Pleasing Melani

The spirit of punk rock lives in a cheap motel room on Goshen Road.
Inside the nondescript building – a row of four abandoned garage-sized rooms in the parking lot of a mattress warehouse – the members of Pleasing Melani meet every week to drink a few beers and grind out a careening version of melodic street punk – the kind most at home in a rowdy neighborhood pub.

Of course, that’s not all they do there.
“We rehearse here,” drummer Al Quandt says. “And, depending on the situation, most of us have slept here a few times, too.”
Although only three years old, Pleasing Melani – Quandt, his vocalist brother Carl Quandt, guitarists Nathan Ochoa and Mitch Fraizer, saxophonist Scott Snyder and bassist/trumpeter Scott Knepple – has already found a unique voice among the droves of punk-metal bands preening for attention nationally.

Rooted in two-tone ’80s punk, the band’s music is laced with frantic ska horns, hardcore speed and stop-start dynamics. Add quirky backing vocals – including the occasional staccato chant-like refrain and help from vocalist Elizabeth Burris – and the sonic crunch of vocalist Carl Quandt’s patter-style vocals becomes a gritty edition to a (at times) whimsical style of boot-rattling rock.
“Originally, I wanted to write the blues,” Carl Quandt says. “But I’d grown up on metal; we’d all played in metal bands. And I’m not blues. I can’t play that (stuff). It’s like a friend of ours said, ‘If you want to play the blues, you have to live it.’ So we’ve been moving in the direction of the punk/metal thing because that’s us. It feels more natural.”

During their time together, the band has written more than 60 songs. (“And about 16 we’re happy with,” Carl Quandt says.) And in February they will release their first album, the 14-track opus “Responsibility.”

“We’re into the brotherhood thing right now, writing songs about my friends,” Carl Quandt says. “I’ve always been a writer. I had no plans to be in a band. And I don’t claim poetry. There’s no deep meaning behind anything. If I want to write a song about my friends, I write one. If I want to write about (bleeping) responsibility, I do.”

“There’s a lot of metaphor behind my drumming though,” Al Quandt says. “You can quote me on that.”

It’s the band’s humor and lack of artifice that has garnered it its fans, droves of ’em, which bolstered the band into taking third place in the 2007 Whatzup Battle of the Bands. And their shoulder-shrugging approach applies to all aspects of the band, including the story behind the name, Carl Quandt says.

“We were playing,” Quandt says. “We didn’t know what we were doing. And we were doing this cover of a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. So, Scott’s brother told us we needed to play something else. ‘Play the Doors,’ he said. ‘My girlfriend likes the Doors.’ I said, ‘What the (bleep)? This band isn’t called Pleasing Melani.’ Except, of course, now it is.”(Emma Downs)
- The Journal Gazette

’Hell yeah“ was the answer given to me by Pleasing Melani frontman Carl Quandt when asked if he and the rest of the band would like to meet me at Mad Anthony Brewing Company to talk about their success in the 2007 whatzup Battle of the Bands IV. That kind of enthusiasm is pretty much what I expected after seeing the band work audiences into a frenzy on several occasions during this past year's contest. I figured that they are probably enthusiastic about everything they do, and, truthfully, everyone likes to go to Mad Anthony anyway.

As I traveled to my destination on that random and otherwise uneventful Monday, I was looking forward to asking the band about their unique blend of music and their future plans, and I really wanted to talk about all of those fans wearing those PM antlers on their heads. But I also began thinking about what I would do if I were given the ability to choose a title for Pleasing Melani’s upcoming debut CD. Would I call it Waits For Me? Or maybe The Return of Scummy? On second thought, I think the most appropriate title would have to be Evolution. Whether it’s their band members, musical styles, fans or songs in general, Pleasing Melani are a band of constant evolution. And in their case, that is a good thing.

According to Quandt, the band – which now includes his brother Al on drums, bassist Scott ’Scummy“ Knepple, guitarists Nate Ochoa and Mitch Frazier and saxophonist Scott Snyder – began as a result of his desire to play oldies, such as ’Lil’ Red Riding Hood“ from Sam the Sham. ’I had trouble convincing people to play with me," said Carl. "I begged my brother Al to play with me, because he was such a phenomenal drummer, but the music didn’t really work out.“

Brother Al agrees. ’Carl and I started [the band] but couldn’t find a direction to take the music. We worked with some musicians that just weren’t going where we wanted to go. It wasn’t until we brought Scotty (Snyder) in to play sax that we gained a style we were comfortable with.“

’He ended up being the greatest thing we ever did,“ adds Carl. ’He really sets us apart. He helped give us that Tom Waits/Morphine sound, and that’s when I decided that was the direction we should go.“

