SOUL MELLO

When Lee Blake and Rediscka Pinkney joined their voices together, the harmonies were smooth and lustrous. They had the sort of attunement that mimicked the works of R&B crooners before them, those who could make women melt with a single falsetto.

Memories of Jodeci and Boyz II Men are easily evoked. And that should come as no surprise, since both men point to those artists as major influences. And like those male R&B acts, Blake and Pinkney hope their group, Soul Mello, will become as well-known as their predecessors and even become a household name.

"Maybe a guy can be talking to his girl and say, 'Come here, girl. Let me Soul Mello you,' " Pinkney said, with a laugh.

Until that day comes, the duo have busied themselves with performing at local events and recording music. Pinkney, who lives in Georgia, travels to Fayetteville each weekend to collaborate with Blake, who has a home studio.

Both were aspiring solo singers who were serving in the military at Fort Bragg when they met. Shortly after meeting, they decided to join forces. They juggled deployments and music for five years before pursuing singing full-time.

They're hoping to release their debut, "Mixed Emotions," in October. The dual-disc package has been two years in the making and will have a total of 34 tracks.

Soul Mello displays edge and bravado with tracks like "Say It," "So High" and their first single, "Bring a Friend."

The duo even took their gentlemanly swag to another genre by trying their hand at rapping on the song, "Back On Your Grind."

But pushing the envelope with music is only the beginning, they said.

After giving the Weekender Street Edition a preview of their upcoming album, the duo discussed their music and future.

Weekender: How did you two know that you were meant to sing together?

Blake: With the kind of sound that we got together, we just decided to toss (the solo acts) out the window and do the duo thing. It was pretty much instantaneous. We got in there, wrote a couple of songs together, and the sound was ridiculous. We bring contrasting styles, but you put it together, you got Soul Mello.

Pinkney: It's like you're standing on this side of the river and success is on the other side of the river. Back then, we could see success, but there was no bridge. But now that we're together, there's now a bridge to get there faster. It's more clear. It's in sight now, more than it was when we were trying to be solo artists.

Weekender: How would you describe Soul Mello's style?

Blake: I'm more like R&B, like Brian McKnight, Jon B. It's just smooth.

Pinkney: I was more like a rough R&B, especially with the vocals, like a John Legend, Anthony Hamilton. (Blake's) voice is a lot sweeter, mine is more like K-Ci (of Jodeci).

Weekender: Who are some of your influences?

Blake: Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Brian McKnight, I'm sure both of us got a little MJ (Michael Jackson) in us. And Carlos Santana, Nirvana. It's a lot.

Weekender: So your debut will be two albums?

Blake: Yeah, the idea is that you put those two CDs in, side-by-side, hit play on the first one and go straight through to the end. If a song is going to stop the album at any point, if you're going to move to the next song without listening to it, then we'll just push it off.

Pinkney: The good thing about it is that throughout the album you hear a lot of change. You hear a lot of growth. The feeling of the album is almost like a roller coaster. It's a real versatile album. One song won't be like the other.

It's called "Mixed Emotions" because you got everything on there - from falling in love, falling in love again, breaking up, breaking up real nasty, to trying to find a job to the economy and the way it is to having fun. It's all about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Weekender: What about this single, "Bring a Friend?" That's definitely a bold number.

Blake: It's (about) a fantasy. (laughs) But it's very tasteful. With every song that we do, we try to make sure it's tasteful no matter what the subject matter is so that it falls within the lines of Soul Mello. We try to write music with substance.

Weekender: So what's in the cards for Soul Mello?

Pinkney: Our goals are to really be a well-rounded entertainment company, from music entertainment to promotions to production.

Blake: I think as far as a major label is concerned, we don't want a record deal. We're looking for a distribution deal. When you're independent, the label has no say. That's why we're called Soul Mello Entertainment now.

Staff Writer Jessica De Vault can be reached at devaultj@fayobserver.com or 609-0649 - Fayetteville Observer