MEL blue
Mel Blue pictured left-to-right: Luke Gerber, Jacob Siles, Oscar Sharah
photos by: Jay Seba
I stumbled across Mel Blue on an oddly warm day in February, and was immediately refreshed by the their track ‘Everything About You’. It is the first song we will be checking out here on the lower right - feel free to start streaming it for the full experience! After obsessively adding the song to every playlist I had, I fell down a rabbit hole I am not sure I want to ever climb out of. Mel Blue became the soundtrack to my life. Road trips, gloomy and bright mornings, long commutes, and this Aussie trio consisting of Luke Gerber, Oscar Sharah and newly-added Jacob Siles quickly became a memorable part of my better days - and my friends.
I am so lucky to have been not only accompanied through life with their music, but with their support and good vibes felt across the entire Pacific, they are the originators of the whole inspiration behind this blog. Seriously.
A couple of witty banters and back-and-forth suddenly the inspiration to get writing came back to me. Not only do I owe so much of my last music journey through melodic techno and progressive genres to them, by allowing me to mix their single ‘Teenage Crime’ -featured later in this interview - with Layton Giordani’s single ‘Paranoid’, but having their support and creative advice has proven to be priceless.
I was fortunate enough to sit down with Mel Blue many times just before the release of the new second studio album - ‘Back Then, Computer Sound’ and gain from them a valuable insight to inspire other musicians, producers and fans alike while also satisfying all of my curiosities.
Speaking with Luke and Oscar and having Jacob involved made doing this interview a true collab! You will find answers from each of them as well as answers from the entire group labelled MB. With exclusive never-before-seen photos from Mel Blue taken by talented photographer Jay Seba. I hope this interview leaves you with a sense of direction, inspiration and ultimately a new favourite artist. So sit back as we go from their early tracks like - ‘Everything About You’ and without further delay… ladies and gentlemen… I give you - Mel Blue.
SS: One word to describe your music is… Goosebumps…
Mel Blue pictured left-to-right: Jacob Siles, Luke Gerber, and Oscar Sharah
LUKE: First of all I have to so this is SO lovely to hear you say Sydney. I think particularly with us having done only a little bit of touring in Australia and shows in the UK we are in a bit of a vacuum sometimes. So, hearing a story like yours and to know that people are listening to our music is both an honour and really encouraging. The three of us each have different stories around how we got started in music:
LUKE: Oscar’s Dad is an actor and musical theatre performer. He played Riff Raff in the first time Rocky Horror came to Australia in 1974. There was that creative energy around Oscar and his brother who has also become a musical theatre performer. Oscar’s Dad also always played a lot of jazz around the house, especially crooners like Frank Sinatra. Oscar’s Dad taught him how to sing, and to write songs. For Jacob, he got into playing drum kit as a teenager. He loved those big 2000s Nu Metal and punk bands like Slipknot, System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine, and Blink.
Jacob’s brother also played bass and I think seeing him play in bands and at high school had a big influence on him too. Oscar and Jacob first got introduced to each other musically playing in the mass service at their Catholic school. For me, both my parents were huge music lovers and music was constantly on in the house. I have vivid memories of driving around in the car with my Dad, taking long trips listening to Dark Side Of The Moon and Echoes. My mum loved James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Crowded House, and Paul Kelly. Neither of them played music, but they loved it and they taught me to love it. Music was in my family though - my uncle was a baritone singer, and choir leader. Both my grandmas were organ players in church.
SS: It makes sense that you guys love performing, surrounding yourself with all the joy and confidence the arts brought to everyone around you guys shaped the way you wanted to make other people feel with your music - at home and safe to express yourself. Your music blends elements of indie pop, house music and alternative. How did you develop your unique sound, and what influences have shaped your musical style?
