tour offer an interesting contrast. Wayne says the band were offered the choice.
“We were asked what we wanted to do. Whether we would be available to do the in-stores. I really enjoy doing them because it gives us the opportunity to go out to meet everybody, to sign anything they’ve bought, have pictures of people and just chat.
“And also, to be able to demonstrate the songs or to perform the songs in the manner they were written, which is on an acoustic guitar, just a few guitars and a voice, you know.”
For those intending to catch one of these shows, then Swansea, Huddersfield, Leeds, Kingston upon Thames and Oxford will be acoustic, with Cardiff and Wrexham as a full band.
The full-band shows offer more than a change in volume. They give the Scarlet Rebels the chance to present the new record from beginning to end. “We’re getting the opportunity to play the album in full.”
The acoustic appearances, meanwhile, bring the audience closer to the songs’ starting point, offering “the very stripped-back essence of it.”
Does taking their music across the UK and Europe mean flying the Welsh flag? For Wayne, pride in home needs no fanfare. “We’re massively proud of where we come from.”
Wayne values being mentioned alongside Those Damn Crows, Florence Black, Phil Campbell and Cardinal Black. “It’s a really cool thing to be part of and helping to fly that flag,” he says.
There is no need to trumpet it. “But that doesn’t mean that we’re not proud of where we come from.” Home shapes his outlook and songwriting, making that connection part of the music rather than a stage statement. “I don’t think we need to because it’s blatantly obvious where we’re from.”
For a band who dedicate all their free time to the road, it is perhaps not surprising that they still enjoy the slog despite the intensive schedules and uncomfortable conditions. “Going to visit different areas and different cities and towns and having people singing your songs back to you when you’re like 500 miles away from home is still really surreal.
“We spent the best part of our early musical endeavours going around the country and playing to people that just didn’t know or didn’t care.”
The adrenaline is obvious for the live work, as is the comedown afterwards. “It’s hard work, don’t get me wrong. It’s tiring. You can be on stage in Chepstow Castle, with a whole castle singing your own songs back to you on a Friday night and then Monday morning you’re back in work. So, there’s no sort of time for actual R&R, but it’s what we choose to do, and we would not change it.”
After the in-store shows, the Rebels head out on the road with Tyketto as well as a few headline dates when they are in the North of the country. And then, they have a headline tour in 2027.
“We’re doing our own headline tour in February next year. We love taking our music across the country and building our following and taking advantage of the opportunities that have been afforded to us and given to us at the moment.
“We know that if we slip off and we say no to things, there are thousands of bands that would love to be in our position. So, we know how lucky we are in that respect, and we’re grateful for it.”
You won’t meet a more genuine and honest musician than Wayne Doyle.
The new album drops today and is another great record. The boys from Llanelli look certain to make another assault on the charts. If you get the chance, then check out Flawed By Design. You will not be disappointed.
In a world of average hard rock, this is an album that stands high above many. A third assault on the UK charts is surely inevitable.
Record store tour tickets | Live tickets | Pre-order Flawed By Design | Scarlet Rebels official website
Flawed By Design UK In-Store Tour 2026
The band will mark the album’s release with seven record store dates between 13 and 18 November, mixing stripped-back performances with full-band shows. The run begins at Derrick’s Music in Swansea and includes Huddersfield, Leeds, Kingston, Cardiff, Wrexham and Oxford.
Wayne says: “Being able to get in front of and meet everyone that’s stood tall for us for so long is really important to us. Being able to strip the songs back to their barest nature as well as having a few full band shows gives us and our Rebel Club the opportunity to celebrate the release of Flawed By Design in style.”
- 13 November – Derrick’s Music, Swansea
- 14 November – Vinyl Tap, Huddersfield
- 14 November – Crash Records, Leeds
- 15 November – Banquet Records, Kingston
- 16 November – The Globe (presented by Jacaranda Records), Cardiff
- 17 November – The Parish (presented by Jacaranda Records), Wrexham
- 18 November – Truck Records, Oxford
Scarlet Rebels 2026 Live Dates
- 25 November – The Tivoli, Buckley (supporting Tyketto)
- 26 November – The Polar Bear, Hull
- 27 November – Independent, Sunderland
- 28 November – Winterstorm Festival, Troon
- 29 November – Picturedrome, Holmfirth (supporting Tyketto)
- 1 December – The Black Box, Hastings (supporting Tyketto)
- 2 December – The Waterloo, Blackpool (supporting Tyketto)
- 3 December – Queens Hall, Nuneaton (supporting Tyketto)
- 19 December – RPM Christmas Special, Morecambe (with The Virginmarys, These Wicked Rivers, Kit Trigg, LN and more)
Scarlet Rebels 2027 UK Tour
February
