With the advances in musical technology, the creation of music has been greatly simplified; unfortunately these technological advances have also resulted in many so called artists putting out music that sucks up all the attention without any palpable talent.
Fortunately, there are always exceptions and one of those is Meli Malavasi, a young talented singer from Costa Rica residing in Los Angeles who has just released her new album, Indigo, an album filled with pulsating electronic rhythms accompanied by her passionate, talented, soulful voice that has created a hybrid of dance music with feeling and meaningful lyrics.
Indigo is an independent record; in which for the first time, Meli includes Spanish versions of her songs as well as introducing Latin American sounds and rhythms, but without forgetting the essence of electronic dance music.
A couple of weeks prior to the release of the album, we sat down with Meli Malavasi and discussed the album and her musical upbringing. “In Costa Rica I began playing in a ska band at the age of 14. I used to love getting up on stage and wearing colorful hats and seeing how people dance to our music and we had pretty good success. Later on I was in a rock & roll band and we had the chance to open up for major bands visiting Costa Rica like the Misfits, but I felt that the band had already reached its peak and I wanted something different and that’s when I decided to come to L.A. and study music.”
As with any change in life moving to a new country is a huge adjustment, especially if you are on your own and away from family and friends, but Meli was able to overcome all these obstacles. “At the beginning it was very hard because it is not easy to find people who are willing to help you, especially when you are a student and have no money. When I came to L.A., I enrolled at the Los Angeles College of Music where I learned a lot about the American work ethic and also the learned that you have to put all your passion into your work in order to compete. Fortunately, at school I met some great people who believed in my vision and they helped to connect me with the right people in the business and they helped me record my first EP, which I entered into many song writing competitions and I was a finalist at the International Song Writing Competition which had Jeff Beck and Garbage as judges and that’s when I felt that I was on the right track.”
Meli’s voice has a lot of passion and soul, which reminded me of Tori Amos to which Meli Malavasi responded: “Tori Amos is a huge influence and inspiration for me, I love the passion she is able to transmit on her records and live performances. I love the way Tori interacts with her audience, it is almost like a conversation and I learned so much from her about the communicating with the audience.”
Although Meli grew up and developed her stage skills in rock & roll and ska bands, she has always been fascinated by dance music. “I love dance and electronic music, but when I listen to the radio, I hear a lot of auto-tune and I want to rescue the soul of the music and I would also like people to identify with my lyrics. I sing about the good and bad things about love; I sing about not forgetting that you are never completely alone and I sing about fighting for your dreams.”
Meli’s music can be downloaded on iTunes and it can also be streamed on Spotify. Meli Malavasi is currently visitng her native Costa Rica and you can follow her on Facebook on her website.
