Produced in association with Studio B Productions.
Starring Bill of CTH and Gretchen Schnieder, "My Baby True" is a pleasent trip through the television-corrupted mind of
"Him," a shy guy who pines for "Her."
A student group in Germany used the CTH song
Better Now for a video promoting their tuition boycott.
For Bill Meeks, the hopeful worldview behind neo-folk project
Classic Tragic Hero comes from a childhood hero:
"Mrs. Rupert", says Meeks, "was
my first grade teacher. She was very encouraging to me… She would… when
we didn’t have anything to do… she would go back into the coatroom and turn
all her clothes inside out… mess up her hair, and then she’d come back out and
be Little Betty, a first grader just like all of us. We could talk to her and
she’d play with us. It was so ridiculous, but I really think those visits have
a lot to do with how I turned out."
Listen to any of Classic Tragic Hero's songs and you'll hear what he means. The lyrics suggest an idealism one would find in a first-grader, but with a healthy dose of a strictly adult blasé. From humorous ode's to a magical dog (Jewel) to queries on the apathy of his generation, Meeks engages the listener with catchy and ironic compositions. It's as if Barenaked Ladies and They Might Be Giants delivered a baby that was adopted by Arlo Guthrie. This comparison pleases Meeks.
"The first song I learned to play was “The Old Apartment” by the Barenaked Ladies. It was a simple song to learn (especially with a capo) and it’s a very angry song. I was pretty angry at 18, so it helped me express that... I really appreciate the John’s from They Might Be Giants. They know what they’re good at, and keep on innovating within that form."
While Meeks refers to his music as "geek rock," that isn't the only musical influence he brings to the table.
"I love that old thirties crooner music, for it’s unbridled corniness, and it’s amazing subtext. My grandfather got me hooked on it," Meeks says, "My parents were really musical, but they were mostly into Bill Gaither and Stephan Curtis Chapman. I ate that stuff up when I was younger, although it kind of gets under my skin these days."
Meeks started Classic Tragic Hero at the tail end of 2005. He was living in Los Angeles and jamming with a few close friends. When he started playing his song "Better Now" the other musicians were taken aback by the subtle agony expressed in the song. After several jam sessions Meeks felt confident enough to start recording an album. The product of these efforts were 2006's That's Life, which he recorded with Stephan Carroll.
Meeks has fond memories of Carroll. "Steve's an old friend from high school. I must of met him when I was fifteen or so. We were in the same computer class. There was a group of five of us who were great with computers and kind of formed a little clique in the computer room. We were always creating something back then. Websites, photo-chops, weird MIDI music. All very nerdy stuff, but we thought it was awesome.When I started thinking about recording the album I immediately thought of Steve... We had tried to do some recording when I started college but it never really gelled."
That wasn't a problem for them this time, and a few short weeks later That's Life hit the Internet. Used for podcasts, short films, and a strange boycott held by students in Germany, the songs from That's Life continue to circulate. This mild success motivated Meeks to start recording a music video and a new album.
Meeks decided to record a video for his "original cover" White Boy Rap. A mash-up of The Gorrilaz's Clint Eastwood with several kitschy rap songs from the nineties. A crowd-favorite, it seemed the right choice to get awareness about his music out. Now the video has nearly 100,000 hits on Youtube.com, and gains steadily every day. Journey was released in August of 2006. With thirteen original tracks, it stands as CTH's most ambitious project to date and inspired another music video in "My Baby True."
Now, as March turns into April, Meeks is hard at work at finishing up his new album Don't Drink the Kool-Aid. For the first time Meeks is producing the album himself, and playing most of the instruments. The new material, naturally, is (according to Meeks) the best stuff he's ever done. "I started playing piano when I was 15. I picked it up again about a year ago. I’m finding that composing on piano inspires more musicality in the composition, and when I take the new songs over to the guitar I constantly surprise myself at how rocking they come out. It’s nice to still be surprising myself. It helps me stay motivated. "
Motivation is one thing that Bill Meeks doesn't lack. If
trends continue he'll be producing thought-provoking tunes for the old
(Meeks says
Kool-Aid will "break boundaries
thematically and musically") and the young (he says he wants to do a kid's
album next). There's only one question left:
So what exactly is a Classic Tragic Hero anyway?
Meeks sums it up: "A classic tragic hero is somebody who's
a really great person, but they have this one thing about them that keeps them
from succeeding. Mine is my willingness to put people I care about ahead of me
and my goals. I picked that as a name because it's something those themes
sprout up a lot in my writing... How much can you help somebody before you
start hurting yourself?"
Good question.
| Tracks | Album | Dowload links |
|---|---|---|
| Could This Be Love? | Element Z | Download |
| Another Day In The City | That's Life | Download |
| I'm Better Now | That's Life | Download |
| More Than Friends | Live | Download |
| Mr. Mister | Journey | Download | My Baby True | Journey | Download | On The Avenue | Journey | Download | Slip + Fall | That's Life | Download |