Alejandro Meola

Photo Credit: Carlos Detres

Catch up with singer-songwriter Alejandro Meola, listen to his latest EP, First Impressions, out now, and catch him on his East Coast tour this Fall.

What first got you interested in music?

Alejandro: When I was a kid I remember finding a guitar at home, under a bed. Out of curiosity, I opened the case and started strumming it with a coin. It was fascinating. My mother taught me the two or three chords that she knew and the super of the building happened to play folk songs quite well, so he would often come by to tune it and give me some tips - there was no YouTube back then. Eventually, I began taking lessons and here we are, still at it.

Which musicians have you been influenced by?

The first band that I was really into was Oasis, that kind of fanaticism you only get when you're a teenager. Oasis and Andres Calamaro, circa 1997. Morrison Hotel (Doors), Electric Ladyland (Hendrix) and the White Album (Beatles) was a triad that marked me deeply. Before vinyls were hip, you could buy them in a bundle for a few bucks. Once, my father came in with a turntable and let's say 40 records, from which 28 were terrible. But the remaining 12 were BB King at Ole Miss, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra at The Sands with Count Basie's Orchestra, Astor Piazzolla and a bunch of music that, otherwise, I probably wouldn't have found till later years. That turntable was an influence itself, kind of a gate or a time gap. Then, Wes Montgomery, Muddy Waters, everything Motown, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Bob Marley, Tom Waits, and the rich Argentine rock culture I grew up in: Spinetta, Manal, Pappo, Moris, Charly Garcia, Soda Stereo, Redondos and Sumo, among others.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music before?

I like to think it's classic and modern at the same time. We could label it mostly as rock/blues but, in this new EP, I’ve also done a reggae and, if you go back to my older recordings, you’ll even find some winks to tango. At the end of the day, I’m committed to the song and the arrangement itself, not to a particular genre.

What were your inspirations behind your single, “Purple"?

I was working in a night club 3 to 4 nights a week; that might have been the spark that triggered the dancing beat of the song in the back of my head. The melody came to me walking down the streets, humming lalalala. The images in the lyrics reflect motion, change and flow while purple is the color that we sometimes see in the sky at twilight, dusk or dawn. I also consider wine to be more violet than red.

Could you tell us more about your First Impressions EP and what new listeners can expect to hear on the EP?

First Impressions, it’s the first statement that I make in English. It follows two singles that I released in 2014 and shows a broader palette of textures. At a more personal level, it channels the changes I experienced moving to New York from Buenos Aires and I feel that’s reflected on the sound. Aesthetically speaking, it’s a rupture with my previous work, a new phase.

Do you have a favorite track off this EP to perform live?

Yes, “Shed Some Love”. It always feels fresh to me on stage.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

I’m good at what I do. Perhaps not so much when it comes to other aspects of life, but I’m a good songwriter. You'll take away tunes made with craftmanship. I love every single song that ever came to me and I record them out of necessity, so that they don’t haunt me. It's my responsibility to arrange and produce them to the best of my abilities, and possibilities. But once I release them, in a way, they are no longer mine, they are yours. For you to project your own baggage and your own journey on them. It’s a bit like throwing a bottle into the ocean.

Is there anything you want to add?

If you’ve read all the way up to here, thank you. Other than that, I’ll be playing a string of shows in the East Coast this Fall, visiting Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston before wrapping up the season back in New York. All are very much invited and welcomed, would be great to meet you!

Fall 2016 Tour Dates
Oct 9 @ Black Squirrel, Washington, DC
Oct 10 @ Bourbon & Branch, Philadelphia, PA
Oct 24 @ Middle East Corner, Cambridge, M
Nov 15 @ Pianos, New York, NY

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Rick Rocker

Catch up with New York native and pop-rock singer-songwriter Rick Rocker and listen to his latest single, "How Long", out now.

What first got you interested in music?

Rick Rocker: I would say it was my sister. She was a singer from a young age and she was always singing and I sung with her a little bit, like Aladdin and "Whole New World" or whatever, stuff like that for fun. So music was always around. I really started getting into music when she actually started trying to play guitar and I was around 15 years old - I was in high school - and she never committed to it and I saw it in her room and went to grab it, picked it up, and I pretty much just got addicted to it [laughs]. She taught me one thing on it, I didn't know what it was at the time, but I found out later that it was Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" intro bit, so the whole thing was strings; it wasn't even chords or anything, but I pretty much practiced that to death. At first, it took me a while to just pick every single string and then I got the picking down and I just practiced the heck out of it but then my uncle started teaching me some chords, as well, a few chords here and there. My sister's boyfriend also played guitar and he taught me some stuff, but I'm mostly self-taught. There were little things they would help me with, but I didn't have any formal teaching up until more recently, like the last year or two. Mostly self-taught, but my sister was definitely the spark of the musical interest in my family.

