I had the chance to sit down and have a short Q&A with two of the guys from Melodime a few weeks back; check that out to learn more about the band then head to the sites in the links below to support them.
E: When did you first start playing together and writing music as a band?
Melodime: We formed seven and a half years ago in the Spring of 2006;
Ty and I [Bradley] got introduced our senior year of high school, and Ty and
Sam are brothers so that's sort of a package deal, and we played together but
we hadn't really decided on formally becoming a band until then.
E: How would you
describe your genre of music? Are there any artists/bands which have influenced
your style of music?
M: We're terrible at that question; we never really decided on
a sound, it just sort of happened organically. I guess it would be closer to
alternative country rock. We all grew up listening to classic rock and
singer/songwriters like Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin and that
influenced our sound.
E: "Halo" has
touched many people emotionally; what was your inspiration for the song? Was it
meant to be a meaningful anthem for others, or was it written for more personal
reasons?
M: The song was written for personal reasons, but with the
intention of resonating with all of our fans. I guess it's a song you can
listen to on a broad scale and get whatever you want out of it.
It was written one year ago during a retreat to Northern Pennsylvania;
we just spent a week writing songs and that's where we settled on the theme of
redemption for the album. Sammy, who plays keyboards for us, was going through
a divorce at the time so the song sort of speaks to that.
E: Is there a song from
the album which you would say is your favorite?
M: It keeps changing. "Little People" is, at least,
my [Bradley] favorite to play live.
"Little People" is my [Jon] favorite to play live.
"Two Strikes" is my favorite to listen to.
E: You wrote fifty songs
for this album before narrowing it down to twelve; are there any that you are
interested in resurrecting for future work?
M: We have this series that we started a while ago called The B Room Diaries and that's been our
avenue to record every song we write or produce. We're hoping to release them
all as B-sides or all on a third volume which is cool; that allows us to not
have to say goodbye to songs.
E: Is the song writing
process a team effort or does it start off with individual inspiration?
M: It's definitely a team effort. It's difficult going into the
album because it's hard to choose which song, as the writer of the song; since
we all spent time writing them, a lot of them are closer to us and it's hard to
get perspective. The producers have sort of the final say in what goes in
the album. It's a team effort to make the final product.
E: One hundred percent
of the proceeds from Where the Sinners
and the Saints Collide has gone to providing instruments to those in need;
how did you come up with the idea?
M: Sam and Ty's great grandfather grew up in a poor family with
five brothers. An anonymous person dropped off instruments at the front door
and they went out and each chose an instrument and that led them to improving
their living conditions because it gave them a sort of way to provide for their
family. We want to continue that story with this. We always wanted to do
something with the music we create; sort of 'practice what we preach' on this
album.
E: How could your fans
help to support the program? Is there a specific school/organization which is
benefiting or does it just go to anyone in need?
M: Every album that's bought, all that money goes towards
instruments. There are still some details that we're working out in terms of
instrument donations but it's really just word of mouth.
When the website gets up and running there will be a form to
fill out for candidates. The website is nowiplayalongtoo.org and there's a
Facebook page but, for now, the website is just a splash page; it's still under
construction.
We definitely have
some stuff in the works; we're going to be going to Haiti for a week or so and
that's going to be a pretty big delivery.
E: What is the main
thing you want your fans to take away from your music?
M: I guess.. We pride ourselves in being a band that kind of
wears our heart on our sleeves with the songs we write with the hopes that
people can have the lyrics and music resonate with what they are going through.
Sort of like having a soundtrack for their lives and finding comfort through
the songs.
E: Anything you want to
say to your fans now that the album has been released and you're starting to
head out on tour?
M: We would love to see each and every fan out at the show.
We're hitting a little in December and then a whole lot in the winter months.
It's just a different experience when you hear these songs live and it would be
great to just shake the hands of all our fans.
Check out tour dates by following this link, get the band's
latest album Where the Sinners and the Saints Collide to support, not only the band, but the charity as well
(also, there is some awesome music on the album), and start loving their music
because I'll be talking about it again soon.
- E