Welsh Legends Melys unveil “Santa Cruz” video and talk important travel and foodie stuff with East Portland Blog

Legendary Welsh musicians Melys have unveiled a brand new video for their latest single “Santa Cruz” which is Out Now on all streaming platforms. The song is taken from their brand new album which will be released later this year. This release follows their April 2024 released BBC radio sessions (Vol 1) album that showcased sessions recorded for Huw Stephens, Adam Walton and John Peel (who the band recorded 11 sessions for).

Written and inspired by a recent trip to California where Andrea Parker and Paul Adams realized a long-held dream of driving the Pacific coast highway from San Diego to San Francisco, “Santa Cruz” is the band’s first new material since 2005’s Life’s too short album. “It’s been so long; we feel like a brand-new band again….” says singer Andrea Parker.

Melys are: Andrea Parker, Paul Adams, Gary Husband, Aaron Watkinson and Iwan Evans.

‘Santa Cruz’ is about coming from a background of low expectation and ambition, of being told you would never be good enough or in the right social circles to realise ambition or dreams, of being told to stay in your lane.

‘Who the hell do you think you are….’

Melys formed in the Snowdonia village of Betws-y-Coed in the late 90’s and quickly signed for the legendary Welsh label, Ankst (Super Furry Animals, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci).

With daytime and evening BBC Radio One plays from Mark Radcliffe, Steve Lamacq and Marc Riley and John Peel, the band signed a major deal, opened their own studio and label and went on to release 4 studio albums and an introducing album (released in Europe and USA). Melys were 2002 winners of the Welsh music award for best live act, and were big favourites of legendary BBC radio DJ John Peel, and recorded 11 BBC sessions for him, going on to win Peel’s festive 50 with their song “Chinese Whispers” in 2001.

After a long break where Andrea and Paul opened a few restaurants and Gary became an academic doctor, the band have been busy again, touring the UK with friends The Wedding Present and have just released a BBC sessions album (Vol.1) featuring sessions from Huw Stephens, John Peel and Adam Walton. Melys are currently in the studio on Anglesey mixing an album of new material with old friend and producer Gorwel Owen (Super Furries, Gorkys, Gwenno)

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East Portland Blog recently had the chance to query the mighty Melys via the ancient electronic methods. Here is how the interchange went, word for word:

EPB: Hello Melys. This is East Portland Blog addressing you. I live in one of the American cities named Portland, the one in Oregon on the Pacific Coast. The good Portland.

As “my” Portland is an urban center obsessed with fine food, potent potables, concupiscent curds, amazing coffee, IPAs to die PA for, and high-end wine that no one can really afford, and I notice that Andrea and Paul have histories as restauranteurs, several of my questions have to do with food.

EPB: Paul and Andrea, you drove from San Diego to San Francisco recently. Conventional wisdom says that the further south you go in California, the more delicious and authentic the Mexican cuisine is. Did you find this to be true?

Melys: Definitely the case. We had the best Mexican meal of our trip in a restaurant called the Fiesta Del Reyes in San Diego Old Town.

EPB: What were some amazing Mexican dining experiences you were able to enjoy? Are Welsh people grossed out by fish tacos?

Melys: Nah, not grossed out at all. In fact, we enjoyed them so much, we put them on our menu for a while when we got back home, to a great customer response. Our daughter loved it so much, she applied for Guadalajara as her placement choice for her nursing degree and had a wonderful time.

EPB: Were you able to visit Tijuana, Mexico?

Melys: Not on this trip but have been before. It’s not the most glamorous place but it was really interesting.

EPB: Did you experience any other gustatory delights about which you would like to regale us? Seafood? Pizza? Thai fusion? Savory Filipino?

Melys: To be honest, as Andrea is a coeliac, we mainly stuck to Mexican food. We ate some wonderful tacos in LA, even visited the actor Danny Trejo’s taco place at the farmers market. We also had a great Burrito bowl in San Francisco. We did have a great seafood meal on the beach in Malibu, wasn’t too pricey either.

EPB: Did you get a chance to surf or wakeboard? Why or why not? Is surfing seen as undignified by British subjects? You can be honest here. It won’t hurt our feelings.

Melys: Hahaha, no we don’t see it as undignified, unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to surf. We have tried it before on a trip to Aus but ran out of time on this trip.

EPB: Was your decision to drive through Southern California inspired by a love of the Beach Boys music? If not, why not? If so, what does the artistry of Brian Wilson have to say to modern Cymru musicans?

Melys: Who doesn’t love the Beach Boys????? To be honest, Paul wanted to repeat a journey he made when he was young and as it made such an impression on him, he wanted to take the family. We really enjoyed Yosemite and dropped down into Vegas for a blast…….which it was. However, our road trip playlist was all about the ‘California sound’ We had The Beach boys, Mamas and Papas, The Byrds etc.

As to the artistry of Brian Wilson, you only have to listen to our friends ‘Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’ to appreciate the influence they had on them. The generation of new Welsh bands are now inspired by the Gorkys, so in a way, its still being affected by Wilson.

EPB: How do you feel about yacht rock? Did you enjoy the Dockumentary? How does the music of Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, or anyone else in that movie inform your music specifically or the music coming out of Wales this year more generally?

Melys: We didn’t know what Yacht rock was so we had to Google it. Sorry! Funny how true it is that it sounds like a soundtrack on a yacht……funny. You can’t beat a bit of Toto though can you?

EPB: Finally, this is not so much as a question as it is a bit of American travel advice. The most beautiful parts of North America are in the Pacific Northwest. Next time, you simply must continue driving north from San Francisco to Oregon and Washington. Our mountains are greener and more beautiful than those of our southerly neighbor state. Oregon’s coast, while at times chilly, is more striking, varied, and beautiful than any other coastline anywhere. On your next trip to the USA, would you be willing to visit, and play some live shows, in Portland and Seattle?

Melys: We would love to come and play some shows in that beautiful part of the country, we must make this happen.

Melys Live Dates
Friday 28th Feb – Darwen, Sunbird Records – Tickets
Saturday 1st March – Bethesda, Neuadd Ogwen – Tickets
Friday 14th March – Birmingham, The Victoria – Tickets
Saturday 15th March – Cardiff, The Norwegian Church – Tickets
Sunday 16th March – Reading, Purple Turtle – (Free Entry)
Saturday 22nd March – Camarthen, CWRW – Tickets