OneRepublic

OneRepublicRyan 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 feeling unsettled with where you're at in life, 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 is a light at the end of the tunnel, there's a reason behind all the insanity. Life doesn't exactly go as planned, it's kind of out of our hands to some extent. It's also short, too short to not pursue what you love...even if it beats you up a few times. Hopefully people can relate to the things we touch on, and hopefully we get them singing.”The song "Apologize" explores the personal pain of multiple 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 what 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, nice voice, nice song.' I want that person to walk away and feel like he or she has had a religious experience; we want them to feel moved.”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 is a Grammy nominated writer & has written & produced tracks with/for various other artists, including Natasha Bedingfield, Jennifer Lopez, Lil' Jon, Paul Oakenfold, t.A.T.u., Bubba Sparxxx, Tupac 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 is the no. 1 band on MySpace and has been in MySpace Music’s Top Artists since summer 2006, with over 12 million total song plays and counting – remarkable for a band that is yet to release an album. Music lovers should expect great things from these fresh faces in the not-so-distant future.OneRepublic As well as producing, Tedder also sings lead vocals and plays guitar and piano for rock band, OneRepublic. The five piece band was formed in Colorado Springs in 2003 by Tedder and high school classmate Zach Filkins.[12] Tedder has since revealed that the band was formed at a "crossroads" in his life: "I was offered two publishing deals within two months of being in Nashville…I could have just written songs and lived a carefree life, but I knew that I had to be an artist. I wanted to form a rock band and create my own sound."[4] Based in LA, OneRepublic started out as an unsigned act on the social networking website, MySpace. Since June 2004 they have accumulated over 22 million+ plays for their music on the site. As of 2007 they are the number one band on MySpace and have been in the MySpace Music's Top Artists since summer 2006.[13]The band gained further exposure when their 2006 single, "Apologize," was re-mixed and re-released on Timbaland's compilation album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value. The remix became an international chart hit in the fall of 2007. OneRepublic's debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, includes both the song's original version and version with Timbaland, and was released on November 20, 2007 on Timbaland's Mosley Music Group imprint via Interscope Records.[14] The band had previously been signed to Columbia Records, but although their album was due to be released in 2006, this did not occur. Tedder explained, "Crap happened. People got fired. Labels merged and politics abounded".[15] Subsequently, the band were released from their deal with Columbia, and were signed by Timbaland in the summer of 2006 to be the first rock band released on Interscope Records.[15] Tedder has commented on the success of his band's hit single, "Apologize": "The toughest thing to do is write a hit song, but we [had] a hit song before we [had] an album… What has happened has been really strange and really great."Layout made by