The Unstoppable, Positive Force of Mellodose
Among a series of new releases and collaborations, Daily Reggae caught up with ever busy artist and producer Mellodose.
Great to be in touch Mellodose! So, when I think of you, I think of your hustle and collaboration. I feel like every week I’m blown away by seeing that you’ve released a new single, EP, or album. And also it’s so cool that you push yourself to collaborating across genres with so many artists! How do you do it all?!
“You’re all in or you’re out”
- Brandon Hardesty of Bumpin Uglies on their song “All In”:
I feel like you have really found your voice as an artist and you have unlimited potential! Being honest as an artist is an amazing quality and in your music you talk about your personal journey. Can you tell us about your musical journey and what’s brought you to this point?
Thank you for the positive affirmations, CB & Gede. I appreciate you both.
Music has been the central, driving force my entire life. I was fortunate to play in a band with amazing people & musicians for many years prior to Mellodose. That band was called Roots of a Rebellion. I learned so much about composition, reggae music, collaboration, and the importance of putting friendship first in all endeavors from my brothers in that band. The years spent traveling the country & creating music as a live band in the studio with them is the bedrock of everything I do now. I’m grateful to still be releasing music with three of them: Austin Grimm, Mr. Headies (aka Adam), and Jeremyck (plays organ on our song “Hey Hey” and produced “Lift Your Voices” with me).
We (Roots of a Rebellion) had the fortune of working in the studio with Craig Welsch, who is a Grammy-winning engineer & producer, the drummer/musical mastermind of 10 Ft. Ganja Plant, owner/designer/builder of Fader custom guitars, one of my closest friends…& whether he claims this role or not, my musical mentor. Craig’s advice & perspective is something I cherish & it has helped me learn some of the fundamentals of sound, while also challenging me to find, develop, and be confident in my voice.
I started Mellodose in 2019 at the end of Roots of a Rebellion. We released the first Mellodose song in February of 2020. We have 90 songs to date released with over 30 different bands/artists. I started collaborating so much because I truly missed being in a band & the feeling of creating with other people.
I’m super grateful to all of my friends who have given me the chance to capture sound with them. I love y’all very much & am stoked for all the music we still have to release together.
Outside of my friends mentioned above (& so many others), two other integral parts of this new chapter in music for me are 1) my sobriety & 2) my wife, Katie.
I got sober in 2017 & it’s the cornerstone of all the good things in my life to date. Katie is my soulmate. Her love & support make my world spin. She is a talented artist in her own right with the camera. A ton of Mellodose releases feature her photography as the artwork. She also sings on our songs “Dreamdaze”, “Hey Hey”, and “These Days”.
What are a few of the new songs that you’ve released that you might have come together in a unique way outside your normal process?
Normal process is to self-produce or produce with Kurt Jansohn of One Culture. Kurt & I are best friends and we have made more songs together than I can count. We made a new one last night in fact. I love Kurt & am grateful for his creativity, his engineering knowledge, his work ethic, and his friendship. We made the entire Ocean of Truth album together over the last couple of years.
Outside of the normal process:
“Fallin” - this one was co-produced with my brother Jordan Gee of Office Mellow (similar name to us, separate project, what can we say…we like to keep it mellow lol). Jordan also plays keys for the awesome band Sons of Paradise. “Fallin” was unique in that the basis of the song started with an amazing guitar loop from RJ Pasin, an artist/producer who is creating absolutely next level, innovative guitar tracks. We had never incorporated a sample from another guitarist in such an integral way to a song’s foundation. It was awesome to include RJ’s creativity in the song & it wouldn’t be the same without his parts.
“Protect My Peace” - this is a song with my brother Hunter the Oracle. With the normal process being self-producing or working w/ Kurt, this song breaks the mold as Hunter produced the entire thing. Hunter is a musical mad man & a wonderful human being. Monster drummer, monster engineer, and now we’re all finding out he’s a monster songwriter with a deep message to share in this song. I love working with Hunter and appreciate him allowing me to be a part of such a special song.
“The Dock” with my brothers Vibright is actually a re-make of an older song that I released solo. I had just started singing when I made the original version years ago & had no idea what I was doing really. I always loved that song & my brother Stephen Henderson of Vibright is the most soulful, unique male vocalist I know. I was so stoked when he said he was down to cut vocals on the new version. Thank you Steve!
“You Don’t Know How It Feels” [Tom Petty Cover] - Vibright and I covered this song in 2022. We had been sitting on the finished version for a good while. I got to play NYE with Sun-Dried Vibes going from 2022-2023. Dale and the ZDubs were playing that night, too. Dale & I became fast friends & ended up talking on the phone about music on a regular basis after that. One day I saw he posted a pic of him & his friends from college on his story and he used the Petty song in the video with a caption about how nostalgic Petty’s music was for him. I sent him our cover & he ended up jumping on the final verse with us! So cool. Thank you, Dale!
Are you playing any live shows this summer? It would be so cool to see you perform a live set with one of the artists you frequently work with like One Culture!
No shows for me this summer. I appreciate you asking.
How do you continue to stay so motivated and what other goals do you have in 2024? I have no doubt that you’ll continue to conquer all of them!
This is all I have ever wanted to do. I love it. Making music provides the motivation I need to continue on in all other aspects of life.
We have a ton of first time collabs dropping this summer & something extra special with Vibright soon.
We just released a brand new song/first-time collab with Adriya Joy & Vibright, called “No Pain”: https://ffm.to/mellodosenopain
We just released a brand new song/first-time collab with ANORA, called “Ocean Breeze”: https://ffm.to/obmelloanora
We just released a brand new song/first-time collab with Alific & Stoney Banks called “Silver Sonic”:
