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 fanbase 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, infusing their
deep knowledge of music theory together 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)
