Melinda Ortner started music from her father’s footsteps, now she’s recording her first full length album, making music videos and being shopped around for a record deal. After comparisons to Fiona Apple, Muse and Alicia Keys, she’s more than on her way. Lee had a chance to talk to her the other day.

C&S: So the first question has to be, how did you get started in music?
Melinda Ortner: Well, my dad was a music teacher and forced me, I was reluctant to play piano. I didn’t want to, but then I did. He made me practice. I couldn’t play with my friends until I practiced, which I’m very grateful for now. And then, I kinda dropped it. I wanted to do acting when I saw the movie My Girl. That was the moment, ‘I want to be an actress.’ Then I got recruited for the choir, because they needed girls. They didn’t know I could sing, I didn’t know I could sing either. So I said ok. And when I tried I and I thought, I’m not bad. And I went from there.

Which do you like more: singing or piano?
I like singing more, but I like doing both at the same time. That’s when I get  to my zone. But I also play a little guitar and I do play the flute. That was my first instrument.

Are you gonna bring any flute into your songs?
Honestly, I don’t think so, but after hearing things by Vampire Weekend, I could bring a whole world of sound to my music. Never know.

What music influences you?
I would say, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington are the two singers that I wanted to sound like. From there, of course, Fiona Apple and Muse were like the obsessions I had in the last two years, where all I listened to was that. I would say I’m really really inspired by classical music and I try to incorporate it into my songs. Aside from that, Radiohead, and other bands that add regular piano stuff with electronica sounds.

Keep reading for more great questions and 2 awesome mp3s.

And you have a song coming up soon in a film?
I have two songs coming up in a movie with two of the people from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It had Nia Vardalos and John Corbitt. It was called I Hate Valentine’s Day, but they retitled it recently and it’s coming out in August. Two of my songs are in it. One is called “Maybe” and the other one is “Something You Said” while they’re kissing in the park. and they’re falling in love in Central Park.

What music is in heavy rotation on your ipod?
Right now, I’m really into Azure Ray.  At this point, I’m really into Lily Allen and her new song. Vampire Weekend was a big thing and Bon Iver, I really liked that, too. And, of course, Sarah Barreiles. Her whole album is awesome.

Cover Songs. What your favorite?
I’ve just started playing a song called “Can’t Find My Way Home.” We just started playing it. It’s by Blind Faith. It’s for this record label for youtube. In the past I’ve done a lot of Jason Mraz covers, too. But my favorite is this song from The Jerk, you know what I’m talking about. It’s “Tonight You Belong to Me.” I don’t know who wrote, but it was made famous by Steve Martin in The Jerk. It’s like “I know you belong to someone new/But tonight you belong to me.”

What was worst show you’ve had so far?
One time, I mixed up the date. So half the people showed up. So that was terrible to begin with. Then my keyboard wouldn’t plug in. When it finally did, it made this terrible buzzing sound. And no one was in the audience anyways, but I felt bad for the ones who made it. Added to that, the day before, my bass player quit. It was pretty bad.

Ok. Silly time. 5 things you can’t live without.

1. Snickerdoodle 7-11 cookie.
2. My running shoes.
3. My keyboard. I’d really like a piano, but substitute a keyboard for now.
4. My duvet. My overpriced, that-I’m-stilling-paying-off duvet.
5. And my voice. If I lost my voice, which I have in the past, that would be terrible.

Scenario: You’ve just won a grammy. What’s your acceptance speech?
Before I won this grammy, I told everybody that follow your dreams is probably the stupidest thing anyone can do if you want to be a singer/songwriter because its the toughest journey I’ve been on. It’s not getting any easier. You still wonder what’s gonna happen tomorrow. If you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else more, do it anyway. Whether or not you’re expecting success, just do it. You still have to try, you have to jump.

What other things are you looking forward to in the next year?
I’m working on a record. I have an EP, but I call it the demo EP. So I’m working on the record, I’m doing a music video and I just got a manager. And they’re already shopping me to labels. So now we’re just waiting for my music video to be finished so she can really shop me like a full package. Next step will be to put together a tour. I want to do it and learn from it. The big goal is the record deal.

What would you like to see on a t-shirt?
“Do you want to talk about it?” If anyone ever starts a conversation and they’re just talking talking talking, I just say “Do you want to talk about it?” and it just throws them off.

Take a listen to these:
Something Sorry
Maybe

Thanks to Melinda for the call and time to talk. Check out her myspace and site.

Tags: interviews, melinda ortner, music

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under interviews, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.