Solid South

OneRepublic

OneRepublic is an American rock band formed in Colorado. After a few years of moderate success, they have drawn mainstream attention with the release of their single "Apologize," which has sold in excess of seven million singles worldwide. "Apologize" is the most legally downloaded song in US digital history with sales of over 4.3 million digital downloads in the US alone. A remix of "Apologize" was featured on Timbaland's Shock Value and the band's debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, produced by Greg Wells. Their debut album was released in the United States on November 20, 2007, with international release dates staggered throughout early 2008. As of October 4, 2008, Dreaming Out Loud had sold 780,946 copies in the US, with the bands total album sales reaching over 1.5 million worldwide. The band's second single, "Stop and Stare," has also crossed the two million mark in terms of worldwide single sales. Their third single, "Say (All I Need)," has been released in the UK and the US. In September, 2008 the band released their fourth single, "Mercy".

Band members

Current members

• Ryan Tedder – Lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, glockenspiel, drums (2002–present)
• Zach Filkins – Guitar, vocals (2002–present)
• Drew Brown – Guitar, bass guitar, glockenspiel (2002–present)
• Eddie Fisher – Drums, percussion (2005–present)
• Brent Kutzle – Bass guitar, keyboards, cello, vocals (2007–present)

Former members

• Jerrod Bettis - Drums

History

Early works and success

Since the summer of 2006, OneRepublic has consistently been ranked as one of the top musical acts on MySpace, due to heavy promotion within the online community. The band was formed by songwriter and Grammy-nominated record producer, Ryan Tedder and his high school friend, Zach Filkins, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Even at a young age the band's frontman, Tedder, wanted to make music for a living. He shared this interest with Zach Filkins (who studied classical guitar in Barcelona, Spain) when he transferred to Colorado Springs Christian High School in his senior year. Together with a small group of friends they put together a band known as This Beautiful Mess and even played a few small gigs in local bars supported by friends and family. After senior year Tedder and Filkins went their separate ways, attending different colleges. Tedder attended Oral Roberts University graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and Advertising. He also competed in and won a TV talent search sponsored by MTV and 'N Sync's Lance Bass. The show was featured on MTV's TRL and was judged by Brian Mcknight and P!nk.

Tedder caught the attention of super-producer, Timbaland while competing in the TV talent search. Timbaland made a few calls and offered Tedder a record deal. When Tedder's prize winning contract with FreeLance Entertainment fell through, he accepted and was signed as a producer, learning from Timbaland himself as his protege. After two years under Timbaland's tutelage, the two parted ways, and with Timbaland's approval, Tedder moved on to become an artist. For a while, he worked under the nom de plume 'Alias', earning a name for himself by producing and writing songs for various artists; even receiving a Grammy nomination for his work on Paul Oakenfold's, A Lively Mind.

In 2002, Tedder reconnected with Filkins who was living in Chicago, Illinois and modeling on the side for Covington and Jockey Underwear. Tedder convinced Filkins to move to Los Angeles, California to put a band together. Nine months later they were quickly signed to Columbia Records. After a few line-up changes, they finally solidified with Tedder on vocals, Filkins on guitar and backing vocals, Eddie Fisher on drums, Brent Kutzle on bass and cello, and Drew Brown on guitar. Known initially as Republic, they later changed the name to OneRepublic.

They worked in the studio for two and a half years and recorded a full album. Two months before before their album was due to be released, (with "Sleep" as their debut single), they were dropped by Columbia Records, though just as quickly, the band was beginning to get exposure on MySpace, becoming the number-one unsigned act on the site. The band caught the attention of a number of labels, including Timbaland's. The band signed to the Mosley Music group, becoming the first rock band signed to the label.

Mainstream breakthrough: 2007—present

OneRepublic's song "Apologize," written by Ryan Tedder, was released in its original version on the band's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. The song was also prominently featured as a remix on Timbaland's 2007 release of Shock Value. The single, as featured on Shock Value, has gone three times Platinum (marking three million copies sold in the US) and five million copies worldwide. It peaked at number three on the UK official Top 40 Week on November 112007. The week of November 10, 2007, "Apologize" was the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of Top 40 radio in North America, racking up an astounding 10,331 spins in one week. The song held the number one position for five months before the record was broken by "Bleeding Love," a song co-written and produced by Tedder.