Do you remember the first song you wrote?

It never got put into production or anything, but the first song I had was called "I Won't Say Anything At All" or something like that. It was like a precursor to my first single on my first album, Spend The Night, which is the song "Spend The Night"; it was a slower, more mellow version of that, 'cause it even had a very similar lyric opening it up. I said something like 'driving the streets at night and I don't know where I'm going,' very similar to my single on my first album which is, 'roaming around the streets at night / I don't know what I'm looking for'. It was a very, very early precursor to what would be "Spend The Night" later, I think subliminally.

Which musicians have you been influenced by, other than Metallica?

Yeah, that's not a main influence, but Metallica was there in high school, predominantly. My high school years, a lot of kids liked Metallica and it was the cool thing and everything else sucked and metal was kick-ass and you were a sissy if you liked anything else [laughs]. At least, that was the unspoken word. But, I was the rebel - or at least I felt like that - for liking pop rock. I was like, okay, you guys can take your metal or whatever. I was also very good at poetry in high school and a few times got noticed for my poetry and had the poetry read aloud by the teacher or something, which was cool. I also played in my high school jazz band, but I'm getting way off topic. My main influences, besides Metallica, would be Bon Jovi, Zeppelin, Green Day, U2 - U2 is a big one - The Stones. More recently, for the newer stuff, I've been listening to more modern stuff, just trying to get a little more awareness to how the pop sound is becoming, so Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, I really like some of the stuff The Struts are doing as well, they've really got a modern Queen thing going on. There's more, like I used to listen to Paramore a lot, too, and Guns N' Roses was also a big one growing up, but that's a good bulk of them.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music before?

I'd say it's fun, meaningful, and catchy.

What were your inspirations behind your single "How Long" and can you tell us more about your upcoming music video?

It was done over a period of a few months so it's a collection of emotions. The core lyrics are definitely just about a relationship and it's like somebody that you wanted to go out with and it didn't work, so it's frustration, but not entirely anger. You want it to happen and that's where the 'how long' comes into play, I guess.

The video is going to have some space-type references. We've got a space suit and it's going to be kind of cutesy, but in a good way. It's a fun song, a happy song. I don't want to give too much away [laughs], but it's going to have some cool space props in there and the locations are going to reflect some more space/out of this world imagery. It's going to be a love story, as well; guy trying to get girl or girl trying to get guy, something revolving around that. We're still working out the very specifics of it and we're going to shoot it very soon.

How does the music you're working on now compare to Spend The Night and do you have plans to release a new album?

The first album is more raw, it's not as pop-y. There's a little more pop element sheen to this one, it's a little more electronic-ish, but not entirely, just a little bit. But the production element is definitely different, it's more polished and it's more full, I think. There's just more to it. In a nutshell, I'd just say it's more pop.

For the EP, I'm going to take it a song at a time, right now, and I might just hold - depending on how things develop with the single - I might just make the songs now, the newer stuff, 'cause I have a bunch of songs that are ready to go and record and it's just a matter of saving up the money [laughs] and making sure I can come out with everything; put my type of promotion behind it so that the songs can get into the hands and ears of the right people and reach as many people as possible, as well.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

Just to feel good. Just to bring them up, help them get through the day. Most of my music is just feel-good music that's supposed to pump you up or make you feel better. I am working on one song in particular that's got a good feeling behind it, it's all meant to give you a lift or hope or something good.

Is there anything you want to add?

Find me on YouTube and check out the other stuff.

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White Label Analog

Catch up with Austin-based indie pop rockers White Label Analog and listen to lead single "Echoes" off the band's debut album, In Case You Just Tuned In, out now.

What brought you all together?

