1. Where Ever You May Go 3:01
2. Elephant 4:45
3. Alone 4:05
4. Esmerelda 2:56
5. Big Winner 2:32
6. Sugar 3:05
7. Drinking Song 3:10
8. Lady In Her Underwear 3:18
9. Logged Hours 3:29
10. Button 3:02
11. Jumping Off The Pier 3:58
12. DMT 5:11
The story of Mellowdrone started in Venezuela when principal
songwriter and founding member Jonathan Bates was born
Fast-forward through a coming of age in Miami where he
mastered his skill at guitar shredding, which then lead to a
scholarship to Boston s famed Berklee School of Music. Once
there, Bates realized that though he was technically
proficient at guitar mastering it as an instrument, he felt
as if he knew nothing of the songwriting craft itself. A
lifetime in the making, this is where Mellowdrone was given a
name and thus conceived
One year shy of graduation and due to a series of good timing
and opportunities, Bates found himself leaving Berklee to
relocate to Los Angeles. Though he earned a reputation for an
electrifying live one-man show, Bates saw a natural
evolvement for Mellowdrone upon meeting Tony DeMatteo and
recruited him on guitar, who then in turn recruited childhood
friend Brian Borg on drums. Tragically DeMatteo fell victim
of a car accident where he was revived from death, in a coma
for four days, and upon waking excruciating recovery
following being bed-ridden for three months. DeMatteo spent
much of that time putting any remaining energy he had into
Mellowdrone s music
Throughout the ebb and flow of the aforementioned events
Mellowdrone released a series of EPs and finally their debut
album on 3E/Columbia, Box. Naturally, sewn throughout these
releases the band was hand-selected to tour throughout
Europe, Japan and the US with the likes of Johnny Marr, The
Killers, Elbow, Phantom Planet, Secret Machines, The Fire
Theft, and She Wants Revenge. Meanwhile, Mellowdrone s songs
went on a tour themselves landing in HBO s Six Feet Under
the adverts for CBS Cane, Nissan commercials; movies The
Invisible and Driv3r; and also was the theme song for Bravo s
Project Runway among others
In early 2007, Mellowdrone was freed from their record deal
with Columbia, allowing them to start anew. 07 was rough for
me, man. I had to take year just to get my life in order. I
spent all of 06 promoting our record to come home and find
my personal life in shambles. says Jonathan. With no
commitments, he and Tony spent the next year writing and
cataloging songs. When not working on Mellowdrone, you could
find Jonathan playing guitar in the French electronic group
M83 or Monsters Are Waiting. After collecting enough songs
that they were proud of, Mellowdrone recorded Angry Bear in
late 2008. It was recorded predominately live, at friends
houses. Everything I had done up to this point was glossy
What I really wanted was a perfect snapshot of imperfection
If the song is dope, it doesn t matter how its produced
When asked about the title, Jonathan simply states: Angry
Bear is the dude who comes out when I forget that the
Universe does what she wants. When I forget that i m her
bitch. This record is me submitting to her.
Try
