Bobby Meader Music

Artist: Bobby Meader Music
Title: Breakfast After Noon EP
Label: Antique Records
Genre: Acoustic, Punk

When we are left alone with our thoughts and an acoustic guitar, the most significant bits of our memories come crawling in and we are forced to say “hello.” In the case of Nevada-bred singer-songwriter Bobby Meader, he is greeted with a resonating “What’s the deal with all of us fucking up all the things we love?”

This is taken from “I Don’t Understand,” the introduction to his most recent four-track offering, entitled Breakfast After Noon. Injected with honest lyricism and muffled folk/punk harmonies, Meader brings forth a very short but very sweet compilation of what are seemingly evasive thoughts on a rainy day.

Not one for pedantry, Meader writes of love and loss in “Patti Mayonnaise” as he makes use of explicit narrations and sluggish percussion. Lines like “Down to my last dollar for the week / I miss your voice when we used to speak” remain in your head as you’re brought to his next sentiment.

Picking up a ukulele and scribbling notes re: self deprecation, “Cutthroat” is a true standout gem as sprightly-lit melodies sprinkle onto Breakfast After Noon’s initial watered-down vibe. Although still very much intact with the EP’s lazy-day aesthetic, the song separates itself from the rest and takes us into a different alley. I personally was waiting for some whistling to occur, but despite the semi-smug we’ve managed to throw on, I guess we’re still not that stoked on the day ahead. “Inside my mind is a constant war, and I don’t wanna be an asshole anymore.”

Jumping right back into where we started is closing track “Six Weeks This June,” where Meader comes to grips with whatever awaits him as soon as he is able to pick himself up. Tying the EP full circle is a blissful harmonica outro that could wash away all the bitterness that was ever said.

In an attempt to offer more perspective by way of metaphor, each individual piece of Breakfast After Noon could be viewed as stages of our mind before we fully embrace the fact that more happiness and lethargy and everything else in between inevitably lie ahead.

It’s something we can all genuinely identify with.

Review written by: Dana Reandelar - Dana Reandelar / Under the gun Review

Staff Writer/Photographer Murjani Rawls recently caught up with Bobby Meader to discuss his new project, Breakfast At Noon, the Las Vegas music scene, services like Spotify, and more!

MEB: Thanks for taking time out and speaking to Mind Equals Blown. Can you tell a little bit about yourself to our readers?
Bobby: Hey, guys, what’s up?! My name is Bobby Meader. I’m a singer-songwriter from Las Vegas, Nevada. I’ve been doing Bobby Meader Music for the past 3 years. I’ve been making records, relentlessly touring and playing shows, promoting albums, etc. I’ve been solo, touring in my Suzuki Forenza and now my Toyota Prius. I played 186 shows last year, met a ton of great people and am very stoked on the future! I’m now transitioning my full time touring regiment to full band. Got some really great bandmates on board. (Sabo, Nick and Brady).
You are from Las Vegas, Nevada. Can you tell us a little bit about the music scene there and how that influenced you on your style? Is there a local scene that you went/go to?
I would say going to all my friends’ shows. Mostly punk shows, but not limited to reggae, ska, or folky singer-songwriters. I soon found out after touring that there are other scenes just like ours out there.
From your first album, We Are The Blues We Write to now with the newest EP, Breakfast After Noon, there’s honest, straightforward lyricism that I really appreciate. Do you favor being straightforward with your ideas over a metaphorical sense?
Yeah [laughs]. I suppose I am very straightforward with my lyrics. I mean, after all, it’s how I feel, so why not just say it the same way I feel? Although I have used a few metaphors from here to there. I think they’re beautiful when used correctly and not over-saturated.
I wanted to talk about the symbolism of the EP’s title. We usually assimilate Breakfast After Noon with wild nights out or just late from bad decisions in general. Did you choose the title to go with the theme of the whole EP?
My entire life I’ve never enjoyed waking up early. There wasn’t really a theme intended for this EP other than waking up early sucks. I write songs about how I feel at that current time. Or sometimes it’s how I would feel through the eyes of what other people are going through. I think songs and album concepts should be left up to what the listener feels it’s about. What the song is really about is irrelevant to me. Waking up and drinking too much, I suppose, equated to lonely songs. Then I go get breakfast after 12pm [laughs].
The EP is more of an acoustic effort which really brings out the emotion of songs like “Patti Mayonaise” and “Cutthroat”. “My Coffee’s All Cold” had a more full band approach to it. Did you feel that going acoustic was more fitting this time around?
Not really. I’ve played so many solo shows that I got sick of playing solo. And I often go through patches of time where I just want a full band and to play electric guitar in open tunings. So that’s what I’m doing now. For this EP that Antique wanted to put out, I did part of it full band but it’s still all acoustic songs. There was no strategy to why they were all acoustic. They’re just really slow, sappy acoustic songs. That’s the way they were written. Turning them into full band for this just wouldn’t have made any sense. And the “Cutthroat” ukulele version of this song came from my friend Rob, of Calmosa/Safely. On tour he would just pick up my ukulele and transpose it from guitar to ukulele and sing it to make fun of me. It was hilarious so I just decided to start playing it that way live. So when it came down to making an EP I couldn’t think of any other song to put on it other than that because even though “Cutthroat” was initially written full band, it totally sounds better with ukulele and a toy piano.
Being an artist who is independent with the abundance of technology that is available, whether it be Spotify or Bandcamp, do you see that in being a more viable way to connect with fans than from a major record label?
No. Anyone who says that a major label or even a successful independent label would garner less attention than you simply uploading your songs to iTunes and Spotify is wrong. If nobody is being exposed to the songs then nobody is going to listen. Regardless of how easily they COULD hear the songs. I may have missed your point here, sorry about that [laughs].
You have announced some dates in Las Vegas. Are there any plans to hit any more cities?
Yeah, definitely. Transitioning full band requires time and a lot of commitment from the band. Late summer should be the start.
Anything you want to say to your fans out there?
Go support Antique Records in any way you can. James, Craig and Brian work their asses off to put out records, ship records, and promote them. They’re overall great people. Oh yeah, and sushi is really great.
- See more at: http://mindequalsblown.net/interviews/interview-bobby-meader#sthash.C7jIuuAo.dpuf - Mind Equals Blown / Murjani Rawls

Bobby Meader Music's new EP, Breakfast After Noon, will release on March 3rd via Antique Records. The 7" pressing will be limited to 300 copies, which will be split between two variants (150 black/150 red). You can now pre-order it. The new video for "Patti Mayonnaise" is in the replies. - Absolute Punk