Fall in love with Merriment!
When you hear the word merriment, you think of joy, cheer, and glee. That’s exactly what is brought to the table with the band Merriment hailing from Tyler, Texas. Merriment is comprised of Christie DuPree, Collin Dupree, and drummer Remington DuPree. Merriment’s debut full length Sway released on April 8th brings a new life to music and gives music fans something to be excited about all over again. Sway has the angelic voice of Christie DuPree as well as the beautifully crafted instrumentation throughout the record to take any listener on a journey while listening to this intelligent release. Merriment is currently on tour with Eisley and they were kind enough to chat about the love of coffee, their debut, and what the future holds.
What excites you about music?
The fact that music has been around since the beginning of time and we STILL haven't run out of melodies...it's seriously a miracle! And so cool. How there can be an endless amount of songs that all (more or less) have different melodies is truly mind blowing.
- What was the writing process for Sway like?
Well, we had a few months to focus on writing before we began tracking, so I wrote a bunch of songs, and would send them to Collin (my brother and bandmate) to add his guitar parts, and he'd write stuff and send it to me to add vocals and melody and stuff. This was the first time we'd really worked together on writing and it was a lot of fun that way!
- How was it working with Charlie Brand of Miniature Tigers for this release?
So much fun! Charlie is such a fun guy to work with. We are big fans of Miniature Tigers and love his weird, quirky way of doing things, so being in the studio with him was a blast. We all worked together really well and had the same vision for the record so it was a really cool experience overall.
- What inspires the music behind Merriment?
Oh gosh.. haha.. what indeed! That's such a hard question, because inspiration is such a vague thing for me, I am inspired by many things but I never know what exactly influences my music. I'd say a bit of everything...pain, love, heartache, happiness, coffee...to name a few things.
- How has tour been so far? Any places you guys look forward to each time you tour?
This tour has been so much fun, with the release of our first full length record and everything, it's been so great to finally play these new songs and the fans have been so cool and supportive of us! It's heartwarming to look out and see people are already singing the new songs and the records only been out a week. I'd say my favorite places would be Nashville, LA, and Seattle!
- As a band, how do you feel about social media and music? Positive/negative impacts?
I think it's a very useful tool, I feel like it's become the main source of getting the word out there for some bands, and it's also so cool to get to talk to fans directly and connect with them, even in such a small way as a comment or a tweet or something, and we try to make a point to always comment back because means a lot to us when people reach out.
- What has been the most memorable moment in your career so far?
There have definitely been a few, "Wow, is this real life??" moments thus far. One would be getting to open for MeWithoutYou at a mini festival a couple of years ago. Love that band and their crowd was so nice to us! That and just a few days ago on this current tour we're on, we had the honor of Dan Schwartz, the guitar player for Good Old War, joining us on stage and playing their song "Coney Island" with us! They are one of our favorite bands so it was definitely a surreal moment for sure.
- Being named one of the 100 Bands You Need To Know...what was your reaction to the awesome news!?
We were thrilled! There were so many other great bands on the list, and we felt so honored to be a part of it.
- Sway being your debut full length, what were some challenges as well as highlights in the process?
Well when we first got signed and they told us the timeline for when we'd need to start tracking our first record, I was a little nervous because we only had a few months to write the entire record. And for the first time I was having to write songs and worry about whether or not a label liked them, because before that I never had anyone to answer to really; But thankfully they loved everything right off the bat and it all came together pretty quickly after that. Highlights would be the whole process really! I mean life is full of highs and lows but music is always something that is so special to me, and I loved every minute of making this record.
- How is being on Rory Records?
It's awesome! Everyone at the label is super nice and we feel right at home.
- Any special advice your family gave you while on tour/making music or pursuing a career in music?
I don't think they've ever given us direct advice, but I'd say we definitely have had the privilege of leaning from their mistakes and triumphs. We've all been touring together since we were kids, so it's been a blessing to get first-hand experience.
- Any other tours planned for 2014?
Our agent is working on some stuff for late summer hopefully. Nothing set in stone yet but it's in the works!
- And lastly, you are on an island and can only bring three things with you... what do you bring?
A pocket knife, the bible, and an espresso machine (hoping there is a coffee tree/shrubbery/bush on the island).
-Lisa Kaczmarek
Check out Merriment on these stellar sites!
www.facebook.com/merrimentmusic
www.merrimentmusic.com
Listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/equalvision/sets/merriment-sway
https://play.spotify.com/artist/1mwHTvcVVx5mAIkzPgnJsJ
Purchase Sway here:
http://www.equalvision.com/releases/show/282
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sway/id829847699