Daniel Merriweather:
By all accounts, you should not have this biography in your hand. There should be no "Daniel Merriweather" worth reading about, let alone a burgeoning young singer by that name who is garnering international appeal for his deliciously soulful voice. It's an improbable story.
Merriweather was raised at the end of a train line on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, a tough, working-class city tucked away in the southeastern corner of the southern hemisphere. He lived in a trailer out in front of his parents' house, and his family was not what one would consider "well off." It is a marvel that he made it out of Melbourne at all. And yet, this 24-year old talent who comes from the end of the earth will soon make a lot of people remember his name.
Tastemakers already know about Merriweather, primarily from his work with celebrated New York DJ and producer, Mark Ronson. Much of the critical praise for Ronson's latest album, Version, name-checks a cover of The Smiths' classic single, "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," sung by Merriweather. To date, Merriweather has only released two singles: "City Rules" and "She's Got Me" (from Ronson's 2004 solo debut, Here Comes The Fuzz). Both were popular in Australia but also in hipster clubs in London, Paris and New York. In just a short amount of time, Merriweather has culled anticipation of his upcoming, as-yet-untitled solo album, due out on Columbia/Allido next year.
Merriweather sings with the bluesy conviction of an old soul, yet his velvety voice isn't an accident. As a toddler, Daniel learned to play classical music on a cardboard violin, after his mother enrolled him in classes that taught lower income children music only by ear. "I can still hum concertos from Vivaldi and Bach," Merriweather admits. "I eventually played the violin but my ear for music got really strong." At the age of 10, he began to sing, first toying with classic Elvis Presley material and then making the incongruous leap to Boyz II Men. "One day my dad bought a portable boombox, and that was the first CD that we bought," he remembers. "They were all over MTV at the time, and so it was everywhere. It sounds ridiculous but I was so completely blown away by it they're technically very good singers, especially their harmonies, and it reminded me of the technical skill that goes into playing the violin."
Merriweather describes his precocious, musical youth as him being a bit of a "show pony," enraptured with both popular and classical music and willing to sing and perform for his friends and family whenever and wherever he could. His appetite for music only grew from Prince to Herbie Hancock, from old soul to Jeff Buckley, from Radiohead to hip-hop like Nas and A Tribe Called Quest. It's an era of his life, his teenage years, where the roots of his varied tastes, and subsequent singing style, took root.
Merriweather would soon fall in love with hip-hop not just the music but the culture, as well, developing a particular taste for graffiti. "I would do run-ups during lunch," he says. Merriweather didn't escape such antics without any consequences, and increasing disciplinary problems in high school meant he had to ultimately drop out. Reflecting on those years, Merriweather admits, I went off the rails for a little while there. I stopped singing and I got myself into a lot of trouble, with the police and whatever. It was a tough time. Some of us deal with being broke in different ways."
Merriweather would soon get it together and work himself out of mischief by re-dedicating himself to music. He took proper vocal lessons and started performing again, locally, in the popular clubs of the city. He signed with a fledgling local record label, run by a mate of his from his vocal classes, which let him explore his own creative curiosity. "He had a studio I could use whenever I wanted. So I jumped in, head-first and started writing and producing music all the time.
"I never had a moment where I wanted this to be a career," he explains. "It was just a slow evolution."
Merriweather found a kindred spirit and a fan in Mark Ronson. They met when Ronson was working on the debut album for singer Nikka Costa and was in need of a singer, someone whose influences were just as diverse as his. He heard Merriweather's work and quickly flew him to New York to meet and discuss music Daniel's first time on a plane and the creative bond was instant. Ronson would eventually sign with Ronson's own imprint, Allido Records. "Working with Mark, everything seems to unfold organically. You're talking about music and the next thing you know, you're recording ideas with (The Roots drummer) Questlove and (rapper) Saigon."
Merriweather knows just how much he's grown in the five years he's re-dedicated himself to singing, and hopes to build on the meaningful and modest successes he's earned thus far. "When you're a kid, you start off with your influences on your sleeve," he says. "I think I spent a lot of years still feeling my way around. That's given me the time to really discover the kind of album that I want to make."
Now a resident of New York and currently in the studio working on his debut solo album, Merriweather is relying on his improbable journey from Melbourne, his classical training, his adolescent blossoming and his own musical instincts to craft a work that, more than anything, he wants to reflect a love of music. Ronson, who helped shape a majority of Amy Winehouse's breakthrough album, Back To Black, is making the same sort of creative investment in Merriweather. "I think that people just want to hear real songs from real people. I don't think that comes in any particularly shaped box. It's just about being honest."
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