Posted on: October 7, 2013 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

What’s your story?

– I’m an 18-year-old musician that sings and plays drums, guitar, bass, and piano. I was born in Bulgaria and raised in Brooklyn, NY where I still reside. Ive been working with well known producer Matty Amendola since I was 10 years old.

 

How’d you fall into music as a career?

– I started playing piano when I was 9, and then realized drums came very naturally to me. From there I wanted to learn how to play guitar and bass. My best friend George and I started playing gigs just for fun and I realized this was the reason I was alive. From there as I got older, I realized how important songwriting was and started working with producer Matty Amendola on my first solo EP called Melinda Rose (2012). We started writing songs together that was a mix of every sub-genre of rock. From metal, to pop punk, to hardcore, to alternative rock. When the EP came out we sent it out to as many radio stations, blogs, and magazines as we could and eventually buzz started to build. Indie stations from around the world were playing the songs, the EP received some great reviews, and my fan base just started to slowly build.

 

Who are you listening to right now?

– My Heart To Fear, Infant Annihilator, In Dying Arms, and For the Fallen Dreams are some new things I’m really in love with right now. I’m constantly listening to my all time favorite band H.I.M. My iPod is also filled with a ton of stuff from Pavarotti to Phil Collins.

 

What or whom do you think will be big in the next year?

– Katie Lee.  She is an artist who is also being developed by my producer Matty Amendola, and I’ve been around throughout the process of them recording her album. I even sang some background vocals and played percussion on it. I’m also super thrilled to be credited on an album that has some huge names like Jody Porter (Fountains Of Wayne), Vinnie Zummo (Joe Jackson Band), Grammy Award Winning Mark Hudson, and others. She seems to have that pop sound that really makes it big nowadays.

 

How has your style evolved and changed over the time since you first started?

– I literally started playing classical music. When I started taking drum lessons, I was exposed to a lot of things like Herbie Hancock and The Beatles. When I started playing guitar and bass, things got a  lot heavier pretty quickly. The intensity, energy, emotion, and overall culture of Hardcore and Metal really resonated with me. In my music I’m constantly trying to combine all of my influences into my overall sound. It’s not an easy thing to do considering the broad spectrum of genres that I like, but I think that it is what’s making my sound unique.

 

What makes your music unique?

– Catchy choruses and hooks with heavy riffs. There’s nobody really out there doing it like that. They go one-way or the other. In my songs you can hear me screaming bloody murder one second, and then launch directly into a huge chorus with 3 part harmony, strings, synths and melodic chords.

 

Are drugs/alcohol good or bad for the creative process or is the presence of those things just something based out of real life?

– I’ve experimented and had my share of fun as I think everyone does, but I think it can kill the creative process. If you want to be creative and successful at it, the ART is the only thing you should be consumed by and not drugs or alcohol.

 

How have you gotten more of your fans – Facebook / Twitter or traditional word of mouth?

– We launched a pretty heavy Facebook promotion for my first EP and it’s continuing to grow. We also utilized twitter and other social networks but I feel like I’ve had more of a personal connection with people who have heard of me through word of mouth or fans I’ve met at shows.

 

Have you noticed anything different between these types of fans?

– It’s interesting because people really think they know you through social media and to some extent, they do, but there’s nothing like being face to face with a fan at a show or a party where we can hang out and to quote Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm “elevate small talk to medium talk.”

 

What other performers / bands have you met and who is out there right now that you would like to collaborate with?

– Memphis Mayfire. I realized when I met them that the way they were approaching their sound was a very similar outlook to the way I am approaching mine. I really love their lyrics and the messages in their songs, and I feel like we’d be able to come up with some great material together. In all honesty though, I’d much rather go on tour with them as an opening act or something. If you’re reading this MM, keep me in mind!

 

How should people find your music?

– The Melinda Rose EP is available on iTunes and Amazon and so is my new single “There’s No In Between.” I also have an EPK video for each release that shows me in the studio recording and talking about the process on youtube as well as an official music video for “There’s No In Between” that’s currently on being aired TV across the country and all over the web.

 

What else should we know about your music and There’s No In Between?

–          “There’s No In Between” is my brand new single that was written by producer Matty Amendola and I and mixed by Grammy Award Winning engineer Butch Jones. It’s a song about internal struggle and not being able to find balance in life. The message is abstractly told in it’s music video which was done by feature film director Jack Thomas Smith and his team at Foxtrail Productions and it also stars youtube celebrity/model Morgan Joyce. I played all of the instruments on the recording with some help from Matty, and I also sang all of the vocals and did the screams. This song is the first glimpse of my sound post Melinda Rose. We’re trying to find the perfect balance between Hardcore and commercial appeal with a lot of melodic vocals. For now, I plan on writing new music until I put a new live band together to perform out live.

 

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