MB: We are into so many different styles of music and have tried so many different sounds over the 12 years we have been making music together. Originally, we didn’t go into making music together with a vision of what we wanted to make. We just started because we were having the time of our lives screwing around with sounds and grooves. When there was intention, we were trying to recreate what we felt and what we heard in artists like Daft Punk, Paramore, Whitney Housten, Radiohead, Tyler The Creator, Tame Impala, Air, Paradis, Chic, and Frank Ocean. From the beginning of making music together, joy, playfulness, curiosity, and feeling like a kid have been a constant in what we’re trying to do when we write music.
SS: Okay, Paramore suprised me silly - I need to you guys do a cover of Misery’s Business - like yesterday. Speaking of yesterday, your track ‘Yesterday’ bleeds optimism and the feeling of falling in love. I love it as well as ‘Driveway’ from the same album ‘Sanctuary Point’, and the song ‘Everything About You’ which was spinning in my head for days and made me feel like it was summer in February the first time I heard it. It reminded me of the innocence of middle school crushes - and a ton of freezies. Please tell me about it, the creative process and if there’s a story behind the cover art.
Mel Blue pictured left-to-right: Oscar Sharah, Luke Gerber, and Jacob Siles
MB: This is SO nice. We love ‘Everything About You’
I think it’s a song that has remained very relevant to us over the years, and it makes us so happy that people are still discovering it. Oscar and I had written our first EP by this stage, and so we were working on what we thought would be Mel Blue’s second EP. It actually became the second half of the album, but nonetheless we were on the hunt for new references. It was the middle of Summer in 2021, and Oscar texted me whilst away on a holiday on the North Coast. He texted me a link to Milky’s ‘Just The Way You Are’, which he had heard in supermarket. I had completely forgotten about this song, but remembered listening to it as a kid and watching the video clip. It fully encapsulated the mood and aesthetic we were looking – house filled, pop, nostalgic, beautiful chords, playful, and quintessentially 2000s.
MB: Immediately after hearing the song, I transcribed the acoustic guitar part in the intro. This is a sample from a 70s band called the ‘Go-Betweens’, and they happen to be Australian too, so very small world. I went into the studio with Oscar the next week, with those same chords and that mood from ‘Just The Way You Are’ in the forefront of my mind. At the beginning of the session, he showed me a demo of ‘Everything About You’ – he had the chorus and most of the verses too. We then followed a process we used to do all the time, but not as much when we’re writing together from scratch these days. I found a way to intermingle the chords from the ‘Just The Way You Are’ reference into the song. We wrote and recorded the rest of ‘Everything About You’ in that one session, and we definitely had a sense that it was special. ‘Everything About You’ is about a lot of things, and I think its meaning continues to evolve for us.
A big part of it though is learning to listen more in every sort of relationship. It’s great to have the microphone, but you miss out on so much intimacy of course when you don’t actually listen. Something that we all can be better at!
In particular, for me I was thinking about it with regards to my parents. That’s a photo from my parents wedding day on the cover of the single. I was reminded that my parents led whole lives completely separate to me. They had dreams, loves, and experiences completely apart from when I came into the world. And recognizing I should listen more was another place ‘Everything About You’ was coming from.
SS: You guys have mentioned in a previous interview that you often collaborate with people in your circle because of shared experiences. Do you have any favourite party or festival memories?
LUKE: Two very fond memories come to mind. For a period there we had a crew of artists who always worked and partied together. It was a really joyful time, and part of that was spending New Year’s Eve together. We hired a house one year that was in a very green part of New South Wales and we had the best time. We had a big night, then went swimming in a waterhole on New Year’s Day. Another fond memory was for the release of Wake Up Call. Everyone who worked on the video clip got together for a viewing in a backyard. It was a really special time, probably my favourite night of my 20s.
SS: What constitutes a good memory to write a song about?
LUKE: Dam. I’m thinking about how to answer this question because I think a lot of our songwriting comes out of amorphous, more intangible feelings. I think Oscar and I are often talking about how are songs, both aesthetically and songwriting wise are coming out of a collection of experiences rather than one memory. I think a lot of our music is reacting to what’s going on around us and in our lives. Sort of processing things in our lives. And often really slowly. What we’re writing about might have actually happened two or three years before the song is being written. All that said, maybe a good memory to write a song about is one that makes you curious and like you still have more to learn from it.