After parting ways with their bass player, the band recruited Scummy – who was in Audiotopsy at the time – to play bass and add vocals. ’I don’t consider myself a very good singer,“ says Carl, ’so I wanted someone else in the band who could actually sing. And after he joined, it really freed us up to play what we wanted. [From there] we got more into the punk and metal music that we all grew up on.“

The band's first show with Scummy was also the first show that they incorporated Irish music into the set. "It started with 'Bottle of Jack,'" explained Carl. ’We weren’t getting crowd reaction from anything but that one song, so we decided to write more songs like that. And now with Scummy in the band, our writing got better and our songs got better.“

In addition to the aforementioned Waits and Morphine, the band claims The Pogues and Primus as some of their other musical influences, as well as ’other“ influences. When I pressed them to describe their sound as it currently stands, Al said that ’it’s kind of a raw, Irish punk sound,“ before Ochoa added, ’I like to call it drunken monkey music.“ ”Nuff said.

Pleasing Melani made it to the final round of the whatzup Battle of the Bands this year after having been eliminated in the semifinal round last year. ’The Battle of the Bands shows are really enjoyable because those are some of the coolest and craziest crowds,“ says Snyder. Carl agrees. ’In 2006, we played the same set each time, but this year we changed it up every show, so there was something different for everyone. And the crowd really got into it.“

The band also seemed to show a lot more confidence this time around. They had the attitude and swagger of a band that looked like they wanted – and expected – to win.

’We had the philosophy that ”We're in it to win it,•“ says Carl. ’That’s really our philosophy with everything these days. Some people might think that because of the way we act on stage, we aren’t serious about our music or that we don’t care. Some people even think that I’m drunk when I get up there, but I'm not. We just put a lot of energy into everything we do and it comes out in our music.“

The band's fans apparently are quite appreciative of that attitude, as they are some of the most rabid fans ever seen at the Battle. Sporting anything from flashing buttons to matching neckties to Pleasing Melani antlers, their loyalty is unmatched in the city.

According to Carl, a lot of the fan support started after he started writing about real things that he and his friends have done. The friends that he wrote about would come out to the shows, have a good time and then bring other friends with them to the next show. ’It kind of exploded from there,“ says Al.

Not only do the band's songs tend to contain real life stories and situations, but they are mostly high energy and anthem-like, seemingly tailor-made for fan participation. ’Anything I write is aimed toward the crowd,“ says Carl. ’I write songs about what I want to write about, but I also consider how the audience is going to react to the song while I’m writing it.“ Judging from the support the band has been getting, he knows what he is doing.

From blues to punk to metal to Irish rock, Pleasing Melani have harbored a variety of influences and sounds already, and there's no reason to think their evolution won’t continue. Maybe there will be some Neil Diamond- or Rod Stewart-inspired songs in the future. Although unlikely, it’s not entirely unfathomable, given the variety of sounds they’ve already incorporated.

Meanwhile, the band has some big plans for their immediate future, and, like everything else, they are putting 100 percent of their energy into all of them. ’We’re putting out an album in January and are going to tour the West Coast,“ says Al. ’We are all just quitting our jobs and going.“ Sounds like a band that is confident it can succeed in anything it does.

Until then, you can see Pleasing Melani perfecting their live show just about every weekend somewhere in the Fort, including an upcoming gig as one of the opening acts for national recording artists Primer 55 at Legends on November 14.

Catch them while you can, because if their current philosophy keeps working there will be more national tours in their future and a lot fewer chances to catch them locally.

Just be sure to watch out for those PM antlers – they could poke your eye out. (Chris Hupe)
- Whatzup Magazine

Al Quandt recently sent me an e-mail regarding his brother Carl, the lead singer of Pleasing Melani. I was fishing for information on the Fort Wayne band, and Al noted that Carl has a definite “stage presence.” After seeing the band play for a gathering of the faithful at the cavernous Sunset Hall in late September, I concur with Al’s (understated) assessment. Carl has stage presence akin to a bull having presence in a china shop, as the idiom goes. Not in a destructive way, but with a manic charisma that seizes the attention of the china. He resembles a young Shane MacGowan (the Pogues), but with much better teeth.
Pleasing Melani play a mixture of jazzy, punk Irish blues that may have yet evolved before this story goes to press. The band collects the talents of Quandt, sax player Scott Snyder, guitarists Nate Ochoa and Max Forbing, bass player Scott “Scummy” Knepple and drummer Justin Omo. Carl Quandt put the band together in late 2004 and, after several lineup adjustments, believes the group has finally developed a sound all their own.

“I originally just wanted to play oldies, like Sam the Sham’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Then I heard Rage Against the Machine and wanted to rap. After I heard Tom Waits, everything changed.” That’s evolution, baby.

