Red Lightning has gotten a better response in America than in England, where he is from, he said.

"One good thing I will say about America -- they're up for live music. They really eat it up, while England's extremely critical," Whyte said.

America is generally different from England, he said.

"America's such a fast country," Whyte said. "The sounds are different from each place that you go to."

Red Lightning's album, "L.A. Crash Landing," is a straight-up rock 'n' roll album with eight tracks.

One track is called "Black Dog Day."

"Getting the black dog is like getting really bad depression," he said. "'Black Dog Day' is about depression and how you deal with it. It's accepting the highs and the lows. It's accepting the fact that some days you're going to feel bad, but you might be all right. 'Ride out the storm,' as they say."

Another song is called "Something out of Nothing" which is mainly about being a rock 'n' roll star, he said.

"It's like, whilst I'm performing I'm going to be a rock 'n' roll star. Like you become this different person," Whyte said. "You become one person onstage, and then offstage you're a mellow, relaxed, different kind of person. It's like when you feel empty and you don't have much in your life it's like a statement -- 'Tonight, I'm going to be someone to be loved.'"

The album was written in two weeks under the influence of a positive mood, he said.

"I know I've written a good song when I hear it and I feel excitement," he said. "I've listened to the whole album and realized that this sounds like a great car-driving record -- it's continuous. It all flows."

Whyte said he's gotten used to hearing himself.

"For many years I had to struggle having my own individual voice and now I feel like I have it," he said.

Whyte lives by the philosophy of trying to find happiness in any way, he said, but being in a band is about more than that.

"Joe Strummer had a really good philosophy. He said if you've got the mechanics of a band, stick with it and don't mess it up," he said. "Many bands will form and they become greedy. The singer wants to take all the money, or people get replaced for no reason whatsoever, and then the band never grows as a whole unit. And then you look at bands like U2 -- they've been together for 30 years as solid rock. There's a lot to be said for unity and sticking together."

(C) 2005 Daily Lobo via U-WIRE