Music Style rock and roll, songwriting

Musical Influences blur, stevie wonder, hank williams, chemical brothers, merle hagard, elvis costello, oasis, U2, dj shadow, andrew bird

Similar Artists blur, U2, travis, deathcab for cutie, elvis costello, oasis, coldplay, andrew bird, rufus wainwright, eels, ben lee

Artist History Roman CandleArtist Profile: Roman Candle is a rock and roll band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At least if you ask them what kind of music they make, they will smile and say "rock and roll." However, the music that these two brothers have putting out for the last few years, whether in the bars of Chapel Hill, or in their N.C. basement studio does not neatly match any conventional notion of what "rock and roll" sounds like. Much less does it match any other tidy category one can find at their local Sam Goody. Much like fellow North Carolina native, (Whiskeytown's) Ryan Adams, Skip Matheny writes words that always establish a real sense of place and mystery for the listener. It's a rare gift, considering that he depicts distinct places and characters that could either be a thousand miles away, fifty years past, or right next door. Even without knowing where the band is from or what places made them write these songs, you already know, because you've been there yourself. Unlike the many introspective, journal-entry-lyrics that consistently make their way onto rock radio, these songs are like three minute movies, always placing the listener somewhere, whether it's a van, an airplane, Central Park, or a stranger's apartment. The potent "Baby's got it in the genes," follows a man who's not sure what to make of his memories of a young lady, left behind years ago. The character doesn't show sentimentality or regret, and yet doesn't seem to stop thinking about the girl. "Something sparked up in my brain, to tell you the truth I bought a box of raisins and a Baby Ruth, and sat down on the curb -- twelve o‚clock turned into three," Skip sings, bearing all the spirit and craft of (Bob Dylan's) "Mama you been on my mind." The song itself, emerges from an arid expanse of sparse bass and clattering drums into a rolling pulse of layered hooks, hitting the listener in the face about as hard as the memory of a love gone away. Not to mention demonstrating how far Roman Candle likes to stretch an already seamless pop song. The brothers always demonstrate a real knack for giving a song as much musical character as it has lyrical character. There's the digi-error intro to the exuberantly ironic "Another Summer" (a song about a man who learns his sister has scared away his dearly beloved, and so pushes her off a cliff) or the shaky timbres wandering through the ironically exuberant "From An Airplane Window," (in which a character, looking at the stars and streetlights from his airplane seat, begins to think about his own mortality). However, as disparate as the elements of these songs sometimes are, nothing sounds out of place. This is unbeatable pop. Musically speaking, it is obvious is that these two brothers have done their homework. The layered sounds and that make up these songs not only reflect their own study of the masters of the past, but their own years of unsupervised recording. Though every track on SAYS POP could have easily stood on its own with a straightforward production (two guitars, bass, and drums), the brothers approached their arrangements and production like a couple of DJ-songsmiths, melding syncopated beats with widely varied styles of music. "I wish I was in NY" sounds like an Americana anthem sung from an inner-city church sidewalk, and "Help me if you can" sounds like a lost Motown melody sung over Logan Matheny's Zeppelin-esque big drum beats. Though these combinations make up the album's gritty and hard-to-define charm, the music itself carries the sophistication of a timeless rock and roll album. The bottom line being that these songs have a lion's share of both lyrical and musical character -- And after listening to each track, you want to get to know both a little better. SAYS POP, is a sprawling record, infusing the Mathenys' wide range of influence with their exceptional talent for arrangement and production. Blending rich layers of music, ever-present beats, and unforgettable songwriting, these twelve tracks form an exceptional sound ˆ which seems at once familiar and timeless, and also strangely unlike anything you've heard yet. Says Pop is the culmination of many things and the beginning of many others, but above all it's a collection of great songs. Here is the irresistible charm of two remarkable people captured on record. Finally.

Group Members skip matheny - (songwriter) vocals, guitar, lyrics, bass, various keyboards, farfisa logan matheny - (songwriter) drums, guitar, bass, various keyboards, Casio sk-1

