Walter Meego

Walter Meego

Walter Meego is a musical duo from Chicago, Illinois. Its members are Colin Yarck and Justin Sconza.

History

Sconza and Yarck met in 1999 at the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL. At this time Sconza was playing in rock bands of many different styles, including pop, punk, post-punk, dance, etc. As a child in Beverly, his south Chicago neighborhood, Sconza was trained in classical and ragtime piano techniques and styles. Later, as a teenager, he was introduced to jazz and rock musics. In interviews he has said he learned every song in the Real Book as well as the entire catalogs of the Beatles and Nirvana.

Yarck was influenced by the electronic music scene in Chicago. He started making beats and DJing in 2002 when he and a long time friend of his (and future original member of Walter Meego), Pat Pelligrini built a studio in Pelligrini’s basement in their hometown of Park Ridge, IL, near Chicago. While Yarck was home from school, it was in this studio that Yarck and Pelligrini laid the groundwork for what would become the electronic side of Walter Meego. They mainly produced instrumental beats on various music making machines like synthesizers, sequencers and computers. Yarck took some of this musical gear down to school with him in the spring of 2003 and it was at this time that Sconza and Yarck first collaborated musically, mainly just experimenting with sounds and getting a feel for each other’s style.

It was also at this time that Sconza asked Yarck to call him “Walter,” which was short for his new alter ego, “Walter Meego.” Colin thought it was funny and obliged.

When the two graduated in May of 2003, they both moved back to Chicago to take jobs in the city, not at all planning on continuing their collaboration. That summer and fall while back at home, Sconza made hundreds of songs and unfinished ideas on his four-track and put them together on audio cassettes entitled “Walter Meego,” which he would pass out to friends. Also during that period, Yarck and Pelligrini continued to work together in making instrumental electronic productions. Eventually, Sconza joined Yarck and Pelligrini at their studio and before long they had a decent amount of material (some of which would later appear on their debut “Walter Meego EP”). Starting in January of 2004, the three of them began performing regularly throughout Chicago under the name “Walter Meego.” The band enjoyed initial support from promoters at well known Chicago venues like Metro, the Empty Bottle and the Double Door. Following the release of “Walter Meego EP” in April of 2005, the UK’s famous music shop, Rough Trade, as well as Internet blogs like Music For Robots raved. The band's show attendance grew quickly.

As the popularity of the band increased, Pelligrini found it more and more difficult to focus on his full-time job and eventually decided to leave the group in the summer of 2005. Yarck and Sconza looked to Yarck’s friend Jarrett Spiegel to replace Pelligrini, which he did. Spiegel was an active DJ in Lawrence, KS while at school and then later in Chicago. After a string of shows and inner-band turmoil, Spiegel was replaced with Andrew Bernhardt in the summer of 2006, who currently performs live with the group.

Style

Walter Meego makes pop music that pulls from the inspirational wells of both dance music and rock music. Their songs would usually fit on any mainstream dance floor but they also maintain the structural integrity (choruses, verses etc.) that could be found on your local AAA radio station. The sounds in the songs are hybrids of pianos, synthesizers, guitars, vocals, destructive edits (filtered sounds and other outboard effected sounds), field recordings and drum machines, but the music isn't as sonically saturated as something like the Basement Jaxx.

Critics often list Daft Punk, New Order, Air, Radiohead and The Beatles as references when they review Walter Meego's music or live shows.

Self Description

"Walter Meego is like the most delicious sandwich ever made; except its even better than that. Its like the sound of a record collection exploding into a million shards of awesome. Its like Charles Bronson, Steve Mcqueen, and Chuck Norris rolled up into one sweet, punishing bad-ass. Imagine a tsunami of Malt Liquor - we're even more intoxicating than that. We beat the '96 Bulls 15 times... and they only lost 10 that year! We once collectively ate 700 pounds of chicken red curry, had a brisk walk, and rounded off the day with 12 additional hours of platinum-record-making studio sessions. Hold on... Pharrell's on the other line... Someone once tried to declare us the winners of the 1960 U.S. Hockey Olympic gold. We insisted that we weren't alive at the time. It didn't matter. We're like the ultimate evolutionary champion - like a wicked combination of Sabre-Toothed Tiger, Polar Bear, and Hippo in one killer beast. Ever heard of Ghengis Khan? We ate him. We also ate all of Jamaica once. And it tasted good."

