OneRepublic

OneRepublic
OneRepublic performing at the Burswood Dome, Perth, Western Australia, March 2008
Background information
Origin	Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Genres	Pop rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Mosley/Interscope Columbia Records
Associated acts	Timbaland
Website	www.onerepublic.net
Members
Ryan Tedder Zach Filkins Eddie Fisher Brent Kutzle Drew Brown
Former members
Jerrod Bettis Tim Myers

OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado. After a few years of moderate success, they have drawn mainstream attention with the release of their singles "Apologize", and "Stop and Stare". A remix of "Apologize" was featured on Timbaland's Shock Value and the band's debut album, Dreaming Out Loud.

The band's second album, Waking Up, was released on November 17, 2009.^[1] The album's first single, titled "All the Right Moves", was released for airplay on September 29, 2009^[2] and released as a digital download on October 6th, 2009^[3].

History

Early career

The band was formed in 2002 by songwriter and record producer, Ryan Tedder and his high school friend, Zach Filkins, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The initial name of the band was Republic.

Tedder caught the attention of producer Timbaland during his stint in an MTV-sponsored talent show and was soon signed as his protegé.^[4][5] Tedder and Filkins parted ways after two years under Timbaland's tutelage. For a while, Tedder worked under the nom de plume 'Alias', earning a name for himself by producing and writing songs for various artists; receiving a Grammy nomination for his work on Paul Oakenfold's, A Lively Mind.^[6]

In 2002, Tedder reconnected with Filkins who was living in Chicago, Illinois and modeling on the side for Covington and Jockey Underwear convincing Filkins to move to Los Angeles, California to form a band. Nine months later they were quickly signed to Columbia Records. After a few line-up changes, they finally solidified with Tedder on vocals, Filkins on guitar and backing vocals, Eddie Fisher on drums, Brent Kutzle on bass and cello, and Drew Brown on guitar. They later changed the band name to OneRepublic after their record company mentioned that the name Republic might cause controversy with other bands.^[7]

They worked in the studio for two and a half years and recorded a full album. Two months before their album was due to be released, (with "Sleep" as their debut single), they were dropped by Columbia Records.The band was beginning to get exposure on MySpace, becoming the number-one unsigned act on the site.^[8] The band caught the attention of number of labels, including Timbaland's. The band signed to the Mosley Music group, becoming the first rock band signed to the label.^[9][10]

Mainstream breakthrough while Dreaming Out Loud with "Apologize": 2007 – Mid-2009

OneRepublic's song "Apologize", written by Ryan Tedder, was released in its original version on the band's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. The song was also prominently featured as a remix on Timbaland's 2007 release of Shock Value. The single, featured on Shock Value, has gone three times Platinum (marking three million copies sold in the US) and five million copies worldwide.^[11] It peaked at number three on the UK official Top 40 Week on November 11, 2007.^[5] "Apologize" was the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of Top 40 radio in North America, racking up 10,331 spins in one week.^[12] The song held the number one position for five months before the record was broken by "Bleeding Love", a song co-written and produced by Tedder.^[13]

Their debut album was released in the United States on November 20, 2007, with international release dates staggered throughout early 2008. Dreaming Out Loud has sold 822,458 copies in the US as of January 2009 and continues selling, with the band's total album sales reaching over 1.8 million worldwide.^[14] Their third single, "Say (All I Need)", was released in the UK and the US. In September 2008, the band released their fourth single, "Mercy".

The band performed "Apologize" live on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance in August 2007. In 2008, OneRepublic toured with Maroon 5 and Brandi Carlile. On May 21, 2008, the band appeared on the American Idol finale performing a duet of "Apologize" with finalist David Archuleta. They headlined the Isle of MTV 2008 at the Floriana Granaries, Malta, on June 25, 2008.^{[clarification needed]} In August 2008, OneRepublic performed "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare" at MTV Asia Awards 2008 in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. They won the Best Hook-up award for "Apologize", beating Beyoncé Knowles and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar", and Rihanna's "Umbrella".^[15]

Waking Up with "All the Right Moves": Mid-2008 – Present

On September 24, 2008, the band stated during a concert at the London Forum in England, they were working on new songs for a new album to be released in the summer of 2009. The band played one of the newly recorded songs titled, "All the Right Moves". The band relocated to Denver, Colorado to complete work on the album.

