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 alot to do with my own journey, as well as those around me; they’re about times when I’ve felt stuck, far away from where I wanted or intended to be. But ultimately, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Life doesn’t exactly go as planned, it’s kind of out of our hands to some extent. Thankfully, there always seems to be a way out of impossible situations.”

The song “Apologize” explores the personal pain of band members’ own relationships gone awry and the necessity of moving on, while “Stop and Stare” describes the common frustration of getting to a place in life where you think, “How in the world did I end up here, this isn’t where I wanted to be, watching the life I wanted pass me by.” “The lyrics have shades of melancholy, and there is a definite emotional undercurrent running through them,” says the band. “If you can’t tap into emotion, you’re just selling catchy tunes.”

OneRepublic considers its music to be influenced by everyone from the Beatles to U2, and anything in between. “We’re no respector of genre,” says frontman Tedder, “If it’s a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they’ve probably influenced us on some level….nothing’s new under the sun, we’re a sum of a bunch of parts.” 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’d love to make people feel like that. I don’t want someone to just 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 high school classmate Zach Filkins. The pair moved to Los Angeles, where they picked up fellow Coloradan, guitarist/keyboardist Drew Brown and drummer Eddie Fisher. The band’s most recent inductee, Brent Kutzle, plays bass and adds something extra 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, Lil’ Jon, Paul Oakenfold, t.A.T.u., and uber-producer Timbaland. A remix of OneRepublic’s song “Apologize” is featured on Timbaland’s upcoming album, Shock Value, which will be released April 3rd, 2007.

OneRepublic has been ranked as the #1 rock band in all of MySpace since summer 2006, with approximately 10 million total song plays and counting – remarkable for a band that is yet to release an album or have any significant radio airplay. Music lovers should expect great things from these fresh faces in the not-so-distant-future.

taken from OneRepublic’s Myspace Other links: Official Website