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Walter Meego

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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, Illinois. 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 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 pop 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.


Discography

Albums Voyager (Sony/Almost Gold Recordings, 2008)

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)

Images

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