Checking in with OneRepublic
In May, I put OneRepublic and their lead singer Ryan Tedder in our Mainstream spotlight. I was fascinated to learn about his early years in music, going to a Christian High School in Colorado and why he left Oral Roberts University and moved to New York City. Well, today it seems like everything is falling into place and Ryan wants to bring you up to speed with this e-mail.
Hey everybody, Ryan here, I’m writing to you from our hotel in London.
So an update for everyone - we just got back from a 2 week tour of Asia- the most insane 2 weeks of our lives for sure, some of the places we played- Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (malaysia), Jakarta (indonesia), Hong Kong (china), Tokyo, & Osaka (Japan). We had an amazing time- it was definitely the hottest weather ANY of us have ever experienced in our life- the show in Singapore for instance was outside and when we hit the stage it was 95 degrees with 99% humidity (felt like 108). It put Coachella heat to shame. We finished the tour in Osaka, Japan where some of us walked off w/ a permanent reminder of our time in Asia in the way of a little ink. Very fun, very memorable.
We are now in London at Vfest, headed to Dublin, Ireland tomorrow and are extremely excited about that - I haven’t been to Ireland in 8 years and it’s one of my favorite countries in the world, can’t wait for the rest of the guys to see it. We have the day off tomorrow so we’re gonna hit up O’connell street and maybe Johnnie Fox’s pub (if you ever go to Ireland, check it out). Anyway.
We fly from Dublin back to New York in a few days and kick of the 1st of our dates on the John Mayer tour and we also are very stoked about that- we hear John is hilarious in person so we’re looking forward to shooting the proverbial sh** with him as much as catchin some of his performances.
After John Mayer it’s back to Europe for a month long European tour- one of our favorite things about European tours are the tour busses- they are 2 stories high and are literally like moving hotels- one of the coolest experiences of my life is riding around for a week in one of these things. They sleep 14-16 people, have bathrooms, showers, 2 lounges, and a suite in the back w/ a queen size bed and a sofa….it sounds impossible but it’s true. When you’re on the road 10 months out of the year- busses like this become your home and thank God for them.
So before I continue rambling let me just say the last year has been unbelievable - we have gone from a band not really known outside of MySpace alone to kinda being known everywhere, it’s been an INSANE ride and we can’t thank YOU GUYS enough- honestly we think that a big part of the reason Apologize was initially so big so fast was because of 3 years worth of MySpace friends calling in and requesting it and just telling people about this band on MySpace called OneRepublic.
We can’t thank you enough! It’s kind of sadly ironic and a shame that so many bands are so active on MySpace “until” they take off then all of the sudden they’re far less active, respond to far less emails and comments - we didn’t want to become that band but are also guilty - what we didn’t realize is just how busy thing would get - literally nonstop 7 days a week traveling, shows, media, repeat. So we are sorry for being not so responsive online and are now intending to change that - we are going to be posting pics and video from the road that we’ve been taking over the last several months - it’s time to freshen up our page!!!
In other NEW news - we just recorded a new song and one song only for a special limited end of the year release that our label, Interscope/Universal is putting out - so basically what will happen is this song will simply be added to the existing album-those of you who already bought the album can just get the song on iTunes or wherever, we are very excited about the new tune it represents a new side and a new sound for this band - we’re not ditching our ’sound’ per say, but this song represents a musical evolution, and it moves….which is something we’re really into right now.
For those of you in North America we’re putting on a full tour starting the end of October through early December - we’ll be posting dates very soon - we have several amazing bands that we suckered into opening for us on this tour - Augustana, The Spill Canvas, The Hush Sound….okay we didn’t sucker them, we just like them alot and asked them to play with us. So if you live in pretty much any major city in the US (and a few non major cities) we will be coming to your town this fall!!!! We haven’t named the tour yet- but I’m thinking “OneRepublic Fall Tour” has an amazing ring to it and reeks of originality and panache. Tell me what you think.
On a musical note we just shot an amazing video for “Mercy” and the single comes out in the UK very very soon, followed by other places - we are so in love w/ this new song, however, that we may just put that thing out right after or right before, we don’t know - we’re musicians, we don’t think that far in advance.
On a final note we’ve gotten alot of emails over the past 6 months from alot of places asking if we’re coming there - while i can’t address all of them i “can” say - if you live in South Africa - we’re coming in December, South America - spring ‘09, places like Russia, Israel and eastern Europe - ‘possibly’ Feb/march ‘09, and to all our fans in Australia/New Zealand - we’re coming BACK- late Jan/early Feb ‘09!!! To any fans in Antarctica - sorry. We’re waiting for global warming to really kick in before we book that show, but know that we’re excited…in a general sense.
This is a long blog and for those of you who are still reading you deserve a medal - or maybe a badge of honor and distinction. You deserve a golden statue of Michael Phelps giving you a gold medal. Thanks for reading- hope this was both informative and fulfilling.
talk soon-
1R
I found the video for “Mercy” and I’m so glad their letting the world know of His mercy. The lyrics to this song follow the video.
Angel of Mercy
How did you find me?
Where did you read my story?
Pulled from the papers
Desperate and hardened
seeking a moment every fix
All I wanted to say
All I wanted to do
Is fall apart now
All I wanted to feel
I wanted to love
Its all my fault now
A Tradegy I fear
Angel of Mercy
How did you find me?
How did you pick me up again?
Angel of Mercy
How did you move me?
Why am I on my feet again?
And I see you
Whoa Whoa Whoa
I feel you
Whoa Whoa Whoa
Before just the daylight
Come and i stand by
Waiting to catch the quickest plane
Flying to nowhere
Is better than somewhere
That’s where i’ve been and nothing’s changed
All I wanted to say
All I wanted to do
Is fall apart now
All I wanted to feel
I wanted to love
Its all my fault now
A Tragedy for sure
Angel of Mercy
How did you find me?
How did you pick me up again?
Angel of Mercy
How did you move me?
Why am I on my feet again?
And I see you
Whoa
I feel you
Whoa
Im so lost in you
A tredgy seemed to be over now
A tradegy it seemed to be
Angel of Mercy
How did you find me?
How did you pick me up again?
Angel of Mercy
How did you move me?
Why am I on my feet again?
And I see you
whoa
I feel you
Whoa
I feel you
Oh Whoa
I feel you
Oh Oh Oh
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