LUCIDMEDIA

Keeping Success Melo: An interview with Canadian Idol Brian Melo

Written by Lisa M. Knapp Thursday, 04 June 2009 09:32

Back in the summer of 2007 I remember watching every episode of Canadian Idol rooting for Brian Melo and at the end of the show sending tons of text votes in for the young songwriter/musician. Melo ended up winning the show and it was well deserved, what I and all of you don’t know about this talent is how he got to where he is, and what’s more, where is Brian Melo. Well I’m here to fill you all in. On an event filled Friday night I awaited Brian Melo’s arrival at my place for a one-on-one chat.

Lucid Forge: Tell me about your musical background up until now?

Brian Melo: First I think it started when I was young. My two brothers, Dave and Larry, were in wedding bands and this Portuguese/Canadian band when I was five or six, they were out doing their thing and I would go out and see them when there were kids running around. I would always be by the stage in awe because my brothers were like superheroes to me. I started writing songs probably by the age of 7 and just writing [these] little “I love you baby” songs with cheesy lyrics in my room with me and my best friend until this day Kevin Craig. Me and him would just sit down and just write more and more songs; that went on all through elementary school.

When I got to high school, I just wanted to get an easy credit, so I saw a vocal class and thought what the heck, I love to sing, I love music… Sounds pretty straight forward when I go for it, but I didn’t know I was going to meet the biggest musical mentor’s of my life and I met this teacher by the name of Linda Gadow. When I was younger, more in my teens, I started to break out of my shell. But when I was younger I was a pretty shy kid, so as far as music and singing even in front of my family I kind of kept it to myself.

Linda Gadow was one of the first people to notice something in me and she started to give me solos in high school and I started getting feedback from students saying that I was good and that I had talent. I was 17 and she had a connection with one of the promoters of the Shania Twain tour and she asked me and one of the students if we would sing backups for one of the songs at Copps Coliseum, and that was one of the moments, like when I went to Copps and was in that atmosphere and feeling your heart beat out of your chest. When I got on stage and we finished singing the song I heard the roar of the crowd and that was it; that was it for me

LF: You were sold!

BM: I was sold: this is what I’m doing for the rest of my life. I didn’t know how, I just knew I was going to do it. From there I picked up an instrument, started playing guitar. I wrote songs when I was 6 or 7 but I didn’t pick up a guitar until I was probably 17 or 18, so I started late as far as instruments go.

I mean it was good cause. I could play 3 or 4 chords, and melodies came pretty easy to me and as years went by. I started working with guys like my cousin Mike, and Larry and Dave who were all in bands already and [they] just kind of helped me along and I started building my craft. I tried out for Canadian Idol one year and passed one or two rounds and got cut before I met the celebrity judges, tried the next year and got cut again and I thought, screw it…

LF: Two years in a row, eh?

BM: Two years in a row, and I thought screw it… I don’t know? I was in a band at the time, but straight up I was not ready. I was nervous. When I was up there my legs were shaking, and I needed work. My nerves got the best of me, and as far as being mentally strong for that, I just wasn’t.

So at that point I was not even thinking of Idol, I went back with my band and started gigging and writing and four years passed when I decided to try again and my brother Larry convinced me saying there were instruments now. I thought, okay. I’ll give it a shot.

I went there with the attitude that, whatever happens, happens. Not that I didn’t care about the opportunity, it’s just it was not everything. I still knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life. When the whole show happened and things exploded that’s where I am today.

LF: Did you ever get sidetracked during the whole show?

BM: Yeah, but I think it was more of a battle with myself. And again, I think it was more mental. You wanted to do this or be that or be like this person I want to model.

LF: I had to jump in and ask… Who is your model?

BM: I look at some of my idols like the Foo Fighters, or U2 or Incubus or the Beatles, Zepplin. I look at them and see how much time they spent on their craft!

LF: Are you working up to that level?

BM: I’m still working up to that level. Everyday I’m trying to work up to something unique and magical and as long as there is growth along the way that’s perfect with me. No one puts as much pressure on myself as I do. As far as whom I want to model, it’s more of a mental thing. I kind of live by one of those mottos: it’s how you do anything is how you do everything.

Now I’m in Toronto by myself, away from friends and family, and now I have time to reflect on what I want. Sometimes we are too selfless and we don’t give enough time for ourselves and I realized that the more you give to yourself, the more you give back to others. I started realizing that this relationship is not helping me, it’s not going to get me to where it is I want to go. I knew I was working hard, but I knew I had to surround myself with more successful and better people and be a sponge and submerge all this info that’s in the business and I’ve been able to do that.

Fortunately I’ve learned more in two years than a lot of musicians will learn in 25 because I’ve been in the trenches and I’ve been with the guys that have been there for 30 or 40 years. I’m one of the most optimistic people I know, you get kicked down a level but you never give up and I think that comes from my family’s background. I guess that’s the motto I live by: never give up.

There is a good quote by Winston Churchill “Success is to go from failure to failure with enthusiasm” I know I’ll get doors shut in my face, I know I’ll have ups and downs, but as long as I believe in myself that all that matters.

LF: Good philosophy. So tell me about what is going on right now in your career?

BM: Right now I’m working on a new album which I’m really excited about. Time is a luxury which I didn’t really have with the first album. I was happy with it but as far as having a really close personal connection with the album I don’t really think I did. I won the show on September 11th and the album was released November 27th, that’s writing, recording, shipping, and producing the album, it was so fast.

LF: That’s a lot of work.

BM: It was, and it was too fast. I’ve done a lot, I’ve been with a label and without, I’ve been in love, and I’ve traveled. Now it’s getting to the point where I’m ready to release an album in the next couple months and I’m defiantly excited for what’s to come, and I’m building a team around me that has my back and that believes in me. The whole major label thing is completely different… it’s a cut throat business and if you want anything major done you have to do it yourself.

LF: So do you find that an independent label is better than a major label?

BM: It almost is in some cases yes, especially these days when there is not an artist development plan like there was 10 years ago. There is a bit more freedom with an independent label.

LF: You are free to produce what you want. A major label is just there to make money.

BM: If you look at someone like Bruce Springsteen, at that time they were selling albums and that is when they had an artist development plan, but he didn’t even have his first hit until his fourth album, and look at him now. It’s almost tough to do that these days. If you look at a major label the only way they make money is from album sales and they have 200 and 300 employees compared to an indie label where you have a solid group of like 20 people. Cost is less, and payback is bigger for both sides.

For me, as long as I have a good distribution deal, I’m good. As for marketing I’ll go out and market myself. I already have the upper hand because of Canadian Idol so I’m ahead of the game. I already have a name, and I already have an album.

LF: How do you find your life right now? Do you find it tiring at all?

BM: I live for it. The busier the better, I live for the pressure. For the longest time I’ve been the underdog when I was growing up. They put me in a special class when I was younger, and instead of teaching me a different way they put me in this class. I had a lot of people that didn’t think I was able to finish high school or go to college but I did it. I consider myself the underdog even if other people don’t think so. I think being the underdog is a good mentality to have because I think if you believe your own hype, that is the beginning of the end.