MeTalkPretty has a hard-edged sound and a powerhouse female vocalist to rival any rock band I know. Their debut EP “We Are Strangers” is now available on iTunes and the band will release their first full-length album this fall. Vocalist Uliana and guitarist Leon took a break from their busy schedule on the Vans Warped Tour to answer a few questions from BestNewBands.com
Kelly: What’s the inspiration behind the name MeTalkPretty? Is it true that it come from the David Sedaris book (one of my favorites)?
Uliana: Yes it’s true 
We were looking for a name and somebody in our entourage was reading this book called” Me Talk Pretty One Day” and he was like…God it’s just like how Uliana talks!!! It also talks about the experiences that Sedaris had while he was overseas in France and trying to acclimate. And there’s a pretty funny parallel with my story because I’ve only been here in the United States for a little over five years from Romania, and I basically taught myself how to speak the language and learned all the cultural differences and tried to acclimate in a very similar way.
Kelly: What’s the story of you coming together as a band?
Leon: Uliana actually responded to an ad the band put out for a male vocalist. It was a major shift when she walked into the room; I immediately knew that she was the right vocalist for me. And it was true, we were looking for a male vocalist, or let me rephrase that: we weren’t looking for a female vocalist. In all honesty, she didn’t really ever express that she was a female as she never signed the email, and than she showed up. So basically after that, when she started to sing, she was the one.
How would you define your musical style and where you want to take it in the future?
Leon: We’re a heavy rock band. We’re dance, we are pop,we’re alternative, we’re loud,we have drama and charisma! We have the fashion element and we have Uliana that can pretty much compete with any male vocalist out there in terms of the power. We will definitely love to keep you dancing and singing at our shows. For us the most important things are our fans and friends so we want our music to hit as many hearts as possible and make new friends. For now we would like to play out as much as we can, and promote our debut album”WE ARE STRANGERS” that will be released in this fall.
Kelly: How was the process of recording We Are Strangers? Did you run into any obstacles or did being in the studio come naturally to the band?
Uliana: I felt like we were given an amazing opportunity to write our first record. Every band is dreaming of this moment to go in a studio and record all their songs that they been working on for a while. We had this amazing chance and opportunity to write a full-length record and suddenly everybody got so inspired, and we were just shooting out songs. We feel very proud of what we wrote.There were moments when we had to let go of entire parts, like entire choruses in certain songs. We knew that even if you wrote a part, you have to let go if it doesn’t make sense to the song. Other than that i would say we felt crazy inspired. This record came from all our struggles in making it as a band and our personal lives. It talks about love, loss, hope. Everybody in MeTalkPretty has big crazy life stories, and “We Are Strangers” talks about that big time. It is our introduction to the big world.
Kelly: What/who are your musical influences and inspirations?
Leon: U2, Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Perfect Circle
Uliana: God… i love so many bands but I will list here artist that made me think of being in a band. When I was really young it was No Doubt and later on it was System Of A Down. I know they’re so far apart but I think that is how actually MeTalkPretty sounds like. Other bands I love are: Blondie, Paramore, Flyleaf, 30 Seconds to Mars, My Chemical Romance, NIN and Alice Cooper.
Kelly: Have you enjoyed the Warped tour experience? What did you think of playing at the Gorge Amphitheater? It’s one of my absolute favorite venues in the Pacific Northwest. It’s so beautiful!
Uliana: We loooove Warped Tour. We’ve been playing it every year for the past 3 years and we hope to do it again. We’ve played the Gorge twice. The first time was three years ago when we were just starting as a band. It was the most beautiful landscape I’ve ever seen in my life. I also got to see Yellow Stone on our way back. I was mesmerized. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. This year was even better as we had a lot of kids coming to see us. We made a lot of friends there in WA state! I saw Red Rocks in our way back! I was speechless!
Kelly: What is your favorite venue or city that you’ve played?
Uliana: The reasons why I love these venues is because of the people I’ve meet there: Blender Theater – NYC and Club Congress -Tucson, AZ
Leon: Viper room in LA and Club Beaumont Club – Kansas City, MO
Kelly: What’s playing in the tour van? Who are your favorite up-and-coming bands?
Uliana and Leon: Neon Trees, Paper Tongues and Civil Twilight
Kelly: What would be your dream band (or artist) to tour with?
Uliana and Leon: a tour with……. Deftones and Santigold
Kelly: What’s next for MeTalkPretty?
Uliana and Leon: We are going to RADIO baby!! So if you are reading this please come and check out our facebook , myspace and twitter so that you can call in and request us at a station near you.
Be sure to check out MeTalkPretty’s debut EP “We Are Strangers” and stay tuned for their fall full-length release!
