Adam Bendy - 4 string thunder rod, occasional backing voxals
Zac Lasher - keybosizers, beeps, bloops, digital swirlies, lead & backing voxals
George Miller - tubs & plates, unsk-o-phone, lead & backing voxals
Rob Salzer - electro stringalator, meedlee mee's, lead & backing voxals
Josh Parrish - FOH aural engineerism
Influences
The Beatles, The Pink Floyd, The Steely Dan, The Phish, The Igor Stravinski, The Stevie Wonder, The Frank Zappa, The Metallica, The Pat Metheny Group, The St. Germain, The Yes, The Weather Report, The Orb, The Robert Hunter, The Paul Simon, The Dalai Lama, The Rock, The Jazz, The Trance, The Funk, The Universe, The Polyverse, And Each Other.
Sounds Like
"Air" from 12/31/07 @ Highline Ballroom
"A Robbin's Tale Part I" feat. Jim Loughlin of moe. from 12/31/07 @ Highline Ballroom - New York, NY
"A Robbin's Tale Part II" from 12/31/07 @ Highline Ballroom
"Crazy" (Seal) from 12/31/07 @ Highline Ballroom
New Year's Eve
"Through the Prism" from 03/28/08 @ Sullivan Hall - New York, NY
"Folded" from 03/28/08 @ Sullivan Hall - New York, NY
The spirit of the progressive rock era - the readiness to experiment, the premium on precision and the openness to move beyond preconceived boundaries - lives in the music and ethos of U-Melt. The untraditional sound comes from varied backgrounds of the men who make up the New York based band: one of the most electrifying young guitarists playing today, guitarist Rob Salzer began his music career as a classically trained violinist; keyboardist Zac Lasher studied theater at Emerson College and gave up the lullabies of Broadway for the thrill of rock and roll; bassist Adam Bendy has a degree in music performance and drummer George Miller paraded with the West Virginia Mountaineer Marching Band.
Since their initial gig together in the parking lot of an Air Force base in Maine, U-Melt has grown in stature at the same rate as their fan-base has grown to a nationwide level, becoming the center of a burgeoning community of fans and musicians who feed off the band’s generous and creative spirit. On The I’s Mind, the 2006 follow-up to 2004’s The Unbelievable Meltdown, you can hear the quartet growing beyond their jamband roots and developing into an entity that encompasses a whole host of genres. Both studio releases have been warmly received, with “Schizophrenia” from The Unbelievable Meltdown and “Air”, “Escape” and “415” from The I’s Mind receiving significant airplay on Sirius Satellite Radio and commercial radio stations around the country.
The I’s Mind puts U-Melt’s superb songwriting skills on display, featuring a wide variety of catchy hooks and creative musical passages. Notwithstanding Miller’s gift for creating concisely crafted tunes, Lasher and Salzer handle the majority of the songwriting duties, blending their deep knowledge of music theory with progressive sounds, prosaic lyrics and imaginative wordplay to create a dynamic voice that is unique in the rock world.
U-Melt’s live shows, which include a marathon seven hour set at the Garden of Eden festival, their traditional New York City New Year’s Eve celebrations and a Halloween tributes to cinematic masterpieces Pulp Fiction and Almost Famous, showcase U-Melt’s innovation and depth. A wise fan knows to expect the unexpected once U-Melt hits the stage. Grabbing the crowd with undeniably infectious grooves, they reach new levels when Salzer’s mind-bending guitar work and Lasher’s entrancing keyboards are given room to roam. Their improvisational work is made possible Bendy’s innovative bass work and Miller’s brilliant drumming, which opens doors for Lasher and Salzer to treat the audience to heavy doses of their creative, free-flowing interplay.
Disciplined without lapsing into rigidity, U-Melt displays a finesse not typically found in a band that plays so freely and is as flat-out fun to experience. U-Melt’s music will enter your brain, please your psyche at its deepest emotional level and speak to the part of your existential soul that responds to music performed at its apex of perfection.
For the present, U-Melt is putting the finishing touches on their upcoming third studio release. Splitting time between the road and their recording studio in Brooklyn, New York, the as-yet-untitled album is expected to be completed in the coming months.
-U-Melt’s biography written by music journalist David Schultz.
(background image by Chris Paul)
We can't wait for your performance at Sullivan Hall on Saturday! Here's a few more great upcoming shows... Check 'em! Rebirth Brass Band 8/14 Donna Jean Godchaux 8/21 Groovesect with Leo Nocentelli of the Meters and Houseman 8/28 The Macpodz with Zach Deputy 8/29 Trombone Shorty 9/17
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