FEBRUARY 10, 2010

In fairly short order, NEVERWONDER recruited a new singer – a girl from Iowa and a former AMERICAN IDOL contestant by the name of MEGAN BOBO.  The young sprite of a chanteuse with huge doe eyes and wild, blonde, curly locks has a voice bigger than the Los Angeles Metropolitan area and that voice proves to be the perfect vessel for the RAMOS brothers and new guitarist SCOTT RAMSEY to build a brand new sound around. After three years of toiling in the studio amid line up changes and financial hardship, NEVERWONDER has done what they have always managed to do – come out winners. This time they have done so with a brand new album ‘LET IT OUT’ and a whole new lease on life. The first time around, NEVERWONDER was an exercise in power chords and feminine fury. With LET IT OUT, proudly displays a pop sensibility that was noticeably absent the first time around. Now, the RAMOS brothers have abandoned four-to-the-floor rock n roll in favor of getting a groove on. SCOTT RAMSEY’s guitar is indeed present but works as a means of giving BOBO’s butterscotch vocals room to swirl.  

ROCKWIRED couldn’t get on the phone fast when receiving word of the release of ‘LET IT OUT’. I first spoke with MEGAN BOBO over the phone. Here is how it went.

This CD is a long time in the making. How do you feel about the finished work?
MEGAN BOBO: I’m definitely excited about it. It has been about two and a half years now. It has been a lot of hard work and when you know that it’s time, it’s time. There is no surprise and there is no big anticipation just because you’ve prepared for it so much. Now, it’s time for everybody else to like it and hear it. That’s how I feel about it. There are mixed emotions. There is excitement and then it’s like ‘Duh! It was going to happen!’ It’s definitely an overall good feeling.

You and the rest of the band come from completely different places when it comes to music. The RAMOS brothers are really rock n roll and you’ve got more of an R&B, pop sensibility that the former singer didn’t quite have. How easy or difficult was that to balance in working together?

And that has been the biggest surprise for me as a listener. In the beginning, NEVERWONDER was this gritty rock band and now you guys are this excellent pop band. Everything is constructed around the singer. Do you agree with that or no?
MEGAN BOBO: Yes. Coming from when you first met me three years ago after having done AMERICAN IDOL, there was obviously a platform and a foundation there – this alternative rock sound. We came to a mutual understanding as a band, after we brought in the new guitar player and after we sat down and tried to write songs that the music needs to have room for the vocals. Before that, the vocals weren’t being showcased the way that they could’ve been. That was a goal of ours – to definitely showcase the vocals and we’ve definitely done that on this album. 

Talk about how music began for you as an individual.
MEGAN BOBO: That’s kind of a difficult question because it’s not like a moment that happened in one day. It was a combination of different things. When I was a kid I loved to sing and I was always in choirs. It was the AMERICAN IDOL experience that really reassured me. It validated everything that I felt I was capable of doing and that I could make it on a mainstream level as a singer and an entertainer. That was when I took it more seriously and really wanted to work on my gift and get up there with some of those other big names. So that was pretty much where it started.

Did you ever imagine yourself within the construct of a band or did you always see yourself as the “diva” for the lack of a better word.
MEGAN BOBO: I don’t think that the two things are mutually exclusive. I definitely think that they can go hand in hand with the right people and the right personalities. Overall, looking at the big scheme of things, a vocalist focuses on the vocals and on their singing part and each musician focuses on their instrument but at the end of the day, it highlights the singing and I think that all of the personalities within the band can acknowledge that because there isn’t that “diva” personality there. There doesn’t need to be because there is no need to overshadow or to involve egos. We agreed as a band to have the vocals showcased, so I don’t look at it like two separate entities – a diva versus a band – because BEYONCE has a band and TINA TURNER has a band. Look at the BLACK EYED PEAS and FERGIE! They’re a band. Same with NO DOUBT and GWEN STEFANI. I don’t see them as divas. I consider them a part of a band. I think you can have the best of both worlds, definitely.

Talk about each of the members of the band. What do you think each of them brings to the table that makes it all work?
MEGAN BOBO: SCOTT RAMSEY is our new guitar player. He is very similar in personality to VINCE in that they are both leaders and are both very focused and are both used to being in charge in some sense of management or knowing how to guide people. SCOTT has been able to find his role in the band and be able to work well with someone else like him. Now, the band doesn’t have just one person that is the main leader. We have two people that can lead. That’s not to say that DRE and I don’t lead. SCOTT knows how to sit back and he knows how to take charge. VINCE brings a lot to the table. He can build connections and can talk to anybody. He has a business sense but at the same time, has a fun sense, which is essential for getting anything done in a band. DRE’s personality is really important too because he’s got a lot of humor and he’s really laid back. He can always see the positive in things which is really good. My personality is wanting to take things seriously but at the same time I want to enjoy every moment of it. Overall, the four of us do well together.

