Surviving an aneurysm accompanied by two strokes, Dani Meza re-learned music making with a new approach; Read Desert Sun’s front-page story on his triumph.

Meza to record debut album — think love songs for living room slow dancing ala Roberta Flack — with Chris Schlarb (Mike Watt, Sufjan Stevens, Nels Cline) next month.

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Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets as photographed by Cristopher Cichocki

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the crushedvelvets | “Dig To Me”

[STREAM]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8V6Wcl713w

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“Dreamy and soulful shuffles that have all the night-kissed grace of Julee Cruise and the poetic finesse of The Jazz Butcher,” says Stereo Embers Magazine. “‘Dig To Me’ is a perfect example of Meza’s new musical identity. A smooth number that’s set against an astral soundscape, the song is buoyed by undulating percussion and Meza’s stirring vocal delivery.”

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the crushedvelvets | In The Press

The Desert Sun features Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets as an in-depth cover story about his recovery from an aneurysm and two strokes.

“A decade ago, Indio musician Dani Meza received a lot of attention in the local music scene… But his life drastically changed in 2016 after he was rushed to Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage, suffering an aneurysm and two strokes. When Meza tried to remember what happened on that day, he said ‘It’s all blurry.’”

 Read the full article at The Desert Sun website here or download a PDF of the story here.

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 the crushedvelvets | Working With Producer, Chris Schlarb

 In describing Dani Meza’s music, his producer Chris Schlarb — known for work with Mike Watt, Sufjan Stevens, Nels Cline, and many 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, “The style of the songs on my current EPs came about from necessity. After my medical incident, 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.”

 Meza will return to Schlarb’s studio next month to begin work on his debut album under his band moniker the crushedvelvets.

 “The concept behind this one is love songs written for living room slow dancing, to encompass it all in one word: ‘romance.’ I have always loved sensual, sweet songs ala Minnie Riperton, Roberta Flack, Prince, and other soul ballads. Marvin Gaye’s love songs as well. They all have this very sensitive, open wound type of delivery to them, very honest about their intentions or hopes.

 “The approach on this one in is the same as the EPs. The only difference is the sound. Staying with the concept of the rhythm directs the song. This LP will use more organic instrumentation, but that’s not to say I may not sneak a synthesizer or two in there. This one is more grounded in reality where the EPs were more dreamlike and grasping for something that didn’t exist.”

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the crushedvelvets

EP 3

(S/R)

Out Now

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL EP

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:

STREAM FULL EP

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

ASSETS : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SPOTIFY : APPLE

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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL