ONE REPUBLIC
July 14, 2013 - 9:30 pm
Ever since they released their first single “Apologize” in 2007, award-winning pop/rock band OneRepublic have steadily produced a number of modern-day anthems: “Stop and Stare”, “Good Life”, “All The Right Moves”…
Winning the hearts and ears of audiences around the globe with their songwriting and their highly energetic performances, they are currently touring in support of their latest album, Native, which includes the massive radio hits “Feel Again”, “If I Lose Myself” and “Counting Stars”.
Watch out Lebanon, here they come!
BIOGRAPHY
OneRepublic’s front man and chief songwriter Ryan Tedder obsessed over the art of pop music for more than a decade before receiving his first Grammy in 2012 for his work on Adele’s album 21 (“Rumor Has It” and “Turning Tables”). He also penned and produced songs for Rihanna, Beyoncé (“Halo”), Kelly Clarkson (“Already Gone”), Jennifer Lopez, Leona Lewis (he shared a 2008 Best Record Grammy nod for her “Bleeding Love”), and other massive stars. And all this lead him back to his own Denver, Colorado-based band, where he pours out his most heartfelt music. “The writing approach I take for OneRepublic is completely different from the approach I take with anyone else — it’s infinitely harder,” Tedder says. “These songs have to be personalized. And I write each of them like it’s the last one I’ll be able to put out.”
It works. OneRepublic was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. And Tedder, plus guitarists Zach Filkins and Drew Brown, bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle and drummer Eddie Fisher have sold almost 3 million albums and more than 10 million singles.
The band’s 2007 hit “Apologize,” from their album Dreaming Out Loud went to No. 1 in 16 countries, going gold in 14 of them. The most legally downloaded single in US history, it broke records for airplay when it finally made it to radio (and was only bested by Lewis’s “Bleeding Love,” which Tedder co-wrote). The pop rockers trademark mix of dreamy falsetto and distinctive piano riffs can also be heard on their top ten hits “Stop and Stare” and “Say (All I Need),” which propelled them beyond platinum status.
With millions of fans around the world, there are countless of others who may not know OneRepublic or its members’ names but recognize their heartfelt songs from the soundtrack of their last bad breakup or emotional meltdown. While breaking sales, the members OneRepublic have proved for years that hard work pays off. As sensational as their rocket trip up the charts may have seemed, nothing happened for them overnight.
Tedder and Filkins met in their senior year in high school in Colorado Springs. They formed a band called This Beautiful Mess and played one talent show but broke up after a week. Far from the young angst-ridden punks that threw together set lists with three chords and the truth, the would-be OneRepublic founders vowed to spend their time and energy sharpening their skills as musicians and songwriters before they made another leap into band life.
Between his junior and senior years at college, Tedder won an MTV songwriting contest and got a record deal but walked away from an opportunity to write bubblegum pop at the height of the boy band craze — he wanted something deeper and felt he had more to learn. So at age 19, he moved to Nashville, where he landed his first regular paying gig, recording demos.
At about that time, Timbaland, who’d seen Tedder on MTV, reached out to the promising young songwriter, offering him a production deal and a chance to work together in Miami.
Filkins, meanwhile, had studied aerospace engineering at college in Illinois but saw his grades slip as his passion for guitar playing blossomed. By 2003, he had moved to Colorado to study music and engineering. Tedder moved back to Colorado too, after studying what he calls “Producer 101” with Timbaland in Miami. Having done all they could to minimize the risk of starting a band and gone about the typically impetuous process in the most studied, measured, and completely backward way possible, the two moved to L.A. to start OneRepublic. Gradually adding keyboardist Drew Brown, drummer Eddie Fisher and bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle to the lineup in the process.
Songwriting alone landed them in a short-lived deal with Columbia. But what followed was a grind of mostly small L.A. club shows that didn’t always work for the group’s huge sound. They parted ways with the label, and while driving home from a show one night, Filkins, then 27 and working as a filing clerk for Coca-Cola, told Tedder, who was making money writing music for movies on the side, that he was quitting the band if nothing major happened for them in six months.
Six months later, almost to the day, Timbaland’s remix of “Apologize” broke on the radio. The original version had racked up millions of plays on MySpace, and Tedder says its familiarity was key in driving the Timbaland remix up the charts. When the super-producer started his own Mosley Music Group with Interscope, he signed OneRepublic as his first band.
After the massive hits and record-breaking sales, the band toured extensively and focused on performing, completing their upside down approach to rock stardom. On the road for a year and half, whether playing sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York, the massive New Pop festival in Germany or the V Fest in the UK, they were praised for their charisma and their live shows rapidly expanded their worldwide fan base.
Their second album, Waking Up was recorded in their hometown Denver to avoid outside distractions. Although initially planned for a summer release, Waking Up wasn’t completed until September 2009. “All the Right Moves,” the album’s lead single, was released to radio that same month, while the entire album followed in November. Selling 800,000 copies, it peaked at No. 21 on Billboard and included three other singles: “Secrets”, “Marchin’ On” and “Good Life”.
After touring and promoting their repertoire to an ever-growing audience, OneRepublic spent all of 2012 recording their third studio album, Native. Released in March 2013, it has a different sound than their previous records as far as tempo and production are concerned. “Feel Again,” the 2012 single that previewed the album has already sold half a million copies. The first official single, “If I Lose Myself,” sounds less like their signature pop sound and captures the energy of EDM (Electronic dance music) with its pulsating keyboards and four-on-the-floor beat.
A third single, “Counting Stars”, followed in June 2013. Featuring Tedder’s anthemic songwriting, this uplifting and festive folk-tinged track is bound to become one of this summer’s biggest hits.
Flying into the Middle East between 2 gigs in the US, OneRepublic will delight their Lebanese fans with a fiery set that will include all their biggest hits alongside some handpicked covers.