Chris Didear: Most of us have been in bands for a good part of our music careers. I've been in Austin for most of my life and had known both Aaron (bass) and Heath (drums) for a while. Initially, I had just gotten out of a band and was looking to do something kind of different and outside of my comfort zone - expand my horizons, so to speak - something new, something fresh. I talked to Heath early on and, for whatever reason, at the time we were just both busy and not able to make something materialize, so I just was like, well, I'm going to put an ad on Craigslist and see what happens, and I did and I tried to work with a couple of different guys that didn't pan out and then James answered the ad and he and I gelled right off the bat. We started writing some songs and once we got a few songs together then I reached back out to Heath and he came and jammed with us and, after 2/3 weeks of that, he was pretty interested. So, we just worked as a 3-piece for a while until we felt comfortable bringing another person in and I called my old buddy Aaron and he came in and did a great job right off the bat and blew everybody away. We were a 4-piece and we were looking around for a keyboardist - which seemed to be the ever elusive missing member - and we had always envisioned having a female keyboardist for the look of the band, for the dynamic, for the voice, lots of reasons. We started looking around and a couple people we tried out didn't pan out and, actually, Alison and James knew each other and she'd seen us play live and we had a conversation and she thought we were looking for a male keyboardist and we told her, 'no, we're actually looking for a female,' and she was like, 'uh, well, I'm that'. So we got together with her and we've been this line-up ever since. We did a few gigs as a 4-piece because we were getting antsy looking around for a keyboardist and then, like I said, Alison saw us and that's how we met.

Where does your name, White Label Analog, come from?

Chris: Actually, it was a name that Heath came up with and we probably spent a few weeks combing over about 50,000 names and nothing was really sticking - and this was when we were still a 4-piece - and Heath came up with the name, White Label Analog. Believe it or not, I was the only one that really wasn't into the name, the other guys were totally down with it, so we went with the majority, obviously, and I was like, 'cool, okay, let's go with that,' and it just eventually grew on me; I really like the name now.

Which musicians have you been influenced by?

Chris: That's a very, very difficult question with a long answer, but everybody brings different influences to the table ranging from classical jazz, metal, other indie alternative, modern rock, all kinds of stuff, so it's just a hodgepodge of influences, both band-wise and individually. I think, more than anything, it's the eclectic taste and influences of the individuals that brings together the total sound of the band.

Which words would you use to describe your sound?

Chris: We get asked that a lot. A lot of indie alt-rock and pop music today, it seems less focused on the rock and more heavily on maybe synth and pop sounds and electronic sounds. And, while we like that stuff and we certainly like to have that kind of flavor mixed in with our music, we still like to have a little rock sound, a little meat with the rock sound to add a little more taste. So, I would say indie rock pop.

What were your inspirations behind your single, "Echoes"?

Chris: To be honest, I had reflected back on a couple of personal losses and I just wanted to, in some way, celebrate life and make people realize that life is frail and we need to live in the moment and enjoy what we have, because there's no guarantee of a tomorrow. It's really about making memories and that those memories reverberate after you're gone with other people and with the world around you.

Could you tell us more about your new album, In Case You Just Tuned In, and how it compares to your previous EP?

Chris: The EP was our first recording and so it was songs that had been written early on in the process and we were proud of the EP and everything and still play songs off the EP, but the new record is more of a maturation of the band. Our writing style's evolving; we're navigating our way with our sound. I don't think we're trying to consciously sound like any one thing, but I think the listeners will find that it's an interesting mix, the journey from beginning to end. It's got some pretty fun hooks and it's not too serious. A very fun record to listen to. Somewhat danceable and melodic, but still has a little bit of an edge to it.

In one sentence, how would you sum up In Case You Just Tuned In?

Chris: Endearing wedding music [laughs].

The cool thing about this record is, we got to work with a lot of really good, talented mixers, so it added a lot of cool texture and feel. There was no more than, say, three songs mixed by any one mixing engineer, so that process, in and of itself, made the entire mix of the album unique, in a sense. Obviously, working with Mark Needham and the reputation and his experience and everything was really the cornerstone for the rest of the album; we used his mixes to kind of dictate the overall presentation, so that was consistent throughout the album. But, yeah, that was an interesting mix of people that we worked with to do the recording.

Heath Macintosh: To me, it's got great peaks and valleys. Sonically, each song competes with the next and it doesn't feel like you're just hearing the same song over and over again, which is something that I feel like I hear a lot on some bands' albums. There's a good dynamic; you can really hear where we pull from different influences from song to song and get a different vibe as it goes song to song.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

Chris: I hope that they just enjoy listening to it and are inspired enough to share it with people because, really, you can do all the online promotion, but word of mouth really is still the best form of promotion. If someone tells somebody else and it just keeps paying forward, then you start amassing an audience. We're hoping to reach new audiences on the road; we've been pretty excited about taking this tour and finding new people to share this music with. We're hoping that they just take away a really good listening experience and that they're excited about it enough to share it with other people.