Explain the songwriting process within the band.
MEGAN BOBO: Predominantly, we do things together. The musical arrangement and the structure starts from either a riff or a vocal melody or a drum beat. That is how it goes. We record what’s in the room and then we work on it. Once we get the verse and the chorus and the bridge structure, then you’ve got yourself a song and we perfect it from there. I do all of the lyrical writing and the melody lines and the guys do all of the musical arrangements and all of the other key essential parts for the song. Together, we get some songs.

In terms of being the lyricist for the band, was that something you always did, or was that something that came as a result of being in NEVERWONDER?
MEGAN BOBO: It’s definitely from NEVERWONDER. I walked into it not having any kind of band experience. I noticed that all of the lyrics on the first album were written by JOY PEARSON as well as the melody. It was a responsibility of the vocalist so I learned and I liked to do it. It became something that was my thing.  Just like I wouldn’t tell a bass player how to play his part, he wouldn’t tell me how to sing a line. In this band, you have your own little roles and responsibilities.

It had to be fascinating to be able to tap into that gift for the very first time. Was it or was it not?
MEGAN BOBO: I don’t know if fascinating is the word. It’s more a thing about learning the structure and learning the formula and having different things to talk about. It’s like I can talk and you can hear me talk and I have a story to tell. I’ve listened to music my whole life. It just comes natural and it just becomes easier. It’s just a matter of getting the formula down.

With that being said, what do you think inspires your songwriting?
MEGAN BOBO: It’s interesting because I think I write differently from a lot of other songwriters. A lot of songwriters have a book of lyrics and they can hear a song and go and apply some lyrics to that song. I’m different in that I’ve got to hear the music first. I need to feel the emotion. A certain guitar lick or a bass line or a drum beat creates a certain emotion and that ends up inspiring me on what the song is going to be about and what it makes me feel like. It can also stem from things that are going on in my own personal life that create that emotion. That is where I get my ideas. When I wrote some of these songs, I was unemployed at the time and when I sing it now, I can remember the feelings of how I felt when I wrote it. I’m not there now, but I can relate to how I felt at that time. When I sing the song ENOUGH, it’s so sad and heartfelt that when I sing it, all of those feelings come back.

What songs off of this album resonate for you the most and why?
MEGAN BOBO: ENOUGH is definitely one of the stronger ones. That ones is really about being unemployed and just worrying on a day to day basis that you have no control over what is going to happen tomorrow. People have no idea how much money runs their world until they have none and then you’re devastated. Simple things like not having enough money for gas to meet with the band and rehearse become real problems. I wasn’t going to rehearsal for two months because it was a gallon of gas that I couldn’t afford. Another song would be THE EDGE which is essentially about a family member. Everybody has that family member that just struggles consistently. No matter how much you help them they are just constantly living on the edge. They can’t make things better for themselves. There is always some kind of struggle or difficulty. That resonates with me because I have a family member that’s like that and you are just baffled by it. Why is this person always struggling? Why? The rest of the songs I think are happy. I hope so.

How are live shows going at the moment?
MEGAN BOBO: We haven’t really done any live shows for the past six months because for the past four months, we have been in the studio on a daily basis. We are micromanaging this thing to the tee. People have been waiting for this album for years so we want this to be perfect. We want this to be amazing and that’s what we are putting all of our effort and energy into at the moment. The live shows are on the backburner at the moment, but our CD release is this upcoming Saturday.

Since joining NEVERWONDER, what has been the biggest surprise for you?
MEGAN BOBO: The willingness for each of the members to kind of step out of the genre of rock  and the willingness to be open to being mainstream and the willingness to be thought of a s a pop band. VINCE and DRE come from fifteen years of doing rock music so the willingness to be open minded and try new things and to really push this as far as we can is surprising and good at the same time.

What would you like someone to come away with after they’ve heard this CD?
MEGAN BOBO: I would really like for someone to come away thinking about how the music made them feel and what the words meant and how it applied to them. All too often, you hear songs, you repeat these stupid words and they mean nothing to you. Or you’ll remember the melody and it means nothing to you. It was either really cheesy, or it wasn’t really an instrument that was being played but a processed sound and it doesn’t create anymore thought other than on the surface. It’s all very superficial. I would like people to walk away from this CD thinking we are a band that puts a lot of thought into who they are, what they are and what they want and how they want their listener to feel. If they can just walk away thinking and feeling good, then that’s great.