Along with Quandt’s frenetic, Waits-inspired vocal style, Snyder’s sax and Ochoa’s guitar form the core of Pleasing Melani’s sonic concoction. Sporting extreme muttonchops and a funky fedora, Snyder (with sax) emitted a calm, cool counterpart to Quandt's possessed performance during the Sunset show. Ochoa, who plays mean slide leads, also contributes to the chanting style backup vocals of P-Mel. Ochoa recently acquired a banjo and is going to work that instrument into the band’s sound as well. (I said it was an evolving sound, did I not?)
When they are not Pleasing Melani, Snyder and Ochoa are also part of the Red Barrels, a raw and rugged folk-blues outfit that warmed up the same Sunset crowd. Snyder, using the nickname ‘Indiana Mud,’ switches over to a harrowing electric steel guitar for the Barrels. Ochoa again provides lead guitar for the Red Barrels. (He was also spotted playing piano at the rear of the hall between sets.)
Bass player Knepple uses the “Scummy” moniker to (partly) distinguish himself from the "other Scott" in the band. He is definitely the sartorial standout of the band. He was decked out in a jester’s costume (I think) for the Sunset Hall show. I also spotted Knepple in a lime green leisure suit at another recent show. “Scummy” also fronts a metal band in town named Kan’tus.

The band followed up the Sunset Hall show with a recent set at Benson’s. Ochoa admitted that on this night the band wasn’t quite up to the level of the Sunset Hall show. He then related a story that might explain the drop-off. The band practices and stores their gear in an “abandoned motel” in Fort Wayne. When they arrived to get their gear for the Benson’s show, they had been locked out. Ochoa says he thinks this may have something to do with a rent due issue.

Who knew abandoned motels charged rent. Regardless, the show must go on.
The band entered a rear entrance (sometimes called a window) and was able to get their equipment out. Just as they spotted the landlord driving up, the Pleasing Melani crew made a quick getaway. Ochoa says he is confident the band will be able to make amends soon.

Pleasing the landlord may not be as easy as pleasing the crowd, or Melani for that matter.(Mike Horan)
- Whatzup Magazine

If you’re a fan of the “I can smell the alcohol emanating from these songs” school of punk rock – in other words, that happyconfluence of Bad Religion and The Pogues (and who isn’t?) – you are gonna love this record. Pleasing Melanie have been hard at work spreading their unique brand of roughhouse pub rock around town the past few years, and now we can enjoy the fermented, frothy and, yes, aggressively intoxicating fruits of their labors on disc whenever we want, thanks to the rollicking 5th of Wisk a Bottle a Pill.

From the get-go, this album runs on the adrenaline fumes of the tail end of an all-nighter – giddy, woozy, and always charged. Punctuated with “heys” and “hos,” the modern punk shanty drinking anthem “Responsibility” opens the album with a sneer – a shipful of pirates wearing Rancid T-shirts over their tattoo sleeves, practically daring each other to skateboard right off of the plank. Though “Responsibility” provides the template and tone for the disc, there’s plenty of variety to be found if you stay onboard. “Going Down South,” fr’instance, rides a lurching reggae beat that competes with a “TV Party”-era Black Flag chorus. “Twenty 6, Thirty 4” gets kind of Black Crowes/white boy funky for awhile before the energy drinks and adult beverages kick in, powering the song into overdrive. A bit of a left turn (and a red herring for those expecting a break in the festivities) comes at the beginning of “Good Girl”; Pleasing Melani get all sultry, subdued, sessy and jazz-infused before awakening with a jolt and hammering away with a Jon Spencer blooze zeal.

Singer Carl Quandt emphatically embodies the spirit of the material with his alternately barking, cajoling and smirking smoke-tinged vocals. I don’t know if there’s single-malt in them there pipes, but it sure sounds like it. He and the rest of the crew certainly know how to have fun. Witness the jaunty, tightly wound “Cap N Crunch,” wherein the frontman brings to mind a bleached-out SoCal punker with a monocle, trilling syllables and hamming it up like an extra from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – it’s amusing and rocking at the same time. As for “Xxxx,” well, picture a revved-up Brian Setzer plugging into a Marshall amp after a few too many Mojitos at the bandstand. Several tunes benefit from the accomplished saxophone touches provided by Scott Snyder. His lines on “Friends,” for instance, add a bit of sophistication to Quandt’s sing-speak. The spirited drumming of Al Quandt, combined with Pink 5’s bass – not to mention stellar guitar and vocal work by Nate Ochoa and Matt Brown – make this
album jump out of the speakers even at its most inchoate moments. A great hidden (shh) track at album’s end cuts loose with dual guitar leads as it staggers around like the guy at the bar who can’t decide if he wants to fight you, be your best friend, or both. Embrace Pleasing Melani, but watch out for that right hook. (D.M. Jones)
- Whatzup Magazine