Melodime Rollout New Music with 'Roll-1'

Courtesy of the Artist

Captivating with a blend of roots, rock, and country Melodime’s latest EP, Roll-1 is the first in a 2 EP series that will culminate in the release of the band’s newest full-length in 2019. Roll-1, released August 31, features four tracks ranging from infectious celebratory anthems to an emotionally charged ballad that will leave a swell in your chest. While the Virginia-based four piece - Brad Rhodes (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Sammy Duis (piano, organ, bass), Tyler Duis (drums) and Jon Wiley (guitar, mandolin, dobro, backing vocals) – tour in support of the EP, Rhodes kindly took the time to talk about the project, their charity Now I Play Along Too, and more.
 
Roll-1 is the first of two EPs that will lead into the band's full-length release sometime next year. This is the first time you guys approached making an album this way, what spurred that?
With the way people consume music nowadays, we thought it might be more beneficial to slowly roll things out over a course of time rather than release the whole record at once. As a band who loves full records and all that goes into them, we felt that doing it this way is having the best of both worlds: we have the end goal [of a full-length], but at the same time, we can slowly tease things out which allows us to remain on people’s radar.

Definitely makes sense. So, in addition to releasing it in this manner, did you do anything else differently?
Well, we worked with a new producer, Marshall Altman, and that in itself allowed us more creative turns. There was a good amount of time between this record and our last release, so we came in with about 120 songs and had to ween that down to a much more manageable number. Once we did that, we put a lot more time into pre-production than we ever did, digging into every single song with incredible detail.
Also, whereas in the past we tended to bounce around a bit on a single project, this time we focused more on a single genre where everything was consistent and had the same vibe to it. We specifically wanted to lean more country with this record and that’s why we recorded in Nashville with Marshall, who really challenged us to make the record we were supposed to make. What we ended up getting was a more focused sound, but a sound that still is us - a band that’s born and raised in Virginia who draws influences from our upbringing and environment.

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How did these particular four songs on Roll-1 come together? Was there a unifying theme?
Since it was a summer release, we thought the songs, with the exception of “If You Will, Then I Do,” fit well with that. The first song, “Home Team”, is a good tone setter and the perfect way to kick everything off. The other two ["Song of the Summer" and "Nights Out Here"] celebrate friendship and have that blast the music, roll the windows down and drive kind of feel. 

The track you mentioned, “If You Will, Then I Do” is a gorgeous song. Is there a story behind it?
Man, I wish there was a good story for it. I am a huge fan of love songs and like the idea of writing love songs, whether they are romantic ones or depressing break up ones, that are realistic; songs where people who are in a serious relationship and about to take the next step can listen to it almost as a blueprint.
"If You Will" is about the ups and downs of love; realizing that it's not always beautiful rainbows and butterflies, but if love is strong enough people are going to be able to work through the difficult times. I don’t remember what I was listening to that inspired me to get that one down, but it's my favorite song on the EP.
 
It’s mine too. It’s perfect if you are in love, yet also really sadly beautiful if you don’t have anyone. So, with four of you in the band, how do you approach songwriting duties?
For the most part, I am the primary songwriter, but everything I write I send to Sam who serves as the caretaker of the songs. When it comes time to record though, we open everything up and at that point everybody puts their stamp on it. 
 
The cover of Roll-1 consists of Polaroid photographs. What do they signify?
The way we are doing it is that each track on the record has its own Polaroid that goes along with it and then the full length will have all the Polaroids hanging up together. As a band, we value albums and see each one as a sequel to the previous one, giving a glimpse into the stage of life we’re dealing with personally and as a band. These songs are a snapshot of where we are now, and the Polaroid helps to tell that story.

You're currently on tour and stay pretty busy until the end of October. Is this tour taking you to new places?
We took a decent amount time off after the last record, so the first leg, for the most part, is us going back to places we’ve been. After Roll 2 is released we’ll hopefully be heading out West, which we’ve only been to once as a band. Before we hit the road again though, we’ll head back into the studio in December to record the rest of songs on the full length.

In addition to making music, Melodime began a charity back in 2014 called Now I Play Along Too which brings music to children in Haiti.
When we released the last record, we decided we wanted to practice what we preached by starting something of our own...and it’s grown into a really cool thing. The main program is a music program we started at an orphanage in Port au Prince, Haiti [which was affected by the 2010 earthquakes] where we gather donated instruments and provide music education by Haitian teachers who come to the orphanage on a weekly basis to teach the kids.
As a group, we head over once a year to put on a summer music camp and I go myself once in the winter to see the kids and how things are going. It’s amazing because there are 40 children who live at the orphanage and we get to build relationships with them, watch them grow, and see them become musicians. The kids are what keeps us coming back. It's very rewarding.

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