RED SUNDAY is on the yellow brick road. They may not find Oz, but like any aspiring hard rock band, they at least hope to find Ozzfest.

To get there, though, the Santa Clara band needed the right combination of personalities. Guitarist Steve Beth, percussionist DJ Evol Twizm and drummer Jo Jo Townsell had already proven their courage by pursuing their own artistic vision. What they needed were the heart and brains.

Coming in to provide the former were vocalist Mike Bunnell and bassist Marcos Carriles. Bunnell won over the band with lyrics that "always touch me," says Townsell. "There's a lot of stuff that he writes about that's pretty amazing."

In turn, Bunnell believes it's the band's music that gives his words their emotional power. "Hard rock music has always made me feel that sense of just go crazy," he says, "and when you hear a crunchy guitar riff that goes into a different chord change perfectly, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. That can really pull emotions out of somebody."

Carriles, meanwhile, got Red Sunday's songs pumping. He says he was a fan of his band mates even before he was asked to join, particularly how they were able to "put out the hard rock and have this guy's beautiful voice."

"The way you sing, you hit a lot of kickass notes that I don't hear from other bands," he tells Bunnell. "I feel like I could either cry at what you're singing about, or I could get in the pit and start letting it out."

With the band no longer a tin-man endeavor, Red Sunday's music began to come together.

"When Mike and Marcos got into the band, it pretty much took a whole new direction as far as the seriousness of the band. More focused," says Townsell. "Everything took off."

But they were still in search of brains to help them navigate the business end of the music industry, and they found them in Jerry "Da Hermit" Dalalo, formerly of the hugely popular local band Insolence. Dalalo owns the Sticky Lab, where Red Sunday recorded their debut album, Truth and Beauty, which came out this summer. He also produced the album, feeling that Red Sunday was the right group to work with for his first such project since leaving Insolence in 2007.

"Not one of them has that rock star attitude," says Dalalo of the band. "They are all great guys and characters."

With his help, the band was the first rock group signed to Low Self Discipline, a hip-hop label ready to diversify after hearing their songs. Now, Red Sunday's trip down the yellow brick road of rock has expanded to include iTunes, Amazon.com and a slew of live shows, including a gig Dec. 17 at the Voodoo Lounge.

They've dealt with their fair share of wickedness along the way, including a munchkin-size list of places to play, but their biggest nemesis has been confusion over the band's genre.

"We've been a part of this for five years, and we've never been able to put a stamp on it because it keeps evolving," says Townsell.

"We're all pretty much metalheads," says Bunnell, "but we write this music that, I guess, the lyrics are high emotion."

"But with the dark, heavy background," adds Twism.

"Heavy-metal hippies!" says Beth.

Twism pauses to consider this, then agrees.

"We just don't use flowers."

Can over the rainbow be far away?

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