Melt My Heart, Why Don’t You?

Photo by J. Faith Malicdem

by J. Faith Malicdem

 “We leave our usual environments to do something so ridiculous,” said Melt guitarist Marlo Shankweiler while expanding on the funk-pop-rock fusion band’s unique contributions to the alternative indie-pop music scene. 

NYC-based band Melt melts RnB and funk together amongst their seven-piece band, fusing spunky basslines with eclectic brass solos that set their collective apart from the rest of the modern music scene today. They each come from vastly different musical backgrounds but have come together as one to celebrate music as a form connecting with audiences. Melt took on the Sinclair stage in Boston on Saturday, February 8 to welcome headliner Sammy Rae and Friends. 

On the plane ride back to Boston, I skimmed through the list of concerts I’d be attending once spring semester began in hopes of planning concert reviews, interviews, and profiles I could conduct to formally fangirl over my favorite performers, when I came across Melt’s “Stupid in Love” playing on shuffle in my seasonal emo playlist — the universe’s subtle reminder that one of my favorite bands would soon be gracing the Sinclair. So, I hopped on my laptop 30,000 feet in the air with a can of Canada Dry in hand and emailed them without skipping a beat. 

The email went through multiple revisions in order to sound as professional as possible before it landed in Melt’s inbox, to which dual pianist and vocalist Eric Dickstein replied colloquially: 

“Hey! Thanks for reaching out - we’d be happy to. Would you want to hop on a call?  What’d you have in mind?”

In the afternoon of Thursday Feb. 6, my phone rang. There I was, with a 102 degree fever, as ready as I’d ever be for the interview. Dickstein then added Shankweiler and vocalist Veronica Stewart-Frommer to the call. 

“We should figure out what songs we wanna do for the thing on Saturday,” said Dickstein in the call once Stewart-Frommer joined the chat. “Oh, we should figure that out,” she replied.  

“Sour Candy” was Melt’s first released single, and currently stands as their most-streamed song on Spotify. Dickstein’s popcorn piano riffs and Stewart-Frommer’s soulful belting blend the other members’ contributions in a jazz improv-esque manner. 

Onstage at the Sinclair, the group had the audience in an uproar of ebullient liveliness as they whizzed through “Oh Brother,” “Inside,” “Stupid in Love,” “Sour Candy,” a cover of The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” and unreleased songs such as “Shy.” Their stage presence increased in energy as saxophonist Nick Sare, bassist Lucas Suar, and trumpetist Aaron Alcouloumre all sang along to the lyrics, prancing around on stage and jamming to each other’s solos. Before “Sour Candy” surpassed three million streams on Spotify and Melt was playing sold-out venues across the country, the group was born out of a friend’s basement. 

“Eric and I went to high school together, and in the rush of high school and college acceptances, we didn’t have much time to just play music and have fun,” recalled Stewart-Frommer. “So, we decided we were gonna start a band.” 

Dickstein and Stewart-Frommer then onboarded guitarist Marlo Shankweiler, a friend from inner city New York. From then on, Melt grew as they collected other friends and solidified the first song Dickstein and Stewart-Frommer wrote together, “Sour Candy.” 

From the get-go, it was clear how passionate these three were about the familial bond between their band. Stewart-Frommer admitted that one of the best parts about being in Melt is being able to spend time together and perform. 

“You form special bonds playing music with people. There's nothing else like it,” Dickstein explained. 

The band members are dispersed throughout the east coast as the varying musicians attend Columbia University, the New School, Georgetown University, New York University, Tufts University and Williams College. Because of this, the band has had members come in and out of the collective, but according to Dickstein, they “all love making music and hanging out with one another, which has been the main constant throughout the years.”

“It’s like running a small business out of college,” shared Stewart-Frommer. “[Advertising the band and organizing bookings] are just things you can’t learn from sitting in a classroom,” added Shankweiler. 

The group communicates via FaceTime on the daily. “Being in different places, the dynamic has totally changed [over the years], but luckily whenever we get together and play, it’s like we’re right back in the basement,” Stewart-Frommer explained.

Most of Melt’s song ideas come about when the group isn’t together, Shankweiler disclosed. Dickstein and Stewart-Frommer write the majority of the band’s songs and typically bring whatever they have down to the rest of the band. Melt has a distinct collaborative process where they’ll workshop songs by jamming out live on stage to see what works and what doesn’t. Nonetheless, every song requires different kinds of workshopping, so songwriting ultimately varies from tune to tune. 

“I’m wondering how [our newly written] song will evolve at the concert this coming Saturday,” Shankweiler giggled into the phone. “That’s one of the funny things about our band—we evolve a lot through playing our songs live. When we record a song, that’s not necessarily how it’s going to sound live.”

For example, recorded just this January, unreleased song “Shy” had been in the works for two years as the group had been workshopping to see what worked and what didn’t, resulting in immense change since it was first written, according to Dickstein. 

Upon being asked what their mission as a rising band is, Stewart-Frommer immediately hopped on the line to express her hopes to keep making tunes that are true and fun to play, while also being able to resonate with listeners. 

“If we could ever inspire someone to pick up an instrument, that would make me super happy,” added Dickstein. 

When sharing advice for aspiring musicians and artists, Stewart-Frommer shared her initial insecurities in songwriting. 

“I used to think [the lyrics] ‘sour candy on the table’ was weird. Just do your thing. If it feels good, just do it. Let the people you’re around drive that and find great people to do so. Whatever comes out of your brain is worth listening to.”

Dickstein then quoted Jeff Tweedy’s Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), noting that the people who get good at anything are just the people who keep doing. 

“I don’t know though. I feel like I need advice,” he retorted, chuckling. 

Melt will be touring the Northeast this spring, so be sure to check them out at a location near you. “Sour Candy,” my personal favorite “Stupid in Love,” and more funky grooves can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. Read more about them here.

“The best part of this for us is just building the community,” concluded Stewart-Frommer. “We love when people join us.”