Starting with just four members in the fall of 2004, the currently nine-piece student band Melodesiac has made a name and a niche for itself on the Tufts music scene. This Saturday, they are set to open at this year's Spring Fling.
The year-old band has a lot on its plate these days. Apart from winning Battle of the Bands and clinching the opener spot at Spring Fling, they'll be hitting the Paradise Rock Club on May 11 to participate in the third round of the Emergenza International Music Festival. It just so happens that they're out to "redefine hip-hop," too, says vocalist and junior Lawrence Charles.
With 10 members (although the 10th member, junior Nick Ojeda, is currently abroad), the band is a fusion of 10 different personalities, according to junior and founding member Nehemiah Green. Green, a tenor saxophonist, said that the band "exploded" to begin with in order to incorporate each of the band members' respective tastes.
"We wanted music that fit all of our personalities. We wanted something that wasn't just a conventional jazz combo," said Green. Well, they got it.
Beginning in Jan. 2005 with just four founding members, Melodesiac was originally comprised of Green and Ojeda, junior drummer Ben Bornstein, and junior Shahan Nercessian on guitar. But something was missing.
"We were just looking for that diverse sound," said Green. That sound came together as, over the next few months, the founding four added junior Aaron Mehta on bass, sophomores Arlen Spiro (keyboard) and James Harris (baritone sax; Harris is also the Daily's Executive Photo Editor), then-seniors Yoni Dvorkis (alto saxophone) and Brent Patterson (vocalist), and finally Charles on vocals.
It's taken a while for the band's sound to gel, although they haven't yet characterized that sound. Perhaps that's why the Melodesiac boys have a tough time confining their list of musical influences to just one genre. While the band's MySpace website lists inspirations that range from Marvin Gaye to D'Angelo to The Neptunes, Green points to personal muses like renowned jazz musician John Coltrane and R&B crooner Erykah Badu.
Then again, said Charles, "The Roots have got to be our number one influence."
"We all have that commonality, that love for music," said Green, noting the important factor that allows the members to creatively blend their various musical flavors into Melodesiac's uniquely evolving sound.
Such a common bond is vitally important when the creative process is split equally among the ten bandmates. "We all take each other's criticism really well," said Charles. "There's the potential for egos to clash, but that doesn't really happen."
And their music isn't the only fruit of Melodesiac's egalitarian collaborations. Said Green, "Through this process, we've gotten to get to know each other on a different level as well."
"If you see us together, we're always laughing, cracking jokes, having fun," said Charles. "That's how we get most of our material, even if it's a serious concept."
But this band isn't all warm, fuzzy feelings; when these boys get together, they work hard, and the music they produce is starting to earn the attention of fans and critics alike.
In the beginning, though, grabbing the spotlight wasn't always so easy. In fact, Melodesiac submitted a recording for the 2005 Battle of the Bands, but they weren't even invited to perform in the contest.
Of the ensuing disappointment, Green said: "I guess it was pretty difficult for the band members, because we knew we had that skill but we didn't make that sound." Their inability to "make that sound" was a failure that Charles explained was probably due more to the poor quality of the recording they submitted than to any shortcoming on the band's part.
Green adds that Melodesiac's exclusion from last year's contest was frustrating for another reason. "Because we had this unique sound compared to the other bands in Battle of the Bands, I thought we had an opportunity," said Green. "We have a lot of talent, and we definitely could have won."
This year, though, the boys made sure to submit a more polished version of a live concert recording, and the result is a testament to the virtues of delayed gratification. As winners of the 2006 Battle of the Bands, Melodesiac will share the stage at Spring Fling this Saturday with major recording artists Blackalicious and featured act Guster.
"I'm excited," said Charles, though he notes that he wishes Melodesiac's performance was later in the day.
"It's a great honor to be able to play Spring Fling," said Green. "I love performing for my peers."
Besides the glory of holding the reigning Battle of the Bands title, the position should give Melodesiac their due publicity boost.
"There's nothing [no school function] better to get the attention of the entire school," said Charles.
So what can we expect of these winners come Saturday afternoon?
"We have some good tracks, a little bit of something for everybody to get down to," said Green.
"At the core," said Charles, "the band is hip-hop, but we've branched out to Latin jazz, classical jazz... It's whatever we feel like at the current moment, and I think that's the coolest part about it. Our motto is that we've been 'redefining hip-hop since 2005.'"
With lofty goals like that, it's only natural to wonder what Melodesiac will do with their budding talent once Spring Fling has flung, but when asked what their plans were for the band's future, the answer was rather modest.
"We're very passionate about what we do," said Charles. "We're taking everything in stride instead of over-thinking the future."
