Sweetie

Sweetie’s music was born by John Blake and Melissa Paser from the soul of the Electronic world. For years, Melissa and John have been creating a body of work that many fans call atmospheric, moody and urban, and which speaks to a modern sensibility through brooding and soulful love songs.After recording their first few tracks in the late 90s, the duo, from their home base of Philadelphia, soon charged to the forefront of the Trip-Hop world. With the addition of new members expanding the duo’s sound, Sweetie can now be classified as Indie-Pop. Some of Sweetie’s most notable gigs include sharing the stage with Marc Almond, Zap Mama, DJ Spooky and The Sneaker Pimps, along with several repeat performances on the Ross Byron cable-based television show with the Manhattan Neighborhood Network.Drummer and pianist John Blake began his career as an engineer and producer at Philadelphia’s Sonic Studio, recording and mixing for one of Philadelphia’s top radio stations, Y-100, as well as for several national recording artists. During this time, John also wrote and arranged dance tracks that were distributed throughout the local club scene and worldwide. He continues to provide remixes for various artists via labels such as Perfecto Records, Strictly Hype Records, Ruff Nation Records, and others.Through performances on the Philadelphia club scene, Melissa was digging deep into her roots of singing barbershop with her mother and sisters as a young girl in Detroit. She continues to further develop an appreciation of jazz vocal styling, accent and rhythm. It was Melissa’s haunting and sultry vocals that drew the attention of King Britt, DJ of the Grammy-winning Hip Hop-Jazz fusion band Digable Planets, with whom Melissa has collaborated. Sweetie fans appreciate Melissa’s layered mixture of evocative vocals, clearly influenced from her early years in Detroit.Always performing with a live drummer, Sweetie continually stretches the limit of tension and textures that coexists between organic and inorganic sounds. Sweetie specializes in eclectic and varied beats, utilizing the powerful mixture of live drumming performed over hypnotically layered drum loops. With this unique and dynamic sound in place, the introduction of guitar into both the songwriting process and the band’s live performances has pushed Sweetie to new sonic heights.Guitarist, singer and songwriter Elise Mendelsohn joined the project four years ago, infusing Sweetie’s music with elements of power chords, pop-like riffs, staccato picking, and choice slide guitar. Elise is a Philadelphia musical veteran who has recorded with Grammy-winning producer David Ivory, with whom she still collaborates.Sweetie has been nominated for several awards, including “Most Stylish Band” in Philadelphia by the City Paper Music Awards. Equally critical, Melissa Paser was nominated for “Best Female Vocalist” by MP3.com. Although Sweetie did not clinch “Song of The Year” in VH1’s Save the Music poll, the band did earn top honors in the month of September for their original song, “Dying Leaves,” in the poll’s “Best Electronic Song” category. Among other notable awards, Sweetie contributed to the strikingly original compilation of Captain Beefheart songs on Mama Kangaroos: Philly Women Sing Captain Beefheart. Sweetie’s track was chosen as the first of twenty songs on this album of Philadelphia’s rising female stars.The mood and sensibility of Sweetie’s sound is a perfect marriage for film, television and video games. Sweetie continues to produce songs and perform for an ever-expanding fan base both locally and regionally.