“Blues, country, rock and roll, jazz, bluegrass, soul and gospel. Made in The United States of America yet they’ve influenced the world over. This melting pot of race, politics and economics is as culturally diverse as it’s landscape yet it still hums along to an anthem that cuts through the lines of race, creed and colour….”

Six months ago Directors Justin Devereux & Maria Ward were  given a proposition: Make a documentary on American Music on Camera Phones. New Zealand Telecom flew he and his cohorts out to America and they took an eventful road trip tracing the roots of American Music. It led them to Hollywood to close out their journey…and that’s where Magnolia Memoir comes in. Having heard about the Memoir because of an appearance last year in Auckland, they decided to check out this band that was quietly taking over the music world…

HOLLYWOOD, CA – MAGNOLIA MEMOIR

“Put your gun down and come out with your hands up. We have the building surrounded”. It’s like a scene from a Hollywood crime show. There’s a fire truck, cops with donuts, a loud-hailer, yellow plastic tape and a helicopter buzzing us overhead. Wow, this show has a big budget! Is that chopper part of the show or filming the show? Maybe both. It all looks so real. Then the coffee sinks in and your mind is clear again. This is Hollywood and word is, this one is being directed by reality.

So even when the police officer says you can not enter the studio and the entire block is closed off, you wouldn’t be surprised. This is Hollywood after all, where reality doesn’t look much different from television.

Nearby in a discrete little warehouse we are waiting for you to come and rescue us, and then escort us back to our car before the parking warden tickets our vehicles for overstaying the meters. We’re here at an un-named studio talking with Magnolia Memoir and record producer Krish Sharma about how they pulled off the Perfect Crime. Apparently nearby, someone is surrounded by cops and hasn’t quite mastered that act yet.

In fact, we’re right in the middle of hearing from Krish (co-producer/mixer) of Magnolia Memoir’s forthcoming album ‘The Perfect Crime’, when a blaring megaphone interrupts him mid sentence. He stops stone cold for a while as we all absorb what is going down outside. Then he quickly recovers with “Welcome to Hollywood folks”. We all laugh and joke that this could possibly be one of the best Promos the band could ever pull off for their second album. Fresh off the recording press with a teaser released on August 30^th, ‘The Perfect Crime’ will be the band’s first major label release after recently being signed to Peak/ EOne. With the full album scheduled for release February 2012 and coming off the back of 2 sell out shows in London, things are looking up for Mela Lee and Alexandra Burke of Magnolia Memoir. The bands profile along with their smiles have just had a big ‘up size me’. So life is sweet, and perhaps this is a taste of more to come.

Magnolia Memoir, a five piece ensemble. Led by singer/composer Mela Lee, with music direction by vibe and keyboard player Alexander Burke. It’s anchor is Gordon Bash on Bass, Aron Forbes on guitar, and Matt Lucich on Drums.

I first heard of Magnolia Memoir from a good friend of mine Danny McCrum back in NZ. A successful artist songwriter in his own right. Danny has led and fronted the Danny McCrum band through two self released albums, and a marathon of shows and support gigs for big name artists such as Eric Clapton, Simple Minds, and Jimmy Barnes just to name a few. Earlier in the year Danny was asked by MM to fill some big shoes and perform as lead guitarist for a gig at the Armageddon exhibition in Auckland. I remember him calling me at home after the show buzzing that this band was pure gold and I just had to check them out. “The lead singer’s voice is out of this world. She has a three and a half octave vocal range and, I think I have a crush”.

So a few months later it’s a beautiful day in LA and we are meeting Mela and Alex outside their house near Hollywood. They seem pretty happy with themselves and their warmth is infectious. They slip us a pre-release CD copy of their latest creation ‘The Perfect Crime” and the next minute we’re back in our rental car playing ‘follow that car’ and speeding toward Starbucks for breakfast. We slip the CD into our car stereo and pump it.

Like all good music, it makes you want to drive faster. My leg starts tapping and my hand is slapping the steering wheel. Another hand starts slapping my other leg. It’s not my other hand though, it’s Maria’s, and she’s telling me to slow down.

I feel good. It’s a fresh sound. The music is full of soul. I’m hearing textures and colours. It’s got rhythm, it’s has warmth, and it’s pure, almost organic. The voice is rich, the grooves are contagious and I already know that I’ll be playing this again.

Three songs later we’re Starbucks. We’re in, we’re out. Now we are entering the scene of the crime. Krish Sharma was there, along with Charles Goodan. Both of whom co-produced the album and witnessed Magnolia Memoir’s Perfect Crime. They had a few things to say about it.

Catch video segments of them in our next few posts along with an exclusive acoustic performance from Mela and Alex of Magnolia Memoir.

Read more  & see Video Clips : ” From Here to Hear “