Colin Meloy
Colin Meloy
Colin Patrick Henry Meloyis an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion instruments...
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth5 October 1974
CityHelena, MT
brings edwardian kurt mind nick pan pop pub roaring rock tin victorian
Meloy's balladry brings to mind vaudeville, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, 'Sweeney Todd,' the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Kurt Weill and Nick Cave, 1960s psychedelic rock pop and roaring pub sing-alongs.
appeals band bands both certainly female happy honestly male mirror people playing
They're like the mirror of myself - I've got both male and female counterparts. I'm really happy to be playing in a band that appeals to people who I feel I could honestly be friends with. It's a luxury, I believe, not many bands enjoy. It certainly spurs me on.
bush current decisions foreign objective policy protest resemble showing taken
It's kind of a protest song. My objective is to make sense of foreign policy decisions taken by the current Bush administration and showing how they resemble solipsistic bullying.
song hurt writing
When I first started writing these kind of songs that would eventually become Decemberists songs, I was writing them because I knew that nobody was listening at the time and that it wouldn't hurt to challenge myself and get weirder and see if I could alienate more people
people lines draws
There's some things there that you just have to draw the line. Some people are just not going to like it. We would hope that everybody would like it.
home heart trying
And I am a writer, writer of fictions I am the heart that you call home And I've written pages upon pages Trying to rid you from my bones...
war thinking band
Living in war, and being a wartime band, I don't think there's any way that can't somehow influence the songwriting.
saint nancy benediction
As she walked, she breathed a quick benediction to the patron saint of sleuthing. "Nancy Drew," she whispered, "be with me now.
church sound fantastic
All instruments sound fantastic in a church.
book school average
I was in school for literature, and read so many 19th century and early 20th century novels that it was hard to break out of that and read an average Jeanette Winterson book or something.
stuff novel contemporary
I like all sorts of things, not necessarily just Victorian. Even though I tend to read a lot of Victorian novels, I like a lot of contemporary stuff.
rocks stuff records
You can't really come into a concept record objectively, because you immediately associate it with Yes, stuff from the 1970s that punk rock kicked against, the pretentiousness.
style upbeat pops
Pop music has always adopted the style of marrying upbeat melodies to dour lyrics.
song thinking should
I think the music should definitely underscore the sentiment of the song, and it can work for or against it.