Introducing… Melanie Fiona

Throughout the past few weeks, we have consistently dropped the name Melanie Fiona. Over a month ago we introduced her as the next artist to watch, then just a couple of weeks ago we gave her the Artist Spotlight treatment. A few days later we brought you exclusive footage from her live showcase in New York, where ?uestlove from The Roots, as well as Jay-Z, showed up to give her support. Now we finally had the opportunity to sit down with one of EW’s Top 5 artists to watch in 2009. Her album The Bridge drops in a few months and she has the backing of Mr. Kanye West. What else does she need for success? Oh yeah, she can sing too! Peep in on how our conversation went…

Kevin: Ms. Melanie Fiona, it is truly a pleasure to interview such a talent as yourself. Currently under the radar, I know you’ll be all over the map before the year is up. Let’s start everyone off with an introduction. Who is Melanie Fiona, where you from, how long have you been singing and how did you get here?

Melanie: I am a singer/songwriter signed to Titlenine/Src Universal Motown. I’m from Toronto Canada, but was raised very West Indian; my family is from Guyana. Music has always been in my life, both of my parents had great appreciation for music. My mom would sing and blare “big bodied” singers while cleaning the house on the weekends, and my dad played guitar in a band. I’ve been singing since the age of 3, and even though I was really involved in school and sports growing up, music has always been my first love. In high school, I started working with local producers and writers and was introduced to my now manager and CEO of my production company. I packed up and went with her to California to work with her team of producers and spent the next few years creating my sound and developing as an artist. While shopping the album to the major labels, I met Steve Rifkind CEO of SRC and I signed my deal in 2007.

Kevin: Seems like those old records influenced your current musical taste and sound. The new single, “Give It to Me Right”, samples a classic, The Zombies’ “Time of The Season.” How did that song come about?

Melanie: Well, I’m a really big fan of classic records from all genres, and “Time of the Season” is on of my favourites. We thought it would be cool to pay tribute to some classics by putting a new spin on them. Songwriter/Producer/Artist Andrea Martin wrote and produced the song, and she called me and was like “girl do I have song for you!!” She said she came up with the concept after we were having a candid convo about relationships and my take on not settling. When I heard it, I lost my mind….it expressed exactly what I was thinking. I knew it was a hit, and the label loved it. I was so happy when I found out it was going to be the first single. As a woman, I felt very empowered by it.

Kevin: Your debut album, The Bridge, which features the aforementioned single, is due out in May. What can we expect to hear? Describe your sound for us.

Melanie: I like to call it Pop Soul because I feel like it’s a marriage between something old and something new. Expect to hear a little bit from every genre but consistently have a soulful vibe.

Kevin: Can we expect another single, video or anything before the album is released?

Melanie: Absolutely! I’m getting ready to shoot the video for “Give it To Me Right.” If I had my way, I’d release 3 singles before the album drops! [laughs] I want people to fall in love with the music so they’ll be excited about buying the album.

Kevin: So, you’ve been writing your own songs for years; however you had some help on this album. Tell us about your relationship with Andrea Martin and the songwriting process.

Melanie: I know what it is to write for myself and for other artists. So I have no problems working with other writers. The relationship I have with Andrea is very special. She not only knows me as an artist, but as a person. I completely trust her talents in helping me express myself because she KNOWS me. I don’t think I could work with a writer who didn’t get who I was and where I was coming from, personally and musically.

Kevin: Moving from the writing to the production, how much were you involved in that? Did you have any say as far as what beats were used or who you worked with?

Melanie: I didn’t get on the mpc or the keyboard, but I definitely had a very active role I choosing the tracks and songs that were created for the album.

Kevin: How did you go about choosing the beats for your album? Was there a certain sound you were looking for? You seem to be very keen on live instruments.

Melanie: Live instrumentation was a must! I wanted the music alone to feel like full songs even without melody and lyrics. A lot of the tracks have samples from old classic soul songs, so I automatically fell in love with the ones I was familiar with from what my parents use to play when I was growing up.

Kevin: Do you write music or play any instruments yourself?

Melanie: I write songs (melody and lyric), and I can fool around on the piano, just not publicly [laughs]. My next conquest is the guitar.

Kevin: All of your talk about the classics does bring to mind your voice, which is heavily reminiscent of 70’s, 80’s soul. Who are your musical inspirations?

Melanie: There are so many!!! I grew up listening to all kinds of music, from reggae to pop and when you listen to the album you’ll hear how they influenced my sound. If I had to name some of my favourites, they’d be Sam Cooke, Patsy Cline, Bob Marley, Sade, Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill and India Arie.

Kevin: Naturally, it’s been a journey to get where you are now. Can you talk about the process from being discovered/signed, to writing, recording and releasing the album? Was it a struggle?

Melanie: In total, traveling and working in the music industry, it’s been about 4 years for me in the States. This is definitely something that didn’t happen overnight, and I experienced a lot of frustration and difficult moments. In this industry, everyone wants to add their two cents about who and what kind of artist you should be. I decided I was going to stop listening to what everyone was saying and do what felt natural to me. Every misconception made me work harder to prove people wrong.

Kevin: So, now that you are here and can look back, what song, if you had to pick, defines your career to date?

Melanie: “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston. It’s a very special song to me. It’s the first song I ever sang and I think it made me fall in love with music.

Kevin: Given all of this information, some may still be curious as to why they should give Melanie Fiona a shot and listen to The Bridge. Why should they listen? What makes you stand out?

Melanie: I think that people will love the album. It’s refreshing! It has a real integrity and soul about it that will make people feel good. I think there’s something on there that everyone can relate to. It’s classic.

Kevin: Once The Bridge is released, what’s next?

Melanie: Touring, no sleep, and the start of album 2!!!

Kevin: In typical KevinNottingham.com tradition, we have to ask this. If you could only take one record on a deserted island with you, what album would that be?

Melanie: Hmmmm, Sam Cooke’s “Portrait of a Legend”. It has a lot of sentimental value and reminds me of my family while I was growing up.

Thanks, Melanie, for chatting with us. We’re definitely looking forward to the album and we wish you continued success.  For another look at Melanie Fiona, check out the recent interview she did with one of our affiliates, GowhereHipHop.com.

• Melanie Fiona on MySpace
• Melanie Fiona’s Official Website
• Follow Melanie on Twitter

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