OneRepublic
Ryan Tedder's road from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Los Angeles, California has provided him with ample life experiences to create the emotion-driven lyrics behind the songs of his band, OneRepublic. "The first album that an artist writes could be called 'life up till now,'" remarks frontman Tedder about the band’s soon-to-be-released, debut album. “The songs touch on things like despair, lack of hope, and frustration…they have to do with my own journey; they're about times when I've felt stuck, that I'll never achieve my goals. But ultimately, in the songs, I resolve it by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and realizing that no matter how bad things get, there's always a way out.”
The song "Apologize" explores the personal pain of band members’ own relationships gone awry and the empowerment that comes with moving on, while “Stop and Stare,” describes the experience of being unhappy with the course of one’s life and deciding that it is time to take a different direction. “The lyrics have shades of melancholy, but there is a tangible emotional undercurrent running through them,” says the band. “If you can't tap into emotion, then you're just selling catchy tunes.”
OneRepublic considers its music to be heavily influenced by the Beatles for songwriting craft and melodic inventiveness, and U2 for uplifting vocal delivery and emotional undercurrents. They aspire to move their listeners the way Bono does onstage. “You go to a U2 concert and it's like church,” Tedder says. “I want to make people feel like that. I don't want someone to say, ‘Oh, he has a nice voice.' I want that person to walk away and feel like he or she has had a religious experience.”
The band was formed in Colorado by Tedder and model-turned-guitarist, Zach Filkins. The pair moved to Los Angeles, where they picked up guitarist/keyboardist Drew Brown and drummer Eddie Fisher. The band’s most recent inductee, Brent Kutzle, plays bass and adds extra spice to live shows with his classical cello. In addition to his work with his own band, Tedder has also written and/or produced tracks for various other artists, including Bubba Sparxxx, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Oakenfold, t.A.T.u., and uber-producer Timbaland.
A remix of OneRepublic’s song “Apologize” is featured on Timbaland’s album, Shock Value, which was released April 3rd, 2007. The remix landed OneRepublic at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the band has maintained a #2 spot on the iTunes Top 100 Songs Chart.
OneRepublic is the #1 band on MySpace and has been in MySpace Music’s Top Artists since summer 2006, with nearly 20 million total song plays and counting – remarkable for a band that is yet to release an album. Music lovers should expect great things from these fresh faces in the not-so-distant future.
www.myspace.com/onerepublic
