abAy Musicology: Meg and Dia

Seeing the world is an eye-opening experience—especially if you grew up in the tiny town of Draper, Utah—so it’s no wonder Meg & Dia’s new album, Here, Here and Here, paints a portrait of what life has been like for this hard-working band as they’ve toured for the past two and a half years in support of their 2006 debut album Something Real (which spawned the fan favorite singles “Roses” and “Monster”). Despite being fronted and named after sisters Meg and Dia Frampton, Meg & Dia is very much a collaborative effort between five individual musicians. With the upcoming release of their second album Here, Here and Here, this group of five friends has begun to evolve into the kind of musicians they want to be—although they’re the first to admit that it’s still a collective work in progress. “On the first record, Dia and I were these little naïve girls who got this huge opportunity to make a record,” Meg recalls. “We went into it completely unaware of everything. Then we traveled the world and our perspective expanded a hundred-fold.”

It was this newly gained viewpoint that influenced all the songs on Here, Here and Here, whose title is inspired by a quote courtesy of Mozart: “There’s nothing to composing. You just need to focus on here, here and here,” he said in reference to his head, heart, and ear. If there’s a consistent theme throughout the album, it’s that life doesn’t come with instructions or a map. “All of the songs reflect the sentiment that we’ve been on this really long journey—from point A to point B—and it’s taken us a long time to learn all these different things,” Meg explains in regard to their learn-as-you-go attitude. “We wanted to create the feeling of progress, even though we’re not done yet. The whole album has a feeling of motion…that we’re trying to get somewhere while still having a little more way to go.”

Meg & Dia have certainly shown just how far they’ve come since their debut release.

Here, Here and Here is a musical and emotional rollercoaster through various striations of pop-rock sounds and sensations, with each of the 13 tracks brimming with the band’s signature candor and charisma. Meg & Dia stepped outside of their musical comfort zone by experimenting with different instruments and arrangements. “Hug Me” is an upbeat rocker inspired by Brave New World and the desire to be your own person amidst a sea of expectation; “What If” is a guitar-driven, alt-rock romp that’s filled with hypothetical questions we all encounter in our lives (i.e., “What if I find my purpose first?/What if I fulfill my life’s work?/What if you’re counting on my failure made me live?”); “Bored Of Your Love,” a revealing and bittersweet duet performed with Tom Higgenson of the Plain White T’s, marks Meg and Dia’s first co-writing experience with an outside person; and “Black Wedding” is an ominous-yet-sassy salsa with fist-pounding choruses and arena-rock guitar solos.

To help Meg & Dia realize their vision, the band turned to noted producer Howard Benson, who is known for his work with My Chemical Romance and The All-American Rejects among many others. “Howard encouraged us to do a bit of soul-searching and inspired us to push ourselves creatively as artists to the limit,” Meg says. “I learned what I am capable of and to not be afraid to try any idea no matter what it is. He taught me to have faith in myself and not sell myself short just because I'm young and haven't had as much experience. His hand in the arrangements really helped bringing the songs together as a whole, making them more cohesive and emotionally solid.”

Never ones to hold anything back lyrically or musically, Meg and Dia also pride themselves on the fact that—for better or for worse—they are responsible for all of their own material. Meg mastered the GarageBand recording program while the band was demoing songs, which resulted in the final tracks not varying too much from their original form. “Organic” and “authentic” were keywords during the songwriting process, which meant that everything—from the lyrics, to the guitar lines, to the string arrangements—is 100 percent a product of the band. The result is an album that encourages the listener to use their imagination and glean their own meaning from the songs. “Today a lot of musicians hire people or just go with big, corporate writing teams,” Dia says. “That kind of thing scares me to death. “Even though we’re still learning, it’s just cool that no matter what, it’s all completely us.”

The members of Meg & Dia are looking forward to performing the new songs on their

upcoming tour this January and for fans to finally get a chance to hear the eclecticism of Here, Here and Here. What do they hope audiences will walk away with? “I want the fans to feel what I feel when I’m listening to incredible music, which is this extreme appreciation for something so beautiful and touching,” Meg says. “It’s taken a long time for me to recognize who I am and go from ignorance to self-doubt to confidence to realization to self-worth—and I think the music reflects that.”

Dia Frampton
Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is the lead singer of the band. She attended Dixie High

School in St. George, Utah and Shadow Ridge High School in Las Vegas, Nevada; she graduated early (by taking the GED) in 2005 then moved to Salt Lake City with her sister to further their music career. She cites as influences Rufus Wainwright, Steel Train, Joni Mitchell, The Mars Volta, Rocky Votolato, Ben Folds, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cranberries, and Cursive.During live performances, Dia plays percussion instruments, such as the cowbell and tambourine, and occasionally a Casio Privia keyboard. She almost always performs without shoes on.

Dia often recorded a "song diary," an impromptu recorded song, on her MySpace page. She explained, "It was something very raw, and to be honest, something that I was slightly embarrassed to put up because of the quality but I did anyways, for any of our listeners who would care to hear something not hot off the production belt, but something more organic and 'home made.' It made me feel better to share my feelings with people who could connect, and I think that is what happened with many.

Meg Frampton
Meg Frampton (born April 3, 1985) plays guitar and does back-up vocals for the band. She attended and was a cheerleader at Dixie High School in St. George, Utah and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She enjoys reading 18th century British literature. She lists East of Eden, Atlas Shrugged, Forever Amber, Frannie and Zooey, The Great Gatsby, Indiana, Lolita, Nine Stories, Pride and Prejudice and works by Ernest Hemingway as some of her

favorites, and gets lots of inspiration from the books she reads. She also writes most of the songs on the albums, and finds comfort in her novels.On stage, she alternates between a Vintage White Fender American Telecaster and a Gibson ES-335 Dot in sunburst, and a white Gibson Les Paul Custom, though she has also played a black Gibson Les Paul Studio in the past. For acoustic songs, she plays a Taylor 814ce acoustic. Meg often performs wearing cap sleeve dresses. Meg provides the lead vocals and plays keyboard for the song "Rebecca". Recently Meg has provided intro solos for some of the band's songs during live performances such as Roses and Monster.

Dia Frampton: Vocals
Meg Frampton: Vocals/guitar
Nick Price: Drums
Jonathan Snyder: Bass
Carlo Gimenez: Guitar

The Album

Here,Here And Here (Release on April,21 2009)
1. "Brightside"
2. "Hug Me"
3. "What If"
4. "Let's Go Away"
5. "Giant"
6. "Inside My Head"
7. "Black Wedding"
8. "Bored of Your Love"
9. "Agree to Disagree"
10. "Fighting For Nothing"
11. "Kiss You Goodnight"
12. "Here, Here and Here"