Throw on your earbuds and hit the play button because emerging Indie artist, Adam Melchor, just released his phenomenal single, "Turnham Green."
How did you get into music? And if you had to describe it, how would you define your sound?
I would say I got into music by not being great at anything else. My whole family is made of musicians and they created an environment for always doing music. What really got me started in a career in music was Grimaldi's pizzeria in Hoboken, NJ. They gave me my first job playing every Saturday starting at noon. I remember the first day I played from noon to close playing songs I wrote, covers, anything really. They paid me 30 bucks and let me have a tip jar open. They gradually gave me some more money, I got a suitcase and put Christmas lights around it to replace my tip jar and I did that gig every Saturday for seven years.
If I had to describe my sound I would say it would be lyric-focused and simple. I like to sing my songs in a way that everyone from a baby to a grandma could understand: Making the most happen with a lyric, melody, and a single instrument.
Are there any artists you’re currently obsessed with at the moment? Have they influenced you in any way?
The artist I'm currently most obsessed with is Stephen Sondheim. After finishing my album, I had a “Now what?” moment. For the last couple (of) months, I've been listening to every musical he's written from West Side Story to Follies to Sweeney Todd, and studying how he writes and rhymes and brings out his melodies. I like hearing what he does and truly understanding it. I don't know if it will influence my songwriting, but it can never hurt learning from a master and spending time with words.
You created a phone number, dubbed the Lullaby Hotline, to text fans a new freshly mixed song every Sunday. What is the significance of having this unique musical resource for fans and how did it come about?
This came about from writing too many songs!!! I couldn't put out all of them, so I decided to start this mid-February of 2020 ... Just so happened the world stopped the next month and it turned into this beautiful outlet for me, but an even better community for everyone who signed up. I don't send as many things as I was when it started, but I still love to send random tidbits here and there. I’m certain I'll be back to sending things after this album comes out.
Can you tell us a little about the making of your new single "Turnham Green?" We loved the accompanying music video. What was the inspiration behind it?
There are not too many places in LA to walk. In January 2022, I was in a low spot emotionally, and my dear friend, Emily Warren, asked me to walk over to her house.
Emily and I are neighbors, so it was an easy ask, and damn, did I need it. Ever since we became friends, we have been doing these cathartic walks around the neighborhood. Through pandemic times, I would walk over, most times unannounced, and see if her or any of her housemates wanted to hang.
We would talk about everything under the sun and it felt like time didn’t exist. We even joked about me not having anyone's phone number, I would simply show up and ring the doorbell like we were kids in the 90s.
So on this January day, we had a “session booked” but really it was just an excuse to walk around town and catch up on life. Emily could tell pretty quickly something was off and we spent about 7 hours talking about it. I didn't even think of a “session” or “writing”, I was just letting everything out in a way that I wasn't able to before.
By seven o’clock Emily said, "Adam, I think I know what we should write about but it’s totally ok if you just want this to be something we talked about. The way Emily approached this idea with such ease and compassion made my heart full. I said first off, thank you for these options, and yes, I wanted to write about it. she said, "Come over tomorrow and think about this line you said."
She then told me a line I must have said about 5 hours previous. it was: now all our memories are dyed another color.
I came back the next day with a small idea, and Emily and I sat at her kitchen table and the song fell out of us in about an hour.
I brought it to my sweet boy Henry Kwapis the next day and we recorded all of it. We had been working so hard on a whole body of music, so for something to just come to life and speak for itself was truly so meaningful. Rob Moose’s incredible strings put the final cherry and top. We sent it to Andrew Sarlo to mix and put his creativity into it and it was done.
I remember sending it to Emily a couple (of) days after we wrote it and we cracked up about wishing all songs could be done like this. all it takes is heartbreak and a walk around the neighborhood.
Sorry, that was long but it's true haha. The video came from an idea Henry and I were talking about. My team floated the idea of shaving my head, so I asked, well what if a 50ft woman shaves my head. I just wanted it to be simple yet a stark change to my appearance. It felt necessary with the mood of the music and what I was going through when I made it.
If you didn't become an artist, what would you be doing right now?
I would be working in that pizza shop on Washington Street in Hoboken, every Saturday from noon to close.