Melendi
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Melendi[1] (Ramón Melendi Espina) is a flamenco-influenced Spanish pop musician.
[edit] Biography
Ramón Melendi paredes was born in 1979, in Oviedo, Asturias (Spain). Some fans may say he was born in a crib and the Wise Men visited him. Indeed he is a lucky guy, however they're wrong cause as we'll notice later, he's been not given gold but platinum (for his sold albums). And by the way, if there ever was any incense or myrrh, he smoked it.
In fact he enjoyed an apparently normal childhood. However, as he got into his adolescence, his parents realized he hadn't been born to study. He was expelled from secondary school including night classes and he got it into his head to play football, where he kicked the ball in the lower ranks of Real Oviedo. Restless, he replaced the soccerball for the night scene, and by going to nightclubs he started meeting characters and learning lessons you'd never be told at school.
In 2001 he became a component of a band, El Bosque de Sherwood (Sherwood Forest). Later he recorded on his own a demo containing three singles: Sin noticias de Holanda, Vuelvo a Traficar and El Informe del Forense. As opposed to many people thoughts, here he demonstrates he didn't waste his time in all those dark joints: by force of rumba and pop, his experiences became poetry and song lyrics. In 2002, taking advantage of a test for a recording company that his good friend Pablo Moro was about to sit, shamelessly he handed over his demo to Javier Valiño from Carlito Records Company, who several days later telephoned Melendi: the adventure had begun.
In February 2003, his first album Sin Noticias de Holanda was released ; 12 pop-flamenco songs with lyrics combining slang and intelligence. Both lyrics and melodies were original and the album was produced by Kike Izaguirre skillfully.
In May 2003 he began a modest tour all over Spain, playing in local bars where people became shocked : “Who's the rasta guy?”. He prove his music grips audiences and several months later he still keeps the tour on. In September his own fanclub was formed- a small but very dedicated group of registered people who Melendi treats like his own family. In December of the same year the album is edited including two new songs: Asturias and Moratalá.
The year 2004 starts with Melendi peaking #99 in Sales Rate and in February he suggests his real acid test: a gig in Aqualung nightclub, Madrid. The result couldn't have been better: all the tickets sold and hundreds of fans couldn't get into the club- as it is crowded As months go by, he keeps on stealthy promoting at Sales Rate. He's been touring for a whole year and goes on; in this time the capacity of the clubs he plays at has increased and the word of mouth has generated popularity and a kind of legend. But the majority of Spain still wonders “Who's Melendi?”.
In May 2004 his main dream came truth: Gold Disc- more than 50,000 purchased copies, his challenger sales faced up to the crisis and some marketing laws as well. Who is Melendi? The definitive sensational new artist of the year, no doubt.
The summer time arrived and with it a great new: his song Con La Luna Llena is selected as theme for the 2004 Cycling Tour. He shot an ad in León together with Olano. His career acquires a giddy rythmn and some weeks after beginning the campaign he peaks the first position at Spanish Sales Rate. The Platinum Disc didn't take long.
In 2005 he released his second album, Que el Cielo Espere Sentao, with more than 200,000 copies sold. That very year the album is edited adding 3 unpublished songs (El Nano, La Dama y el Vagabundo and Carlota) and a DVD of a concert in Oviedo. He becomes father of a daughter called Carlota and he gets the Ondas Prize for his best song Caminando por la Vida.
In November 2006 he gets 6 Platinum Discs for both albums- 4 for Sin Noticias de Holanda and 2 for Que el Cielo Espere Sentao. He became the owner of his own record company, Blue Donkey Music. That year he's announced as a main protagonist in a Sony game for PSP, “Gangs of London”. He represents the character Mr Big, an evil gangster. And so, he composed another song, Gangs of London with his own commercial video. It was first commercialized in UK by 1st August and 6th September in Spain. EMI was the one in charge of his international career and it still is.
He has created a song for the Real Oviedo football team (Volveremos) and he keeps in mind a movie project: Vuelvo a traficar. The movie. And he's also starred in an ad for a chocolate brand, Toke, under the slogan: “Toke, the chocolate that really turns me on”.
Mientras no cueste trabajo, his third album, was published on 13th November, 2006. From the very beginning it was purchased in two formats: the main one consisting in a 12 songs CD and the special one, with 16 songs and a DVD with some extra material. On 29th September 2007, this last album was edited under the name Mientras no cueste más trabajo, with 4 new songs: Firmes, El rey de la baraja, La aceituna and Me gusta el fútbol (main theme for the Canal+ commercial campaign).
