Melt Yourself Down

Melt Yourself Down are an English band based in London who incorporate elements of Jazz and Funk music. Many of the members also play music in many other bands, and this has led to the fusion of many genres in their music. Founded in January 2012, the band is led by saxophonist Pete Wareham, who is known for being part of jazz/punk band Acoustic Ladyland as well as jazz band Polar Bear. Other members include saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings (Sons Of Kemet, Heliocentrics), drummer Tom Skinner who is also part of Sons of Kemet, as well as Mulatu Astatke. Vocalist Kushal Gaya is known for being part of the band Zun Zun Egui, and bassist Ruth Goller is also known for being part of Acoustic Ladyland. Percussionist Satin Singh was part of the musical ensemble section of the Broadway musical Fela!

They are signed to The Leaf Label and released their debut album on the label on the 17th June 2013.

Career

Early History

In an interview with M Magazine, frontman Pete Wareham says that the idea to create the band came when he was DJ'ing for a party. He had found some Egyptian Nubian soul music and played a track from this genre that he was "obsessed with." After a positive reaction from the crowd, he decided that he wanted to make and play music in the same genre as that which he had just played. In going about this, he made a list of musicians, consisting of some musicians he had worked with before and others who he thought would be interested in the project. They all agreed to try and form the band and started rehearsals right away. Vocalist Kushal Gaya was not part of Pete's original plans, and was asked to join the band a few months after the initial rehearsals.^[1]

Pete knew bassist Ruth Goller from working together in the band Acoustic Ladyland, and other members were gathered from bands he had heard of. Tom Skinner and Shabaka Hutchings were previously part of the group Sons of Kemet and have played together for many years. Kushal Gaya, who was asked to join the band a few months after the first rehearsal, was previously part of the band Zun Zun Egui and was well known for her performances in this group. The percussionist Satin Singh has not previously been part of any other groups but was drafted by Pete Wareham to join Melt Yourself Down in 2012.

The name of the band comes from a rare James Chance album which was released in Japan in 1986 on Selfish Records. Wareham has stated that he contacted James in an e-mail requesting to use the name, and received "his blessing" for the project.^[2]

Band Members

Melt Yourself Down is a sextet featuring saxophonists Pete Wareham and Shabaka Hutchings, drummer Tom Skinner, bassist Ruth Goller, vocalist Kushal Gaya, and percussionist Satin Singh.^[3] The group's sound reflects the members' pedigrees: Wareham and Goller played together in the jazz outfit Acoustic Ladyland, Tom Skinner and Shabaka Hutchings also perform with the group Sons of Kemet, and Kushal Gaya was from the avant-garde combo Zun Zun Egui.

Melt Yourself Down (2013)

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The Guardian	[5]
The Telegraph	[6]
musicOMH	[7]
Pitchfork Media	6.4/10[8]

Released in June 2013, Melt Yourself Down is the self-titled debut album by the band. It is a mix of their previous singles and new releases, making a total of 8 songs. The album was produced and mixed by Leafcutter John who is a UK-based musician and artist. It is sold through a variety of media from the band's own website, including; Digital Album, CD and Limited Edition 12" Vinyl which was also shipped with a Canvas Bag as part of the special bundle.^[9]

The album was produced and written by Pete Wareham who played saxophone, along with fellow member Shabaka Hutchings. Nubian music had a big influence on the album as inspiration for the majority of the songs came from this genre of music. Ideas for tracks were formed by taking existing tracks performed during the rehearsals, chopping them up, looping parts, extending their length and then adding in some improvisation by the saxophonists.

The album has been described as "the sound of Cairo '57, Cologne '72, New York '78 and London 2013" in a review from The Daily Telegraph. The Guardian's review was also positive, and there was other mixed but generally positive feedback from music websites such as Pitchfork. The band have received good publicity from the recent release of this album and are using this new music as a basis to tour off of.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Melt Yourself Down (2013)

Singles

• Release! (2013)
• Fix My Life/We Are Enough (2013)
• Nubian Nightjar Mixtape (2013)
• Camel (2013)
• We Are Enough (2012)

Musical style and influences

Melt Yourself Down takes its musical interests from many different countries and cultures and has built a unique style of music on which to play. This includes many diffent genres such as jazz, funk and avant-garde. This variety of music mainly comes from the variety of cultures from within the band members.

Wareham wanted to create "Nubian inspired party-punk music" ^[10] and therefore it is difficult to define a single genre that this band are part of, however they incorporate a lot of Jazz and Funk into their music and the subtle African/Nubian styles of music that the band work into their songs helps to maintain the unique sound that Pete Wareham has tried to create.

References

External links

• Melt Yourself Down Official Website
• Melt Yourself Down Bandcamp
• Melt Yourself Down Facebook
• Melt Yourself Down Twitter