Bonus Q&A with Melee
Here is more from my interview with Melee guitarist Ricky Sans. The band performs Sunday at the Glass House.
Q: Were your longtime fans as receptive to ‘Devils & Angels’ when it came out last year
as the predecessor ‘Everyday Behavior’?
A: Yeah. We’re very genuine and honest with our fans. As long as we’re like that, they’re open to whatever we do. They know we have the best intentions. Our fans just want to see us make it.
Q: For me, one of standouts on the album is “Biggest Mistake,” where Chris references Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and sings about suing JetBlue. What inspired it?
A: There was a big incident with a girl I was dating. It was one of those crazy nights. I kind of stepped aside and went in my room and wrote the lyrics really quickly. I thought, ‘I’m going to walk away with something from this that’s productive.’ On the JetBlue line, I said to Chris, ‘you’re going to think this is totally cheeseball, but it’s too perfect.’ When we demoed it, we weren’t really feeling it. It came out sounding too much like a knockoff of [Rick Springfield’s] “Jessie’s Girl.” For some reason, it didn’t click, so we put it aside. When we started recording the album, [producer] Howard [Benson] said, ‘we need some more rock songs. What else do you have?’ He pushed us to record it and it took on a whole new life. It’s so awesome how that happened.
Q: Do you or Chris tend to write the darker lyrics?
A: That’s what our touring crew jokes about. They’ll say, ‘oh we know Rick’s songs because they’re always about breaking up with girls or they’re sad depressing songs.’
Q: Have you got any feedback from Hall & Oates on your cover of “You Make My Dreams”?
A: No, but we were really hoping that would happen.
Q: What made you choose that particular ‘80s pop classic?
A: We always get a lot of comparisons to Hall & Oates - the blue-eyed soul thing. Our label asked us to record a cover song to have on hold for a movie soundtrack or an iTunes exclusive. We really wanted to do Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls,” but we ended up doing this one at the last minute. It came out awesome and we threw it on the record.
Q: Do you the fact that Chris plays piano and sings live separates Melee from the alt-rock pack?
A: Definitely. When we started out, Chris mainly played guitar. He drifted into it. The more bands we tour with, it becomes clear that it’s our little advantage.
Q: Last time I caught the band live was during the Bamboozle Fest at Cal Poly Pomona. Do you like playing outdoor festivals?
A: Not that we’re high maintenance or anything, but [we prefer] not to have to deal with whether our cones are set up right and temperatures changing. It never really sounds how you want it to [outdoors]. That kind of affects our mood, but you have to put it aside and have fun. We’re just control freaks [laughs].
Q: There are three videos for “Built to Last” on YouTube. You personally had a hand in one. Did you go to various malls and asked people how they fell in love?
A: We always make cheeseball, silly movies - something fun for us to do besides music to get our brain off things. Our label said, ‘before we make a big video for the song, why don’t you make one of your movies for it. Something cool. A viral thing we can add to the internet.’ We were on tour at the time and went to different malls around the country. It turned out really genuine and sincere.