SS: Your artist profile has perfectly described your music as “an air of excitement” and “a feeling anything is possible”. I couldn’t agree more. The songs Your songs have an air of “it is what it is” and it is in our favour.
SS: How would you self describe your own music?
MB: Unashamedly joyful. Not in a way that ignores the misery in the world, but in a way that embraces it as part of the beauty of being alive.
SS: How do you want people to feel when they listen to your music or go to a show?
MB: Nostalgic, reminiscent, soothed sometimes, and brave to be silly.
SS: What role does vulnerability play in your songwriting? How do you balance personal experiences with creating music that resonates with a wider audience? Do you believe vulnerability is a superpower? Why or why not?
LUKE: Dam another DAM question. I know so many artists are storytellers and craft worlds and can create symbolic representations of great truths. I think our music less about symbolism, and more about completely wearing your heart on your sleeve. When you meet us, we are the absolute opposite from coy. That might be an Australian thing, or at least that has a part to play in it.
SS: Personally, I think I’ve spent a huge part of my life accepting that I am very vulnerable which sometimes has made me feel too much. But Mel Blue has helped me accept that that IS a super power. All you have as an artist is your experiences and how you see the world, and you can only access those parts of you and represent them aesthetically by being vulnerable. The song “Tu Me Manques” which translates to “I miss you” from French is another example of this theme. I don’t think I have ever heard a single track that bleeds everything will be OK energy while specifically longing for someone as purely and deeply as that.
LUKE: Oh my god I’m crying..
SS: I love you guys! You guys have mentioned before the excitement that comes from blending in a 105 bmp kick-drum and a sad love song, but I want to know is that the outlook you have on life? The feeling I get is ‘everything happens for a reason’ and that there is joy even in the sad stuff. Why is this theme so important for you to get across to your listeners?
MB: That’s so cool that that is coming across because that is a HUGE part of what we’re trying to say. Absolutely, that there is joy everywhere you look and even in the sad stuff. Going back to the power of being vulnerable, I think that that outlook is who we are as people. Hopefully not in a way that is on the nose or naïve, but I think we do bleed optimism as you beautifully put earlier. A lot of what we’re writing about and reacting to is really painful and sometimes dark. We’re not trying to overlook those things; we’re trying to embrace and accept that that’s what it means to be alive. And being alive and being able to feel deeply is what makes it worthwhile. If we can share that joy in our music, then I think we’re paying it forward like our families and friends have done for us our whole lives.
SS: DAM! Spot on. Full circle moment right here on why music and art is so important as a healthy way to express yourself, build confidence, and inspire others - and you are succeeding! Your remix of The Million’s ‘No One’s Home’ is such a favourite of mine. I can’t even fathom it. How did this collaboration come about?
LUKE: We played a show in 2021 in Melbourne. It was our first interstate show and it was pretty unforgettable for us. The Million guys were in the crowd, and we spent the rest of the night partying. That same day, our first EP came out so it was a very fun time. We went to an infamous club called Revs, and just about had a spiritual experience together on the dance floor. Since then, we had become quite close with The Million guys, especially Tamon Mashimo who now heads the record label Tuff Times, and the guitar player McKinley Paine. Tamon reached out to us to do the remix. I went over to his place and started it with him together. I took it to Oscar and we finished it together. On Spotify there’s a version called the “May 14 – Extended Mix” which is the date of the gig and the night we partied together.
Mel Blue pictured left-to-right: Luke Gerber, Oscar Sharah, and Jacob Siles
SS: WOW! Thank you for sharing that with me.
Jacob - what does it mean to you to collaborate with close friends and conquer the music scene as Mel Blue?
JACOB: It means everything, it’s been 10 years now playing with these kids and still enjoying it every time we get to play. How does his addition influence your creative process? The difference between a double smoked ham and a triple smoked ham.
