MEBA, the incredible fusion of two highly creative individuals:
MONTERRIA ELLIS and BRU AMEY.
Mini-Bio:
In 2005, two young aspiring musicians, Monterria and Bru, decided to get together and have a bit of musical play. Thus, MEBA was born. Having spent a considerable amount of time professionally honing their individual skills, by working with other producers and artists, they felt they were ready to create the type of music they loved. "We wanted to probe the boundaries of genre, exploring sound and vocals without the constriction of an accepted musical canon." Both are highly capable producers, songwriters and vocalists so they don’t have that typical producer-vocalist setup. They create everything together! From the outset they have held the belief that their music should be completely original without the use of third party sampling. Everything is of their own composition and orchestration. In return, this freedom has allowed MEBA to seamlessly fuse genres into an organic sound without losing the influential echoes of artists they admire. They call their sound Electronic-Urban Pop!
The result is their debut album ‘INVOLUTION.’ "This album reflects the beauty and depths of emotional intimacy and the journey getting there. It's about all the different aspects of falling and being in love."
Their decision to produce their music independently has since led them to set up their own indie label Freon Rig Records.
www.freonrigrecords.com
Music reviews:
Losing Today Magazine:
"MEBA ‘Betcha’ (Freon Rig). Don’t you just love press releases and records that arrive and write the reviews for you. Monterria Ellis and Bru Amey are collectively known as duo MEBA - okay fair dues the name mightn’t mean anything at the moment but give these two a few months and I guarantee that on the evidence of this debut they’ll be household among the club land cognoscenti. With an album in the can - ‘Involution’ awaiting a tentative release pencilled in for early next year ‘betcha’ marks their debut venture into the cauldron of pop. Rightly identifying the obvious as the nose on your face reference points - Massive Attack and Morcheeba - the press release stops short of passing comment on the way it seductively mainlines into the realms of Heather Duby and Natasha Atlas - the former in the way the melodies and vocals coalesce attractively as though skipping and fluttering like heaven sent apparitions to enchant - the latter for the hypnotic cocooning that they seek to shroud the beats and rhythms within. Indelibly chic in design, ‘betcha’ wraps the listener in a romantic haze of alluring orbiting sophistication made up of the spectral resonance as applied by Andy Gray to Gary Numan’s ‘A prayer for the unborn’ moulded onto scrumptious beats and lushly arcing cosmic swirls that exude a degree of stately ambition and lashings of after lights out down tempo smooze. Flip the disc for the more intimately realised side to MEBA’s nature on ’loop’ - with its push / pull rhythms and skittering trip hop beats this glowing baby succulently hugs the lay lines of pristinely turned out 90’s inclined Bristollian club pop draped as it is in sheens of sugar rushing crests of nuzzling euphoria. Does it for us anyway."
Pro Mobile Magazine:
"Two mixes to choose from, a classy Album version clean as it comes, and a very good paced up dance mix that will fit nicely into an R’n’B set. Quality and talent are all on show, and foretell good things on the album ‘Involution’ that is scheduled to be released early in 2008."
Glasswerks Magazine:
"MEBA are a self-titled ‘futuristic-electronic urban-pop’ duo from Atlanta, Georgia. Putting the ‘indie’ into independent, the pair have set up their own label, Freon Rig Records, to make their material available for public consumption. Their inaugural release is ‘Betcha’, the first single to be lifted from debut album ‘Involution’.
A subterranean chill-out the track is a carefully crafted collision of haunting airy vocals, bitty electronic bleeps and an inventive drum pattern. The cooling groove provides strong foundations for the atmospheric synth sounds as Monterria, one half of the twosome, sings lullaby-like melodies that give the track a character that fans of Aphex Twin’s lighter moments, Tkatka and Culprit 1 will enjoy."
toxic pete (www.toxicpete.co.uk)
"Meba comprise Monterria Ellis and Bru Amey; the two have come together as Meba to write and perform a soothing fusion of electro-dance and pop that's as compelling as it is different. Although probably not destined to become a 'hit' in the broad sense, 'Betcha' has the potential to do well in the dance charts and late-night DJ's will love it!
Certainly, smooth vibes seem to be one of the major concerns with Meba and it's been targeted and generated here by mixing slick female voices and a distinctly pop oriented instrumental backdrop that leans gently towards dance culture and smoochy, lounge-lizard rest areas. Distinct in its chilled but catchy vibe, 'Betcha' has the feel of a real winner - it makes its mark at any db level and if you sit smack between the speakers you'll find your eyes following the persuasive percussive beats as they ring out on either side of your head as beautifully slick synths float over and drift in and around the sumptuously sexy voices.
'Betcha' by Meba has all the right attributes and covers all bases as it attempts to win over club goers and electro dance freaks with its gentle but forceful groove. 'Betcha' is more than adequately supported by its more up-tempo but equally distracting 'b' side, 'Loop', which moves things up to another level but still retains an inherent gentleness. Meba appear to have steered themselves down a pretty distinct but sensual electro way and 'Betcha' is surely destined to become a favourite with the more discerning dance fraternity."
Andy Smith (Portishead)
“Liking the Meba CD – very refreshing” Charted at No 9.
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