Live Concert History

First Live Appearances

Walter Meego first performed live on various stages in the area in and around Chicago IL. Some of those concert dates were:
Apr 29 2005 - Empty Bottle

Fall 2007 US Tour

In the fall of 2007, Walter Meego toured the United States with rock band VHS or Beta, playing music venues across the country. The tour dates were:
Aug 28 2007 - Boston MA, Great Scott
Aug 29 2007 - New_York_City, Bowery Ballroom
Aug 30 2007 - Brooklyn NY, Studio B
Aug 31 2007 - Philadelphia PA, Johnny Brenda's
Sep 1 2007 - Washington DC, The Rock N' Roll Hotel
Sep 2 2007 - Cleveland OH, The Grog Shop
Sep 3 and 4 2007 - Chicago IL, Subterranean
Sep 5 2007 - [[Minneapolis MNv, 7th St. Entry
Sep 7 2007 - Denver CO, The Larimer Lounge
Sep 8 2007 - Salt Lake City UT, Urban Lounge
Sep 10 2007 - Seattle WA, Chop Suey
Sep 11 2007 - Vancouver BC (Canada), Media Club
Sep 12 2007 - Portland OR, The Doug Fir Lounge
Sep 14 2007 - San Francisco CA, Mezzanine
Sep 15 2007 - Los Angeles CA, Echoplex
Sep 16 2007 - Pomona CA, The Glass House
Sep 17 2007 - San Diego CA, Casbah
Sep 18 2007 - Phoenix AZ, Rhythm Room
Sep 19 2007 - El Paso TX, Club Blu
Sep 20 2007 - Dallas TX, The Granada Theater
Sep 21 2007 - Austin TX, Mohawk
Sep 22 2007 - Houston TX, Minc (this show was later canceled)
Sep 24 2007 - Atlanta GA, The Earl
Sep 25 2007 - Athens GA, 40 Watt
Sep 26 2007 - Mt. Pleasent SC, Village Tavern
Sep 27 2007 - Carrboro NC, Local 506 (this show was later canceled)
Sep 28 2007 - Lexington KY, The Dame
Sep 29 2007 - Louisville KY, Headliners

Discography

• Walter Meegp EP
  Walter Meegp EP
• Usually Single
  Usually Single
• Paint by Numbers EP (Justin Sconza)
  Paint by Numbers EP (Justin Sconza)
• Hollywood / Through a Keyhole Double Single
  Hollywood / Through a Keyhole Double Single
• Music For Robots Vol. 2
  Music For Robots Vol. 2
• Romantic EP
  Romantic EP
• Through a Keyhole Single (UK Only)
  Through a Keyhole Single (UK Only)
• Through a Keyhole Tour EP
  Through a Keyhole Tour EP

EPs Walter Meego EP (Self Released, 2005) Romantic EP (Brilliante Records, 2007) "Through a Keyhole Tour EP (Almost Gold Recordings, 2007)

Singles "Usually" (Single - Self Released, 2005) "Hollywood / Through a Keyhole" (Double Single - Brilliante Records, 2006) "Through a Keyhole" (UK Only Single - Minds on Fire Records, 2007)

Compilations Music for Robots Vol. 2 (2006) Insound.com SXSW 2007 (2007)

Other Make it High Mixtape (2006) [not pictured above]

Related Paint by Numbers EP (Justin Sconza EP, 2006)

External Links

• Walter Meego Official Website
• Walter Meego MySpace Page
• Sony Music USA Website
• BreakThru Radio - Artist of The Week