SS: Jacob - as a band formed from strong personal connections and shared experiences, how do these friendships shape the way you create music together, especially with the recent projects you’ve worked on?
JACOB: It’s a safe space with this lot, because we’ve been friends for so long there’s a lot of same wave length moments. And by recently living with Luke and gigging with Oscar in London those connections have just served the music more.
SS: How does his addition influence your creative process?
MB: The difference between a double smoked ham and a triple smoked ham.
SS: Who are your biggest supporters?
LUKE: Absolutely our parents. Oscar’s Dad loves our music and is always keen and excited to hear what we’re working on. My mum, who listens to all our music all the time. My girlfriend, who is a constant rock and source of inspiration. Jacob’s parents who love to come see our shows.
SS: What are your goals and aspirations for your music career? Are there any collaborations or projects you're excited to explore in the near future?
LUKE: The biggest dream is to play Glastonbury festival. I think that’s something that we’ve been talking about since we started making music together. For me, that has been something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid and my cousin in the UK got me a Glastonbury CD.
SS: Oh my… I can see it already - really!!! I have to be there.
Mel Blue pictured left-to-right: Luke Gerber, Oscar Sharah, and Jacob Siles
MB: We’d also love to tour North America, and over the next few years we are aiming to go back and forth between Europe, America, and Australia playing Summer Festivals. Our ideal day is to play a live set in an intimate venue or bigger festival, and then DJ or play our improvised electronic set in clubs and house parties. We are very attracted to underground electronic music and spend a lot of time listening to this music, but it is not really a scene that we feel we have cracked. We would love to continue to hone our craft, especially learning more about house and garage. We also feel we’ve got a lot of albums in us. We would love to keep writing albums for as long as we can. Our dream (real big dream) collaborators are Pharrell, Frank Ocean, and Underworld.
SS: What are your favourite and least favourite parts of the industry? What keeps you going?
LUKE: To be honest with you, as Mel Blue we’ve had a really great experience of the music industry. We are really grateful for that and also very fortunate. I think what is very hard about the music industry is that there a very big ups and then very big lows. It’s quite inconsistent and unpredictable. You definitely can’t place your sense of self on how well a song streams, how many people come to a show, and what other people think of you. But that’s also a blessing in disguise, because it teaches you to just make music for you, be curious, and pursue what YOU love.
Easier said than done, because it is so easy to compare yourself to other people. That is quite hard about being in music, but again, that is less about the music industry and more about maturing. In terms of what gets us through it, I think more than anything we’re so grateful to have each other. Constantly there to bounce ideas off of each other, to encourage each other when one of us is down or loses sight of what it’s about. I think the only way you can survive as a musician is within a community, and we’re very lucky that we’re in a band of three friends.
SS: Are there times where professional collaborations have not worked out but in the end worked out in your favour? It could be a business deal or track collaboration, or potentially even representation via label that fell through?
LUKE: I think in the sense that everytime we’ve said yes, it’s taught us something. Even if the song has been hard to write, it’s helped us clarify what we’re looking to achieve when we’re writing. And what we’re trying to achieve always always always is something is underpinned by fun.
SS: What is an inspiring moment that you can share to other aspiring musicians about self advocating in the music industry?
LUKE: I think a high point of our career so far has been when Aussie radio station Triple J selected us to support Flight Facilities at their Airfields festival in Sydney. This was a big moment for us because Flight Facilities have been a big influence on us, and their track ‘Crave You’ was one of the songs that got us into making electronic music. That happened just because we had songs uploaded onto the Triple J website and we fit the bill. Very much a right place, right time situation. But it wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have songs up and released, and didn’t have a live show ready. Back yourself! Release your music! Play shows! You never no who will hear it and where it can take you.
Mel Blue’s new second studio album “Back Then, Computer Sound” is available everywhere now.
You can see more of Jay Seba’s photography work on socials @jayseba or jayseba.co
Check out Mel Blue’s Beatport, SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music & follow them on Instagram below: