“I think ‘vicious but catchy rock’ is great, I might start using that,” he laughs. “I think that’s pretty cool!
It’s a phrase that recalls to Leeno the acts that got him into music in the first instance.
“They say the first cut is the deepest: I think the music I heard as a kid really stuck with me the most. Bands like The Sweet and Slade. Then when Motley Crue hit and all that kind of stuff. Pretty much the early stuff; three to four minute catchy pop songs but played really heavy.
As for his own band, Melody Black have only been around for a short time in the greater scheme of things, but have a great pedigree in the scene, featuring former members of profile Sydney bands Jerk and Ink. They have already made a strong impact with their balls-out rock sound, but they’ve been developing for a while “It’s a band idea I’ve been working on for a while,” he starts, “going back to the Jerk days. I didn’t write any material in Jerk, but I was writing stuff the whole time, thinking that I’d put together a side thing eventually. After Jerk happened [vocalist] John and I continued on to Ink. And all through that, [we just kept] demo’ing my songs. Then once Ink got put on hold about a year ago, I just thought, ‘Okay, now it’s time’. So I just grabbed the best people I could find…all people that I had some history with, and some chemistry, which was great. So we got together and rehearsed the set, I think we rehearsed for about two and a half weeks, which was probably about five rehearsals, and did our first show. And, not wasting any time, within a week and a half of playing our first gig, we went straight in a tracked the album.
“The idea for Melody Black has been around for years,” he continues, “and I’ve been working on the songs for quite a while…but the actual band came together around August last year.”
Melbourne fans get to sample Melody Black’s tasty sounds this Saturday night at the Espy’s front bar, alongside fellow exponents of the art of loud and ballsy rock The Mercy Kills, Rocket Queen and Attack of the Mannequins. A show that Sydneysiders Leeno and the rest of the band are very much looking forward to.
“Absolutely,” he enthuses, “the Espy is going to be an exciting one because we’ve all played there before in various bands, and we’re really looking forward to getting down there. We’ve got some great bands on the lineup too; we’ve ended up with a really strong bill, I think it’s going to be a good night.”
And so what should uninitiated Melbourne rock punters expect from the Melody Black live show? “If anyone has seen what genre I used to do in Jerk or previous bands,” he explains, “it’s pretty much what we did in those bands, but amped up a little. The music really lends itself to giving out energy. The stuff’s really boppy; really fast. Often we come off stage feeling like we’ve just gone 10 rounds with Tyson.”
