Meet MeloDious

We had the good fortune of connecting with MeloDious and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi MeloDious, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Growing up, we were CONSTANTLY surrounded by music. Being that we all grew up under the same roof, our parents exposed us to a variety of artists, genres, and sounds. Our creative talents were recognized earlier on, and our parents decided to pour into our desires to learn to play instruments and nurture our love for music. Through years of study, we developed our own taste and appreciation for the different styles of art this world had to offer, especially ones rooted in culture and soul. It became something we were blessed to be able to do together as a family, and we officially formed our band 8 years ago. During COVID, we were locked in a house together all hours of the day, and in that time we wrote. At a time so trying for everyone, we discovered that music was keeping us going, and the privilege of writing, composing, and playing together was one not to take lightly!

Once the pandemic subsided a bit and we resumed gigging around the Bay Area and garnering recognition, we realized how important music was to our community, and how important it was to continue to build opportunities to come together. We believe a great deal of our career so far has been dedicated to building a supportive artistic community, and we are doing our best to enhance the ones we join. We understand that the relationships you build along the way in the journey are what’s most important, and we strive to continue to do that as we continue on in our creative pursuits.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What makes us as MeloDious unique, is the fact we are three individual artist who release music as a band. Our creative process generally begins with one of us bringing a song that is “nearly finished” to a rehearsal. Then everyone helps produce and arrange that song in a way, making it a collaborative effort in the end. Often the finishing touches we help each other create enhance the song in a way that wouldn’t have happened if writing alone.

Over the past 8 years, growing up together as siblings, we have also developed our communication skills and are big on systems. We all know each other inside and out, and how to divide the power in a way where everyone feels proud of their contributions. There are no “weak” areas among us, because not enjoying one aspect of creation is not a bad thing, especially when there are two other individuals who love doing it! At the end of the day, we’ve had lots of gigs, rehearsals, and tearful conversations that have led us to understand how to operate as more than a “band,” but as family.

We had times where we were displaced from our home, hopping from house to house with our instruments writing about the experiences together. When all else fails, we had music, and no one could take that away from us! It gave us hope, which in turn led to us being able to give other people hope.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When you are with us, you are going to PARTY!

Micaiah-Pianist (20)

My suggestions? You HAVE to check out the record stores. College Avenue is a comfort place for me in Oakland. It’s such a community of its own. Open Mind Music is a record store run by some of the most genuine people I know, Henry and Monica (and Roxanne the pup!) They have amazing selections, and they’re really supportive of local musicians, so you are likely to find an upcoming live show on their community board.

Matthias-Bassist (18)

I’d recommend visiting the top of Skyline in Oakland. It has some of the best views of the city, and you can catch the most beautiful sunrise or sunset.

Memphis-Drummer (16)

I would be taking you to the amazing Chabot Space and Science Center! If you like space and science like I do, I think we would have an amazing time (mostly me probably) checking out exhibits, examining telescopes and just talking space in general.

As a bonus, you’d have to visit OUR HOUSE! We host some pretty awesome jams, and our mom is quite the chef!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We want to Shoutout our community!

The Bay Area has such a vivid and beautiful music scene, but it can be so hard to come up in the industry without feeling supported. Although we’ve had our share of the ugly, we have also had too many beautiful individuals in our journey to focus on the negative.

There are many deserving of credit for support over the years. From our parents to local businesses such as Open Mind Music that allowed us to learn the art of busking by regularly giving us opportunities to perform to Oaktown Jazz Workshops who provided us with an entrance into the jazz community, the many local churches that put us on their program when we didn’t even have a name, all of our musician friends who join us to jam out on stage, our videographer and photographer friends who flick us up and recommend us for cool opportunities (shoutout Dakota Lim!) and every supporter who has bought a ticket to a show, driven out in the rain to a gig, and given us love – we appreciate you.

MeloDious is nothing without community. It’s something our parents taught us to value when we were very young. We don’t believe in the world fan because it’s a separation from us and the very people who give us the love and encouragement to keep going, creating, and shining. We pour so much thought and hard work into our sets, projects, and collaborations, and the “MeloDious Fam” overwhelms us and inspires us to grind and put out work we can all be proud of. Our community is our family, and we are proud to know every single one of you, long standing or new!

Website: https://4melodious.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisismelodious?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thisismelodious_?si=58_QgHqbk5iJvlww

Image Credits
Angela Marlaud