Monday, October 24, 2022

“Reaching levels of ultimate leisure,” the crushedvelvets “have captured the purest essence of this backdrop with utter confidence,” says Ghettoblaster.

Stereo Embers calls these songs, “Dreamy and soulful shuffles that have all the night-kissed grace of Julee Cruise and the poetic finesse of The Jazz Butcher.”

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Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets as photographed by Cristopher Cichocki


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the crushedvelvets“Neon Nights (Chinatown)”




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“The vibe is reaching levels of ultimate leisure... Dani Meza and company have captured the purest essence of this backdrop with utter confidence.” — Ghettoblaster

Dani Meza has just released the third in his three-song EP series as the crushedvelvets. Hear “Neon Nights (Chinatown)” now via Ghettoblaster Magazine or at the link above.

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In describing Meza’s music, his producer, Chris Schlarb — known for his work with Mike Watt, Sufjan Stevens, Nels Cline, and others — says, “Dani Meza is a throwback to the musical iconoclasts of yesteryear,” adding in reference to Meza’s hometown of Indio, California, “If you’re looking for oblique sounds, you’ll find them in the desert.”

Meza explains, “These new songs and style came about from necessity. After my medical incident (an aneurism and two strokes) it changed my perspective on how to write and perform.

“These songs were written while I was healing. My vocal delivery has to be more laid back, so the slow, grooving pace of these songs were built and written as to not over stimulate myself. At times, you can hear the tension in the music and in my voice when I have to hold back.”

Stereo Embers Magazine calls the crushedvelvets track “Dig To Me,” “a perfect example of Meza’s new musical identity. A smooth number that’s set against an astral soundscape. Dreamy and soulful shuffles that have all the night-kissed grace of Julee Cruise and the poetic finesse of The Jazz Butcher.” Hear “Dig To Me” here.

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the crushedvelvets
EP 3
(S/R)
Out Now

Streaming Link:


Track Listing:

01. Neon Nights (Chinatown) (STREAM)
02. Stun Gun
03. Drifting

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the crushedvelvets

EP 2
(S/R)
Out Now

Streaming Link:
STREAM FULL EP


Track Listing:

01. Dig To Me (STREAM)
02. A Hero's Sin
03. The Way You Were Made

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the crushedvelvets
EP 1
(S/R)
Out Now

Streaming Link:


Track Listing:

01. Like I Do (STREAM)
02. Intertwined
03. Mosaic

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the crushedvelvets | About


After citing Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Prince as influences, it is only natural that Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets concludes, “These songs are all about the groove.”

The nine new tunes by the crushedvelvets are presented three at a time, as if placed on a dark club’s bar like mixed drinks over the course of a mild summer evening.

For Meza, getting to that stone cold groove meant first getting his own groove back, and not just in the sense of the popular turn of phrase. Meza literally lost his ability to write and perform following an aneurism and stroke.

“These new songs and style came out of necessity,” Meza confides. “The incident forced me to change my perspective on how to write and perform. My vocal delivery had to be more laid back and the groovy pace of these songs keeps me from over-stimulating myself.”

The circumstances surrounding these recordings are out of the ordinary, but for listeners, they are even more alive with Meza’s soul and survival because of it.

“These songs were written while I was healing and the influences on this sound and these songs comes from the variety of musicians and bands that I listened to while I was recovering,” he says.

In addition to the aforementioned artists, Meza also mentions Serge Gainsbourg, Julee Cruise, and Erik Satie.

“I wanted to combine my love of R&B and Soul music with surreal sounds and imagery,” he explains.

With this concept in mind, Meza knew he should reach out to producer Chris Schlarb, an artist in his own right with several releases on Sufjan Stevens’s Asthmatic Kitty label, as well as  production credits for releases on Asthmatic Kitty, Joyful Noise, Jealous Butcher and many more.

Chris knew exactly what I was trying to achieve and gathered the players he knew would bring my new songs to life,” Meza says.

Musicians Davin Givhan (Bass & Guitar), Ben Lumsdaine (Drums & Percussion), and Heather Sommerhauser (Keyboards & Backing Vocals) join Meza on Guitar, Keyboards, and Vocals.

“At our very first session, the songs seemed to fall into place on their own. I had no ambitions other than capturing the groove,” Meza remembers.

In conclusion, Meza drops an inspiring reveal of his continuing ambition on the other side of emerging from recovery.

Following the release of these three EPs, he plans to take the songs he amassed during his healing and head back into the studio to start working on “one of the many albums I have ready to record.”

Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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the crushedvelvets | Links


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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

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