Photo by Eden Taylor
Over our time of interviewing artists one of the most prominent concepts that gets brought up by those we interview is the connection to community. How a community can consciously and sub consciously influence not only the construction of the art, but the relationships between those with the desire to create.
In early September we were lucky enough to sit down and have a chat with members Paula and Jacob of Meraki Minds. An Indie Pop 5 piece born out of Ballarat/Wadawarrung land who this year released their debut album When the Weather Was Warm. Despite the bad internet connection and looming storm hovering over the whole of Victoria we managed to engage in a conversation that helped us get to know the Minds within Meraki. From a more in depth look into the construction of their sound to the more personal. Their connection to where they came from and where they plan to go.
Although Meraki Minds are currently based in inner city Melbourne/Naarm (beside Guitarist Jacob in Geelong) their story starts roughly 115 Kilometres away in the country town of Ballarat. Initiating out of necessity (due to Paula needing a band to get graded on an ensemble performance in high school) the group of classmates hit the ground running, driven to compose music together. Sam, Peggy, and Paula formed as the original incarnation of Meraki Minds, with the Indie Pop artists of the time acting as their early stage of inspiration.
One of the most important things to a band in its infancy is the wider community around it, a strong collective of supportive individuals can help inspire and nurture artists as they dip their toes into the creative world. The first chapter of Meraki Minds was coincided with many people surrounding the band wanting to get involved in fostering a scene where their artistic pursuits could flourish. This support came through multiple avenues, from hosting house parties for local bands to play and hone their live craft in a more casual and intimate setting, to the local Freeza showcasing these emerging acts in battle of the bands. In Paula’s words, coming from a regional area gave them a “beautiful and supportive audience”.
Whilst coming from a regional area holds so much influence over the story of Meraki Minds, their journey in Ballarat was just the beginning. Adding Jacob (from Geelong) on guitar, Adriano as their drummer and moving themselves up closer to the central city of Melbourne/Naarm. This change saw members attend Vic Uni where they continued their education in music. Almost mirroring their origin story of starting their little community in a music class, the members found themselves in the midst of a new one. Staying on the university campus and would spend time jamming with their cohort.
Making such a big move forces you to grow up, to adapt. As Paula and Jacob put it their debut 2023 album When The Weather Was Warm became an unintentional coming of age album, with parts of the album being written back home and in their newfound scene of the bustling CBD. It is amazing that a collection of songs can hold so much story, not just with the lyrics but the context of writing, because within the sonic textures that all five members conjure up is the story of a band betting on themselves and embracing the long and hard journey of leading a life propelled by creativity.
Moving onto a bigger focus of their actual musical craft, Meraki Minds are made up of musicians that have quite a diverse background with Paula and Peggy originally horn players. This background means melody and harmony is almost second nature to the band when they construct their songs. This is very evident throughout the album, with intrinsic melodies being showcased across the whole track list. Well placed and well thought out melodic lines that don’t cross the realm of being too cerebral and instead infectiously catchy. While the album plays within the realm of Indie – Pop it is evident the thought processes and skill within the musicianship are well rounded from an array of genres. You can hear Jazz, Soul, Alt-Rock mixed with the sensibilities of Pop music. Whilst all of this is evident in throughout the track list, when speaking to style Paula noted that they try not to think about genre too much as focussing on the specifics of each style can box you in, at the end of the day they just want to create music that gets stuck in people’s heads, which is something When The Weather Was Warm definitely achieves.
Photo by Jacob Mullins
A particular aspect of what fascinates Couchdog regarding a musical artists output is their accompanying visual imagery. It is something you can read about in an array of our other interviews. What we see in our heads as we listen to music whether it be colours, abstract imagery or even physical locations is a huge part with the connection we make to sound. Looking through the artwork Meraki Minds use on their social media and their release art, it is evident how big of a role a visual element plays into the bands overall presentation. The style of Collage that can be seen in their single and album art feels both meticulously and home-made. It provides a sense of warm nostalgia, warping various imagery to create something new. Some of these collages can be credited to Naarm based graphic designer Mako Eguchi (you can find their work here) .
When listening to the music with this added visual context, we are given another piece of the story that is Meraki Minds. A group of individuals that in their journey took pieces of the community with them to build something new.
We had such a great time chatting to Paula and Jacob, their insights into themselves and the band were fascinating. Couchdog strongly recommend giving them a listen and checking out a show!
You can follow the band and all of their updates here
Check out their Spotify here