Albums an introductory ep, SAYS POP

Press Reviews From The Denver Post - 2-17-2002 By G. Brown Denver Post Columnist Sunday, February 17, 2002 - Word has gotten out that Denver Broncos defensive tackle Trevor Pryce has musical aspirations. Football fans might put this in the category of Broncos players who have traded their mouthpieces for microphones, from defensive back Ray Crockett (who rapped the lyrics on a song titled "Salute to This" before the 1999 Super Bowl) to fullback Jon Keyworth (who cut a record called "Make Those Miracles Happen" leading up to the 1977 NFL playoffs). And music fans might dismiss Pryce as another professional athlete looking to hang with today's many hard-slammin', in-your-face hip-hop and R&B footballers. Wrong on both counts. For those folks, music is a hobby. For Pryce, a Pro Bowl selection each of the past two seasons, it's a second career he's been building for years. No. 93 wanted to construct a world-class recording studio in downtown Denver. "During the time we were getting plans together, I started looking for bands that I could record in my space. I listened to a bunch of garbage," Pryce says. "A no-brainer" "And I found acts. I figured I could spend a lot of money building a studio that no one might come to, or I could spend a quarter of that and put out this great music. It was a no-brainer for me." And so Pryce has been throwing down a lot of cash to get a record label off the ground, leasing space at 15th and Market streets and hiring six staffers and interns. On Monday morning, Outlook Music Co. will officially open its doors. At that point, Pryce might be sitting behind a desk holding a feather pen. But the past few months, he's been in T-shirts and jeans, hauling office furniture and speakers. "Believe it or not, we got most of our information from Borders - we have every book written about the music industry." What makes all this compelling is that Pryce has "ears" - he's produced some groups that can compete with anything out there. At the top of his hit parade is Outlook's first release, due the end of March. Roman Candle is an alt-rock band from Chapel Hill, N.C., and the two talented brothers have made a terrific CD in their basement that sounds like they gathered up and recorded all the gritty, melodic guitar-pop progressions of the Beatles, Oasis and Blur. There's no denying the impressive musicianship and refined songwriting on the exquisite track "You Don't Belong to This World." Outlook's roster also includes 33 Hz - an urban-pop band from Brooklyn that sounds like a catchy combination of Sugar Ray and Jamiroquai - and Melissa Lujan, a 16-year-old singer whose music is hooky enough to dominate the bubblegum militia. In six months, Pryce will issue his own project, which he's been working on for more than five years. Inspired by Bob Marley and Public Enemy, he enjoys nothing more than using his computer to mix mean guitar chords with hard beats from his keyboard drum machine. "It's an instrumental album - I don't sing or rap. I kept changing it. It was downtempo electronic hip-hop. Now it's taken a rock 'n' roll twist - it's going to be a lot more aggressive than what I had a couple of years ago. People don't want to sit there and think about the music. They want to hear something all-out from me that reflects my attitude." Pryce senses surprise that Outlook isn't more rap-centric. Millions for marketing "I'll be friends with my homeboys, but I won't work with them. Urban music can be recorded so cheap - a drum machine, a synthesizer and a microphone - but it takes millions to market it. You're competing with the Jay-Zs of the world. "But the college-rock radio stations will listen to anything. You'd be surprised how far a free T-shirt will go with a kid working as a program director before and after class." What gets Pryce's groove on is the atmosphere of a label. He's retained an L.A.-based music industry pro to augment key sales, publicity and marketing support. "My friends who work at the major labels are asking me, "What do you need us for? You have some money to get this to market, you can secure a distribution deal, you have great bands.' "It hits you in the head - they want to be in my shoes, putting music out myself." Popular Music Writer G. Brown's Rock Talk column appears Sundays in Arts & Entertainment. From "The Daily Tarheel" (Dec. 7, 2000) Roman Candle Four Stars 1/2 Many of us have long suspected a truth about music ;the agents, the press releases and even the big-name label don't guarantee that it's going to be good. In fact, it seems that the best music out there starts out as the most overlooked.It's no surprise, therefore, that after a semester thumbing through glossy publicity photos and shiny CD wrappers, the best album I've reviewed is this one: a demo someone happened to hand me. Roman Candle's self-titled debut proves that no amount of business maneuvering will ever replace the fundamentals of good music: real talent, a knack for songwriting and sincerity. This is a refreshing return to these fundamentals.The band is composed of two brothers, Skip and Logan Matheny, both of of UNC. This in itself lends them a certain fraternal wholesomeness, along with that local, college-kid charm (not unlike Cambridge, Mass. pop darlings The Push Kings).More important than charm, though, the Mathenys know how to make music .Roman Candle is like a jollier Jeff Buckley mixed with some Rufus Wainwright. Add a bigger splash of guitar and drums along with an oddly British strain, like a bit of western North Carolina mixed with a dash of Radiohead. The final ingredient is a lyrical awareness of everyday life, from paper cups to ceiling fans, that is uniquely Roman Candle. It proves to be an addictive mix. Take You Don't Belong to This World, an absolutely brilliant pop melody. It's destined to be a single, so bright and catchy that you can't stop singing it, and yet you don't feel guilty. Proving their versatility, "Merciful