A North Londoner with Liverpudlian and Middle eastern roots, Melinda peddles her own tricksy brew of rock-pop, folky, electro fusion - with subject matter ranging from love, space travel and the pressures of money on relationships, to a baboon in her friend’s bathroom.
As well as enjoying her solo career as a singer-songwriter she has worked with numerous collaborators both live and in the studio; from alternative / electro producers U.N.K.L.E. to world music collective Temple of Sound, with whom she toured across Europe and Asia as a lead vocalist, headlining the W.O.M.A.D. festival in Singapore. She can also be heard on their album Globalhead, having co-written the track Wings of Desire.
In 2004 she began working with producers Olie Smith & Mark Pledger, featuring in their collaboration with Gatecrasher DJ Matt Hardwick. The resulting track Connected was championed by Radio One and described by DJ Mag as "perfected brilliance.... Melinda Gareh's vocal haunts, enchants and bewitches in precise measures... her lyrics and delivery are faultless." The Unknown, her single with White Water released in 2005, was reviewed by veteran DJ Graham Gold as "Musically and vocally a real winner," and was remixed by Paul Van Dyk (voted the world's No.1 DJ two years running - DJ Top 100) for inclusion on his Politics of Dancing Vol.2 album. Her next collaboration with Mark Pledger, entitled Fallen Tides is due out on the Anjunabeats label later this year.
Whilst her inspirations run from Tori Amos to Patty Griffin via The Stone Roses, she sometimes feels most at home listening to old Prince records. She has a solo EP coming soon complete with strings, crunchy beats and a swirl of chocolatey backing vocals, which she describes as "playful, moody pop. It wants to be spooky."
For contact or mailing list email [email protected]
For Mel's paintings visit www.melgareh.blogspot.com
For Mel's poems check out the blogs
For reviews look in the Sounds Like section to the left
For more lyrics, previous gigs and audio visit www.melgareh.com
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Check out Mel's paintings in the slide show below
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