(Moments later, I got a call from VINCENT and DRE RAMOS, the rhythm section and founders of NEVERWONDER. If any member or members could put the wild and winding history of NEVERWONDER into perspective, there is one better than these two who are quite possibly the least complicated brother partnership in the annals of rock music. Here is how the interview went.)

NEVERWONDER is your creation. What is your take on all of the twist and turns and line up changes that have happened in the past five years?

DRE RAMOS: It’s been a ride. After having such an awesome vocalist like JOY and the type of music that we were playing and then meeting another phenomenal singer like MEGAN and also having to mold ourselves into a different style of playing was kind of cool. We took this thing in a direction that we had always wanted to take NEVERWONDER in. Not just rock but a little more funkier and more groove and soul oriented – more than what NEVERWONDER ONE was. I think right now, we’ve got some stuff now that is gonna make your booty move. I think it’s some good stuff.

Me having the hindsight that I have, hearing both NEVERWONDER MACH I and MACH II if you will, the approaches are obviously very different yet, it feels like the same band despite the line up changes.
VINCE RAMOS: It’s great that you can hear that. You’ve listened intently to the band for many, many years and the rhythm section has a lot to do with it and the thought pattern of the guys behind it – that stuff was still there with MACH I and was probably hidden a little bit because the guitar was more upfront. It was a stronger guitar sound whereas now SCOTT is wrapping his guitar around the bass and the drums and vocals as opposed to being all upfront. Our intent on this album was to make MEGAN and the songs as best as they could be and not over shine and overplay. We wanted to make great, friendly, poppy songs with hooks all over. If it gets a little groove in, great! If it gets a little acoustic, great! We’ve got a song on this album where it’s just MEGAN on a piano. It goes from real groove, to real soft with a piano. MEGAN’s got a huge voice! Her voice is amazing! We’ve been lucky in our careers to have worked with great vocalists and to able to find one time and time again. It makes doing this a lot easier. It would be difficult if we had a bad vocalist.

The CD is just a week away. What’s all going through your head in anticipation of its release?
DRE RAMOS: I’m anxious! I want everybody in the world to hear this thing. We put a lot of work into it. There are a lot of good songs on it and there are a lot of great ideas. To be honest with you, I think it’s some of the best stuff that we’ve ever put out. It’s where I want to be right now. A lot of times you hear bands say things like ‘What I was thinking didn’t come out on the CD! It was kind of like that in my head but it never really came out right.’ This album sounds even better than what was in my head. When we were writing these songs I was like ‘Okay, these are great ideas! Here it comes!’ and now it’s even more than I had actually anticipated. I’m really excited for everyone to really check it out.

VINCE RAMOS: I feel what DRE is saying. It’s the best that we’ve ever done collectively as a group and individually for sure. I’m really excited for the fans to hear it and I’m really excited for the old NEVERWONDER fans to hear it and the new people. I hope they understand that when you have a new vocalist, you gravitate around that vocalist and enhance their vocals instead of trying to push the music through them which may not be them. In that regard I know we’ve done a good job. We’re really excited about that. There’s no fear, no trepidation, no ‘did we do the right thing?’. We’re really pleased with the outcome and we want everyone to listen to it. We’re very proud of the product that is coming out and we believe that people are going to really like this.

In going back to the band’s shift from this gritty rock sound to this top-notch pop sound you guys have now, how easy was it to get everyone on the same page creatively?
VINCE RAMOS: It was very easy for the most part. There was one hiccup in the road. In the band previous to NEVERWONDER, we were in a band that was groove-oriented and that band didn’t last. Groove is in our blood and in our soul so this is not difficult at all. When we started auditioning a new lead singer to replace JOY, our guitarist at the time FLINT MAVIS was super onboard with bringing MEGAN into the band. He really took a leadership role with that and made sure that MEGAN was welcomed and wanted in the band. DRE and myself had a sit down with FLINT and said ‘Look FLINT, our music is going to change. It’s not going to be as guitar oriented and super heavy.’ MEGAN’s voice is different from JOY’s and it’s awesome and it’s world-class. We’ve got to make sure that we surround it and we do it right. As we started writing songs and it became apparent that it was working, FLINT would sometimes want to go in a more guitar rock direction which isn’t a bad thing. We’re still very good friends with FLINT. He even appears on the album on some of the tracks. We had to make a decision that MEGAN was encapsulated with a great guitar player that fit her voice and SCOTT RAMSEY was that guy. FLINT stepped back and stepped away which was the honorable thing to do and it made the band better. It’s not because he wasn’t a good guitar player. It just works better with SCOTT.

