Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples have quite a bit of flavour. For a band that has such a catchy name, you’d expect a lot of zing in their music. Fred Meltzer wants you to groove to the sweet syrup of live music. That is what this debut album means. We had a chat with Fred, and the love for what live music means. This one is called Shelf Life.
Prescription starts off the serenade, and the bluesy riff is first. If this is how you’re visiting the pub, Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples have you covered. Drink in one hand, groove on the other? Bring it on. It is the classy beginning of rock music, and the lyrics that attest to it. After this, we have the psychedelic pill with Hard to Love. It is something that a lot of us connect with, and the ladies never have it easy. Fred Meltzer makes the lyrics see like a first conversation, for a debut. A perfect icebreaker with some of the gnarliest rock swings of 2024.
Rock like you mean it!
With your debut album, you’re opening the gates to the world. What is the kind of music Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples represent?
This album is very lyrically focused and represents both progressive rock written in the 80’s when I was a young adult (and punched up in the studio with snappier intros), such as I’m Not Sure, Thousand Things, Dreamer and Change of Plans…as well as satirical songs like Prescription, Threesome, Chorus Comes Along, I’m on the Bench and Codependent Me that were written more recently. I like to represent different styles and try new ways to express, but ultimately it’s about the story on this release.
Which song is the band’s favourite to perform live? Are there plans for a tour anytime now?
I had a band called Free Range that performed live for 7-8 years before the pandemic, playing a different set of my songs and writing collaboratively…but Waxy Shellac is brand new and due to some upcoming life changes I have not created a band or tour yet for this record. I’d like to though!
A new light to lean towards
The classic rock aura of Threesome keeps the humorous touch Though our language in retro remains quite colloquial, Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples bring a modern disc cover to it. You can smile along, knowing that there is a fiery beginning and end to these stories. There are no keys pressed, no fabrication to these elements of melody. They all come from feel, and that is why it feels so relatable.
From the bluesy swings in Prescription to a ballad feel in Codependent Me, you seem to be treading many styles. How do you go about composing as a band?
These songs were all written by me and I played 75% of the guitar, 95% of the bass, all the drums, all the keyboards, and all the lead vocals. I brought in 2 lead guitarists, 3 backing vocalists and a sax player, and a bassist on Threesome to play the great walking bass line he came up with! So this was mostly just me, and mostly written before getting into the studio. I can say that in most cases the lyrics and basic chord progressions came first and I had to make the songs sound musically more unique later…
Keeping it light, groove all night
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I’m on the Bench keeps that catchy streak going. You might even think you’re listening to The Beatles with some tones. Opening with solos and keeping harmonies interesting, each song has another thing to fall in love with. Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples seem to be the fresh batch of sucrose you’ve wanted in rock, while keeping a contemporary cushioning on good old-fashioned music.
Rock seems to be having a strong revival now. Is there anything you’d like to say to independent musicians pursuing this passion?
Real people playing real instruments with passion, in front of tuned-in audiences, is the only real connection I seek. Pushing buttons to set off sequences, excessively autotuned vocals, and layers upon layers of tracks and effects that can’t be reproduced live, create distance and numbness between the artist and audience. That’s fine at a rave when everyone’s on Molly at 4 am…but…if you want your listener to FEEL something, you know what to do!
Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples have a list of inspirations
Who are some unusual artistic inspirations, who might not necessarily be from this genre?
Rush, Molly Hatchet, Bad Company, Sea Level and Chuck Leavell, Bare Naked Ladies, Cake, Buddy Rich and lots of Big Band recordings, and frontmen with a sense of humor like Ray Davies, Peter Wolf, The Fools, Weird Al Yankovic. And I’ve drawn a lot from Todd Rundgren’s Utopia and Shooting Star for their progressive intros that lead to more straight ahead rock songs, with instrumental bridges that do more than just regurgitate the verse or chorus structure.
There is a radio feel that comes with the imagined static of these songs. Enough range exists in the track to make you feel welcome and prepped. Variety is drizzled through an entire buffet, and you’re free to choose what the band presents and in what feel. Codependent Me might feel like a ballad, but the Petty like delivery of Chorus Comes Along is a whole other deal. It is incredible to see bands still have that kind of passion while delivering music that is meant to be felt and heard.
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Working the studio inside out
Texturally, you like to include a lot of instruments in the mix. This is heard in songs like Dreamer. Is this consciously done or do you feel the composition demands it?
This studio outing was an opportunity to give talented close friends a way to collaborate, but our approach was to make sure everything made a meaningful contribution to the song, rather than layering or thickening up the sound just because we could. I definitely added melodies in several places where I did not want the fickle listeners to get bored, and we made sure all the intros were different so people would be surprised every 5 minutes and maybe turn their heads!
Is there an interesting impromptu jam session that resulted in a song on this album?
Prescription Song was originally an acoustic solo number, but I got in my head that I wanted the heavier riff-oriented guitar, so I wrote the riff on a Les Paul through a Marshall-for a largely acoustic guitarist, that was a big lift! Then I wanted pauses like Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well, to add further unpredictability to it, and to play with the rhythmic approach.
Leading to new avenues
Kaile Dutton’s backing vocals on a few songs were very creative in ways we had not expected-she sounds like Cher in one place, and Natalie Merchant in another, and really lets loose in a couple of places to elevate the recordings! Joe Clapp’s, Mike Travers’ and Steve Tapper’s solos on their songs really showcase their talent as well! I have recorded with full band in the studio at the same time in the past, and sometimes cool items come out of that, but this set of sessions was not like that…
Waxy Shellac and the Tasteless Apples are what will aid music, especially the indie scene. Especially when bands and artists are turning away from passion for a pretty dollar. Here, a band shows you that you have to have fun while making your music, otherwise what are you making? Listen to their incredible and fun album here, and follow for more!:
Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
