If you take part in the local punk/rock scene here in Tāmaki Makaurau, you will know who Melanie are. The 4 piece are somewhat of a staple in the live music scene and are always a band that are great to see on a lineup. Spinning ‘42 Losers’ on vinyl and seeing them live, you may think, when will the next new release be? Well that would be now!
“This EP was much more of a collaborative effort than ‘42 Losers’, which is something we’ve been working on” – James. The new ABCD EP is only 4 tracks. “After renaming the third song from ‘Buhka’ to ‘Cold Feet’, we realised that the album track names were – in order – “HBCD”. Thus, the decision was made to rename ‘Hyperbole’ to ‘All Talk, No Trousers’ and fulfil the prophecy and name the EP ABCD” – Joe.
It is somewhat feeling like a burst or taster, especially with 3 of the tracks being just over a minute, but I love that. I find tracks these days are around 3 minutes plus and that feels like the norm now but Melanie say no.
The band announced a release show with a lineup including Finger Tight and The First Child but sadly due to the Red setting that Aotearoa has moved to, it has been postponed. So keep an eye out and be sure to get tickets when it can go ahead.
When asked to describe the EP, Melanie had this to say
- All Talk No Trousers Originally called Hyperbole, it’s about being really over dramatic and was written at the last second as a real afterthought while recording the drums. It was the first song where James let go of the creative reins and let Joe contribute some of the lyrics. The song name was found after browsing idioms starting with ‘A’ for a good hour and a half.
- Brains was written during the first big lockdown by sending Logic bounces to one another. “This was the first song that I actually sat down and charted all my drum parts and it led to one of my favourite Melanie tracks drum wise” – Joe
“It was written on the way home from work one night, and I found the melody for the verse and had to repeat it over and over again so that I didn’t forget it on the very long drive home” – James
- Cold Feet was originally called “Buhka”, which is onomatopoeic for the sound the drums make when they go fast. It was originally meant to follow “No Shoes” but didn’t end up being developed enough for ‘42 Losers’. “The main motivation behind this song was literally us wanting to use the fast classic “buhka” punk beat in a song. You will be seeing more of it” – Joe
- Delivery Boy went through several iterations, it was written way before ‘42 Losers’ and was also meant to be on it. Pretty much the only thing that stayed constant was the outro – The build-up in the bridge was the part of the song that changed the most. The spoken word “I read the page and I read it again” was added in very last minute.
“This song is about not being able to read or write” – James at every show before we play it.
“This song is a James special, he came to us with it pretty much fully written.” – Joe
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Line up: James Dentice: Vocals & Guitar Robin Davey Lusk: Guitar William Dentice: Bass, Backing Vocals Joe Gasparich: DrumsGang Vocals by Melanie, Edible, Sarah Belle Ryan, Sarah Wenzlick Recorded by James Dentice & Joe Gasparich Produced and mixed by James Dentice & Joe Gasparich Mastered by De StevensSocial Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melaniebandnz Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melanie.for.fun/ Bandcamp: https://melanie-for-fun.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4zb3docgwiQnsxFxZ3y36Q Linktree: https://linktr.ee/MelanieNZ |
BIO:
James and Robin, along with De Stevens and Jordan Whiu, initially came together to play pop punk covers at Robin’s 19th birthday party in 2017. One of the songs they played that night was Fountain of Youth’s “Stacy’s Mom”, with the twist that it was instead about their friend Max’s mum whose name is Melanie. Later that year, Muriwai hardcore band Lookin Up came to Robin, asking if he had a band that could open on their tour, and so Melanie was formed, losing Jordan for James’s brother William. After procrastinating for a month, they realised they only had two weeks to come up with some originals for the shows, and so they set to and wrote what would become the ‘Melon’ EP (2018).
De Stevens later left the band due to not being the biggest fan of pop punk, who was then temporarily replaced by Joe, drummer of sister band Snitch Jimmy. After three years it’s safe to say that he’s no longer a temporary drummer. During 2019 they worked on more originals, recording all the instruments for their debut album ’42 Losers’ before the first big lockdown hit, with James then recording the vocals separately before the band mixed it together over voice chat. The album was released to great acclaim in April 2020, along with a music video for “No Shoes”. It was later followed up with a physical release on vinyl through Holiday Records.
In late 2020 the guys moved in together in a flat in Glendene where they somehow practiced less often while being within 20m of one another at all times. Having originally met at SAE (School of Audio Engineering), they all have skills in the recording and engineering side of music. They were able to set up a decent sized band room, allowing them to practice, record and mix at home allowing for a much quicker production of their follow up EP ‘ABCD’.