I remember speaking with SCOTT a while back and I remember that he was thinking along the lines of NIKKA COSTA in terms of how he wanted to bring MEGAN out vocally.
VINCE RAMOS: That was the idea along with people like JOSS STONE and TAYLOR DAYNE – something high energy and groove oriented. I don’t know if we nailed that totally but we definitely nailed it to where people are moving and grooving and feeling good about the music. It’s a good time record: fun and exciting. There are some slow songs and life-altering songs but mostly it’s an upbeat record.

Talk about MEGAN and what she brings to the table that makes it work.
DRE RAMOS: As a person, MEGAN is a fun person to be around. She’s cool to have drinks with and have dinner with. She’s the life of the party. She doesn’t like negative things. She’s a very positive person and she can handle criticism. Her aura is very positive. Vocally, what I think she’s brought to the table is unbelievable. I’ve seen her in the studio after one take and you are going “wow”! She’s just an all out performer and knows how to prepare for what she is about to do.

VINCE RAMOS: For me, simply put, she is a professional. She understands what she wants. Like DRE says, she has a great personality and people are drawn to her and we as friends are close and that is the special part. We’re actually friends outside of being band mates. If she needs something, we’ll help her out or if we need something, she’ll help us out. We’re close in that way. It’s a family-oriented type of thing. She does not like negativity which is strange because a lot of vocalists thrive on negative energy so that they can write about those things - not that MEGAN can’t. I think she’d rather dwell on the good things in life instead of the bad things. That’s why the album turned out being up beat and fun. She wanted that and that is her personality shining through the album. This is MEGAN’s first full length album and instead of telling MEGAN what to do, we allowed MEGAN to be who she is. When we did that, it made us grow.

How about SCOTT RAMSEY – your new guitar player?
VINCE RAMOS: The thing about SCOTT is that he is a very professional musician. He understands the idiosyncrasies of being in a band. He’s really a great guitar player and knows how to fill the spot instead of overplaying. He’s a good person and he has a great heart and he really wants to be the best that he can be as a person and translate that into a band setting and not be an anchor. He’s just a good person overall. He writes good stuff and he understands the goal of the band. He fits in very well like a nice piece of machinery. We couldn’t have gotten anyone better.

DRE RAMOS: He’s complimented our sound. He’s a good guy and very mindful of things and willing to try different things. He never shuts any ideas down and is very open-minded. I’ve played with quite a few guitar players and he’s one of them that is right at the top. I can’t say anything bad about SCOTT.

VINCE RAMOS: He’s actually a phenomenal guitar player. When we mouth something, he’ll play those things when we’re like “play this” or “play that”. Some guitarists get on their high-horse and say ‘no’. They cop that attitude but SCOTT doesn’t. He allows each member to express their ideas through his guitar, which says a lot about a person.

What songs off of this CD resonate for each of you the most and why?
VINCE RAMOS: In the process of recording it, you didn’t know that some songs were going to come out as good as they did. As you’re writing and recording them, they become your favorite. HELP ME is the first single off of the album. We think that it’s got hooks all over it. It came out of a situation where DRE decided that he wanted to do a certain thing on the drums and that was how the idea was spawned. We all wrote it together. There is some real camaraderie on that song. It was a band building moment and it came out phenomenally. ENOUGH is a song that was built up from my bass line. It took a little bit of time to work and we think that it turned out really good. When we tested it live, people really gravitated toward it. Because of the message and because of the time ENOUGH is a song at the right place and right time because of the economy. The song is about people losing their jobs and pushing through life. That song is resonating with people right now. Let’s see how thing go in the next month or two.

DRE RAMOS: The song that gets to me is LET IT OUT. It’s got a great groove and it’s got a great bass line and the drums are pretty slapping. It’s got a really cool vibe and the vocals are great on it. It’s a really fun upbeat song. SPINNING is another one that has turned out better than I had actually thought.

Since starting NEVERWONDER, what has surprised you guys the most? What didn’t you expect?
VINCE RAMOS: You always think that the music is good and you hope that everyone is going to like it and with the first NEVERWONDER, we got a good word out about the band. All of the press that we’ve garnered has just exceeded our expectations. The press from here to Europe is amazing and sometimes it feels weird to think that all of these people like what you’re doing and we’re just a band in L.A. I know we’re doing the right thing with this album. You want people to really like your stuff but when they really do like it, it blows you away.

What would you like a person to come away with after hearing LET IT OUT? Your first album in four years, I might add.
VINCE RAMOS: I want them to walk away thinking ‘Damn! This independent band put a lot of hart and soul in their music and this is a kick ass record and they didn’t cut any corners. They played from their hearts and it’s a great, good time album!’

DRE RAMOS: I want people to feel excited for the band. I want them to have good time with the album and I want them to share that album or a song with people and go ‘Check this band out! They’re great!’ Word of mouth is still the best kind of promotion you can get.