Man" is a little more mellow, and like another track, "Sookie",it is reminiscent of Elliott Smith.The entire CD is like this, each song showing a different facet of the band. In fact, part of Roman Candle's charm is how each song stands independently. One gets the feeling that they have put a lot of time crafting their music, whether it's the drum intro or bass line. Even when they're rockin', Roman Candle's attention to good song lyrics and vocalist Skip's sweet, honest delivery falls into the singer-songwriter tradition (a tradition too often missing from most hollow popular music).In short, Roman Candle is good, surprisingly good ; just the sort of clean, unaffected kind of music you forgot still existed. Check them out now, because they've got the potential to go places. By Joanna Pearson (Chapel Hill, N.C.) By Josh Love Staff Writer "The Daily Tarheel" Published February 22, 2001 "...The RingFest sampler CD that Gresham compiled for play on WXYC gives a good indication of the freewheeling nature of the festival, and if you're vexed as to when you should check in on the evening-long marathon, just make sure not to miss the incendiary Phantom FM, the too-perfect-for-words Roman Candle and UNC mainstay Hip-Hop Nation." This article was written about an acoustic performance featuring only skip (guitar/vocals) and collaborator Jay Cartwright (accordian). Roman Candle Lights Up Local Music By Trafton Drew Staff Writer Published February 22, 2001 "Sometimes while you're sitting in class, you just think to yourself, 'I really hope this music thing works out,'" said Jay Cartwright, summing up his feelings about the double life he leads as a UNC undergraduate and the keyboardist/accordionist for Roman Candle.The way things have been going for the band lately, he might not have much to worry about.Roman Candle, the brainchild of Wilkesborough brothers Skip and Logan Matheny, has been around since 1997, but things really started to take off after the addition of Cartwright this past September.Roman Candle's recent success has been augmented by its connection to Chapel Hill's MusicianRing e-mail network. "The network is most helpful for networking between bands and organizing double bookings," said Skip. "It helps tie in both Chapel Hill musicians and students here at UNC."The ring, which is sponsoring a festival featuring Roman Candle at the Student Union Cabaret Saturday, has helped the band reach a number of new venues through cooperation with other acts. This has allowed the band to introduce its rapidly evolving and diversely inspired sound to wider audiences."Our main influences are DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and Buddy Rich," said Logan, the drummer. "Stevie Wonder, Hank Williams, Elvis Costello, U2, wilco" said Skip, the singer/guitarist. For such a wide array of influences, they mix remarkably well. Although the result is a sound much more reminiscent of Skip's influences than his brother's, the drum'n'bass in Logan comes out from time to time and things really get interesting.The thing that really jumps out about Roman Candle is the band's emphasis on lyrics that actually mean something. Skip introduced himself to Chapel Hill as a freshman by singing on the street. Although he has now graduated, it's clear that the lyrical aspect of his songs is still the most important part. Last semester, Roman Candle released a self-titled EP that drew rave reviews from local media and UNC music professor/critic John Covach."We gave Dr. Covach the CD in hopes of getting some advice from him because he seemed like someone who knew rock and roll," said Logan. "We were really excited when he responded so positively to it."Then one of the first singles the band ever recorded, "I've Got a Reason," became one of the top 10 most highly reviewed songs on garageband.com. The CD has done so well at local music shops that the album was recently solicited by a representative of Elektra Records.But what separates this particular Chapel Hill band from the myriad of other Chapel Hill bands?It would be easy to write off Roman Candle's successes as luck, but that would be short-changing both the talent scouts at Elektra and the members of Roman Candle. Of course the romantic answer to the question is talent and passion, but many talented and passionate bands have never had the chances that seem to have fallen into this band's lap."We really want lots of people to hear our music," said Skip, when asked if he ever fantasizes about fame. "It's not like 'Hell yeah, put me on MTV.'" "If we fantasized about anything, it'd be about making good music that people really like," said Logan.While both of these comments speak directly to the passion part of the equation, any local band worth its mettle knows that it's not kosher to embrace the materialistic aspects of the business while you remain relatively unknown in your own town.Actions speak louder than words to pessimistic journalists on a dreary Friday night at Local 506. A generous crowd estimate would be 20, including members of the band. Skip and Cartwright take the stage for an acoustic set of Roman Candle numbers.Skip mumbles something about "candles" as an introduction. It's pretty obvious from the beginning that he's nursing a cold. Skip's crew, which comprises about a third of the audience, appears a little unsettled by the fact that the singer appears to be having trouble hitting high notes.The final song of the set is "Marble Arch." Everything falls into place during this song. The opening riff is so catchy it seems to get stuck in your head before the echo leaves the ears. Skip starts hitting notes of a range and emotional intensity that he has no business hitting given his health. Everyone in the room involuntarily smiles, including this pessimistic journalist.

Additional Info Outlook Music Company will debut lp, SAYS POP in late March 2002

Location chapel hill, nc - USA

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