The band is widely known for their collaboration with producer Timbaland, specifically for his remix of their song, "Apologize". Tedder also reciprocated by remixing Timbaland's "The Way I Are," drastically changing the song's vibe by adding a rock vibe into the synth-driven melody. The less polished version was leaked on the internet before the final version ended up on Tedder's MySpace page.

The band performed "Apologize" live on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance on August 22007, and with Timbaland on an episode of One Life to Live in October 2007. It was also played at the end of the three television shows — Cold Case episode "Sabotage," Smallville's "Hero," Hollyoaks and Gossip Girl episode "Hi, Society". They performed "Stop and Stare" and "Mercy" live on the Smallville episode, "Hero," which aired March 132008. They also performed "Stop and Stare" on the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance on April 7, 2008. On May 21, 2008, the band appeared on the American Idol (season 7) finale performing a duet of "Apologize" with finalist David Archuleta. They returned to Fox's So You Think You Can Dance on July 3, 2008 with a live performance of their third single "Say (All I Need)".

In 2008, OneRepublic toured with The Daylights, Maroon 5 and Brandi Carlile. They also headlined the Isle of MTV 2008 at the Floriana Granaries, Malta, on June 25, 2008.

In May of 2008, lead vocalist, Ryan Tedder, tore his Achilles tendon while playing basketball on tour. Hence, in future tour performances, he can often be seen walking with the aid of a cane.

On August 2, 2008, OneRepublic performed "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare" at MTV Asia Awards 2008 in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. They were nominated for and won the Best Hook-up award (which was recently added that year) for "Apologize," beating Beyonce and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar," Rihanna's "Umbrella" and other hits of that year. During the presentation of the nominees one of the presenters, Miguel Chavez, said "Ryan, I love your music." pointing to Tedder, hinting the band's win.

On August 17, 2008, Ryan Tedder updated the OneRepublic MySpace blog with information regarding a re-release of Dreaming Out Loud. He stated that they had just recorded a new song that would be added to Dreaming Out Loud at the end of the year, and fans who already own the CD will be able to download the song from iTunes then. He indicates that the song moves in a new musical direction for the band and added, "it represents a new side and a new sound for this band — we're not ditching our sound per se, but this song represents a musical evolution, and it moves...which is something we're really into right now".

New Album (2009)

On September 24, 2008, the band stated during a concert at the London Forum in England, they were working on new material for a new album to be released in 2009. The band played one of the newly recorded songs titled, "All The Right Moves".

Covers

On tour, the band has been noted to cover popular songs. Some covers include:

• "Umbrella" by Rihanna- Like a number of acts in 2007, OneRepublic covered Rihanna's hit single, "Umbrella." The band included it in their set list shortly after going on tour.

• "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve - OneRepublic's version features the string hook at the beginning by Brent Kutzle on cello. During the second chorus Tedder adds his own signature use of falsetto, singing it at a noticeably higher pitch than the original.

• "Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley - OneRepublic's version of the late Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye" has had mixed reception. Fans of Jeff Buckley have not responded favorably to the cover. Although Tedder's vocals have been received well, the choice of covering the song in general has been subject to harsh criticism. The song is available as a single and a video from iTunes and is featured on strippedmusic.com.

• "Don't Go Away" by Oasis - OneRepublic chose to perform this song when strippedmusic.com asked them to do a cover of a particular band or artist they considered great. The video for this song is available exclusively on iTunes.

• "Mercy" by Duffy - During their visit to the United Kingdom, they started including the song, due to its popularity and chart performance. The song was also recorded on BBC Radio 1 after the band was interviewed, garnering it more airplay. The song also serves as the b-side for the UK release of their third single, "Say (All I Need)." In the band's version, Tedder occasionally adds a few verses from Amy Winehouse's hit song, "Rehab," along the bridge in some of their performances. Tedder has said in an interview that they performed the song because "It is the absolute opposite of anything we would ever do (musically)."

• "Oh Holy Night" - OneRepublic also covered this Christmas classic during one of their shows a few days before Christmas.