In a MySpace blog Tedder stated that the "5 week countdown" began. That means that the date of completion will be in September. The album will have 9 or 10 songs. It was mistakenly believed that the name of the album will be Today.

The album is titled Waking Up and was released on November 17, 2009. Their first single off the album is called "All the Right Moves", the album has eleven tracks: "Made for You", "All the Right Moves", "Secrets", "Everybody Loves Me", "Missing Persons 1&2", "Good Life", "All This Time", "Fear", "Waking Up", "Marchin On", and "Lullaby". A deluxe version of the album was released with four bonus tracks; "Passengers", "It's a Shame", "Trapt Door" and "Sucker Punch".^[16]

They are also featured on Leona Lewis's sophomore album Echo on the track "Lost Then Found."

Critical reception

In general, the critics have had mixed to positive reviews about Dreaming Out Loud. Although Digital Spy initially rated the album 2/5 stars, they later gave 4/5 stars for "Stop and Stare."^[17][18] Rolling Stone's official review of the band also gave them 2/5 stars, and has an average user rating of 4/5 stars.^[19] Rolling Stone also placed the band in their "Artists to Watch" list, which featured ten artists that, according to the magazine, "...are bringing the future of music, today." Entertainment-Focus comments about the band's song, "Tyrant," “…the slightly-harder sounding "Tyrant" which has a strong melody reminiscent of U2 at their best.”^[19][20][21]

Musical style and influences

OneRepublic's varied style of music has been described by Ryan Tedder: "We're no respecter of genre. If its a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they've probably influenced us on some level...nothing's new under the sun, we're a sum of a bunch of parts."^{[citation needed]} They cite The Beatles as a songwriting inspiration and U2 as heavier influences on their music. With songs like "Apologize", "All We Are", and "Mercy", OneRepublic has expressed a desire to move listeners onstage the way U2 does.^[22][23]

All Music Guide has commented on the band's sound, "...OneRepublic often favors cathartic, cranked-up choruses that Chris Martin has yet to tackle." Tedder downplays Coldplay as an influence; "Their influences are our influences. The big difference, though, is that I come from a much wider hip-hop and urban background. I’ve been producing, writing and performing urban stuff, and I try to bring that into the group because we’re not trying to be a British band." Drew Brown adds, "We aren’t all die-hard Coldplay fans, but because of the comparisons, we’ve done our research, and I’m sure we’ve got a large handful of common influences."^[24]

Members

Current members

• Ryan Tedder – Lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, tambourine (2002–present)
• Zach Filkins – Guitar, vocals, Drums, Viola (2002–present)
• Drew Brown – Guitar, bass guitar, vocals, glockenspiel (2002–present)
• Eddie Fisher – Drums, percussion (2004–present)
• Brent Kutzle – Bass guitar, keyboards, cello, vocals (2007–present)

Former members

• Jerrod Bettis - Drums (2002–2004)
• Tim Myers - Bass guitar (2004–2007)

Discography

Studio albums

• 2007 - Dreaming Out Loud
• 2009 - Waking Up

Singles

• 2007 - "Apologize (Remix)"
• 2008 - "Stop and Stare"
• 2008 - "Say (All I Need)"
• 2008 - "Mercy"
• 2009 - "Come Home" (Digital Release Only)
• 2009 - "All the Right Moves"
• 2009 - "Secrets"
• 2009 - "Everybody Loves Me"
• 2009 - "Good Life"

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official Website
• OneRepublic at MySpace