Band members often dressed in elaborate costumes and employed stage props, theatrical elements, and visual projections during their shows.
[5] According to McSweeney, in 2006, Hitler was a "personal catalyst" and his band were a "bowl of Fruit Loops" and he was abducted by aliens, when younger.
[7][8] McSweeney explained why he left Melbourne, "A lot of people want to have a standard format band – get up there, play rock'n'roll, look good, have chicks fall over them, take cocaine..." but "For me, it was never about that.
"[9] In Brisbane, he was joined by an entirely new line-up,[3] Leigh Doolan on drums, Jasmine Ebeling on bass guitar, and Ellen Stancombe on violin, tin whistle, and vocals.
[3] The Red Paintings signed with the Brisbane-based label Modern Music, with distribution by Sony BMG, in early 2005.
[15][16] Jade Pham of Rave Magazine described one of their shows: "art-rock weirdos the Red Paintings seem comparatively normal in this line-up; dressed in warped Geisha style while two painters either side of stage use people as canvas, and frontman [McSweeney] shoots the crowd with toy laser guns.
[22][23] Obscured Sound's writer determined, "Like a Frans Hals painting, the result is epic and highly interpretable, revealing human emotions to the most authentic of perceptions contained in turbulent themes of religion, morality, and romanticism.
[26] In June 2007, the Red Paintings announced plans for a full-length album and requested fan donations, raising A$40,000 by March of the following year.
"[36] The Red Paintings relocated to the United Kingdom in 2014 and served as the support act on a tour by Gary Numan.