• "Always Where I Need To Be" by The Kooks - OneRepublic performed this song in the Star Bar at Radio 1 Big Weekend. Tedder and Filkins played the acoustic guitar while Kutzle played the cello and Brown was on the Glockenspiel. Fisher was absent.

• "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield - OneRepublic has performed this song in concerts throughout their 2008 US tour.

• "Crazy" by Gnarles Barkley - OneRepublic performed this song in concerts throughout their 2008 European tour.

Critical and public reception

OneRepublic has often been compared to acts such as Maroon 5, The Fray, Keane and Coldplay. All of them are known for their use of keyboardists and falsetto in the pop-rock genre. Tedder says "We’re heavily influenced by a lot of old Brit rock, up to current Brit rock. But there are definitely worse bands to be compared to."

There have also been a few misconceptions regarding the band. They have been mistaken for a boy band, and even their ethnicity was unclear to some. Some have even thought Timbaland wrote "Apologize."

In general, the critics have had mixed to positive reviews about Dreaming Out Loud. Although Digital Spy initially rated the album 2/5 stars, they later gave 4/5 stars for "Stop and Stare." Rolling Stone's official review of the band also gave them 2/5 stars, and has an average user rating of 4/5 stars. Rolling Stone also placed the band in their "Artists to Watch" list, which featured 10 artists that, according to the magazine, "...are bringing the future of music, today." Entertainment-Focus comments about the band's song, "Tyrant," “…the slightly-harder sounding Tyrant which has a strong melody reminiscent of U2 at their best.”

Musical style and influences

OneRepublic's influence in music and their varied style has been described by Tedder this way, "We're no respecter of genre, If it's a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they've probably influenced us on some level...nothing's new under the sun, we're a sum of a bunch of parts." They cite The Beatles, for the songwriting craft and melodic inventiveness, and U2, for the uplifting vocal delivery and emotional undercurrents, as heavier influences on their music. Throughout songs like "Apologize," "All We Are," and "Mercy," Tedder aspires to move his listeners the way Bono does onstage. "You go to a U2 concert and it's like church," he says. "I want to make people feel like that. I don't want someone to say, ‘oh, he has a nice voice.' I want that person to walk away and feel like he or she has had a religious experience."

Their varied style has made it difficult for the public to place the band in one particular genre of music. Although Tedder describes many of the songs on their album as, 'safe, radio-friendly pop-rock songs with big choruses', they present themselves in the genre of Alternative Rock. Choosing from a selection of 35 of their original songs, the band was initially set to debut with the track "Sleep". "It's five minutes long and with a minute-long musical diatribe of weirdness and we were being marketed as a serious and alternative band...", describes Tedder.

By incorporating the use of Hip Hop/ RnB drum patterns, which is unconventional in the Rock music genre, OneRepublic has distinguished themselves from the bands they are usually compared to such as The Fray, Coldplay and Maroon 5. This sound is apparent throughout their singles, "Apologize" and "Say (All I Need)" and demos of, "The Waltz" and "It's a Shame". In addition, Allmusic Guide has commented on the band's sound, "...OneRepublic often favors cathartic, cranked-up choruses that Chris Martin has yet to tackle."

Tedder has said of Coldplay, "Their influences are our influences." He also states, "The big difference, though, is that I come from a much wider hip-hop and urban background. I’ve been producing, writing and performing urban stuff, and I try to bring that into the group because we’re not trying to be a British band."

Drew Brown adds, "We aren’t all die-hard Coldplay fans, but because of the comparisons, we’ve done our research, and I’m sure we’ve got a large handful of common influences."

Although not a Christian band by genre, the band members all profess their faith openly in the album’s credits. The album "possesses definite influences of spirituality and deeper thinking."

The band says that Dreaming Out Loud introduces a group committed to the idea that people want real songs, with real truths, not marketing strategies.

Discography

Main article: OneRepublic discography

Studio albums

• 2007 - Dreaming Out Loud

Singles

• 2007 - "Apologize (Remix)"
• 2008 - "Stop and Stare"
• 2008 - "Come Home"

External links

• Official Website
• Template:Myspace
• OneRepublic Online
• OneRepublic Sessions at AOL Music