Is there anything you want to add?

James Millican: I think, for me, this album has been not too serious, not too playful, not too rock, not too pop; it's kind of somewhere in-between where we all intersect with our different musical backgrounds, so I think that sticks out pretty heavily when you're listening to the songs.

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Alice Underground

Catch up with LA-based quintet Alice Underground and watch the video for their latest single "Superman" off their album, Cambria Sessions, out now.

What brought you all together?

The short answer is music. We've either played together in different bands, opened up for each other in other bands, or connected from singing or playing together at shows. I will say that with each member, the kindredship was lightning fast. The beauty of meeting a kindred spirit is that you know instantly that they're a kindred. So, with each member, there was an instantaneous musical kinship that brought us together. Now we all play together in 4 different bands under the umbrella of The Alice Project, and we absolutely love creating together.

Which musicians have you been influenced by, individually or as a band?

We all have pretty diverse taste in music. I think the rule of thumb in our group is that if it has some soul and imagination, we'll probably love it. I myself have a great affinity for Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Bjork, Nine Inch Nails, Florence and the Machine, Tool, and Pink Floyd, to name a handful.

What words would you use to describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music?

Gypsy swing with a protopunk edge

What were your inspirations behind your single and the video for "Superman"?

The song was originally written as part of a storyline from the album. A man that one of the girls is in love with has gotten himself in trouble because of trying too hard to be a hero. Ultimately, the song is about how in love, we can either put someone else on a pedestal, or we struggle with being put on a pedestal. In the end, I want to love a person as the real human being that they are and not as a superhero.

Could you tell us more about your Cambria Sessions album?

The album represents the collaboration of many like-minded artists in our community. The band worked with the amazing writer, Shawn Strider, who is also the head of the Sypher Arts Studio that we are a part of. We also had a chance to bring in the musical talents of Eru Matsumoto, Joe Berry, and Jordan Roepke to create the album. The album art was created by the incredibly talented artist, David Mack, and our live album release included the dancers who we try to include in many of our live performances. The album was written with the storyline in mind of two girls who are trying to make their dreams come true in Hollywood in an imaginary golden age, a time that never was. After going through a series of challenges, the ladies finally decide to pack up their car and escape north to Cambria. Cambria in reality is a beautiful town along the coast of California; it feels like a magical place where people can go to re-find themselves and hear the whispers of the muses. I’ve always had a particular affinity for surreal art, the kind of art that takes you on a journey and makes you feel shifted when you experience it. What I can tell you is that these songs represent chapters of life. Some of the songs for me, personally, are songs that I feel I have finally found my voice and my sense of self-empowerment. The album represents heartbreak, longing, regret, adventures, laughter, and various forms of love. When we put the album together, we spent many, many hours, with a detailed brush, with the process always including a great deal of joy from the collaboration with each other and the people that have surrounded us in this project.

Is there a track off that record you'd call your favorite?

This is definitely a difficult question. I view songs as children of sorts, and it really is impossible to choose favorites. Each one draws on various heart strings, and so each song really does have a special place. Perhaps I can say that the song that makes me feel the most empowered on this album is "Hard to Resist". I wrote that from a place of truly trying to find my own empowerment after a difficult breakup. But I really do love all the songs. ;)

In one sentence, how would you sum up Cambria Sessions?

A musical journey, infused with love, longing, and laughter, that takes you there and back again.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

When I create music, it is my intention to create something that people can connect and relate to. Perhaps they can be inspired to create for themselves or to have something to sing or play along to. Perhaps they have a song that helps them get through a difficult time. I myself have certain songs on other people's albums that I've listened to over and over when I was going through hard times. So, I hope that I can pay it forward and add more music to the world that serves that purpose. I also hope that our music can bring people joy, make their feet tap, and take them on a journey. But, really, these are all merely intentions. I find that a really important lesson as an artist is the art of letting go. Once I have created a piece of art, it's not up to me how people will feel or interpret it. I can hope, but it really belongs to other people once I've released it out into the world. My job as an artist is to just keep making art.

Is there anything you want to add?

I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us a little better. And to thank our supporters for the incredible love and support that makes what we do truly magical.

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