Meligrove Band's Interplanetary Conspiracy

MELIGROVE BAND’S INTERPLANETARY CONSPIRACY

The major label record game is a brutal obstacle course of broken hearts and happenstance. Many bands are capable of building brilliant compact discs, brimming with revolutionary, spirit-raising pop rock ‘n’ roll, but so few of them are ever given even the remotest opportunity to reach an audience beyond their peers. The Meligrove Band know this all too well. A live favourite since their teens in Toronto, their tourniquet-tight performances and shimmering, bouncing pop melodies finally caught some attention last year from the big boys. They’ve just released their Jose Contreras-produced major label debut record as V2 Records flagship Canadian act. For Jason Nunes, (singing, guitar, piano), Darcy Rego, (drums), Andrew Scott, (guitar, trumpet, synth), and Mike Small, (bass), it could mean big things, but at this point, they’re just glad to have the support.

“So far it’s been a lot of fun,” says Small. “V2 is different from a lot of the other ‘big’ labels; they’re just four people sharing an office in Toronto and right from the start it’s felt like we’re all friends, not like we’re in some business deal or something. It has allowed us to do a lot of things we haven’t in the past, but we’re still in control of it all. We still design the posters, the album art, we silk-screen our t-shirts at home, but now there are four more people making sure our music gets heard by as many people as possible. That’s pretty awesome.”

Their debut album, Planets Conspire, makes the Meligrove Band a prime contender for Canada’s next cool band. Equipped with the urgent, frantic melodies of Hot Hot Heat, but cut with Nunes playful, heartfelt, (and coyly naïve), vocals, the songs display a flurry of influences, (Beach Boys, Sloan, Flashing Lights), while aping none. Production by Jose Contreras, (the mercurial By Divine Right frontman), keeps the sounds gruff and necessary, with nary a wasted second in any song. His deft hand on the mixing boards, (and no doubt his awfully charming demeanor), did much to influence the finished product and the young Meligrove’s high esteem for him.

“Jose added Jose, (to the album). There’s no one else like him. This was definitely the most fun we’ve ever had recording,” Smalls gushes. “There’s so much I can say about him, but I’ll narrow it down to: By Divine Right are making a new album, so remember to buy it next year because they’re amazing!”

Jose Contreras wasn’t the only one adding something new to the record. Multi-instrumentalist Andrew Scott, (not Sloan’s Andrew Scott), joined the fold shortly after the 2002 release of their previous effort, Let It Grow.

“Andrew has brought really cool guitar, synth, trumpet, and trombone playing to the table. Not to mention poster design and a killer moustache.”

Smalls and the remaining Meligroves have a busy year ahead of them; they’ll be off to the US, the UK, and anywhere else that will have them, (“We are going to play about a billion shows this year. All over the place.”). Before they go though, they’re coming to Guelph. With Planets Conspire in-hand, they’ll be at the Ebar with guests Evan Gordon & The Sad Clowns on February 2nd. It’s all-ages and it’s $7. Everyone in-the-know already loves the Meligrove Band. Do you?

“I’m confident that the people who are supposed to like it are going to like it, if they hear it. And whoever those people are, they’ll get to be our new niche.”
www.meligroveband.com

(originally published January 2006. Echo Weekly. Kitchener)