Colorado-born band Alpha Pegasi recently released its debut single on the stroke of the Summer Solstice.
”Summertime (Doin’ Time)“ was released on June 20th, 2020 as the premier studio recording from the group. The song marks the first of 3 singles to be released from the band’s upcoming album The Birth of a Star, due out 9/22/20. “The structure and sound of Alpha Pegasi draws a lot from Tame Impala, The Grateful Dead, and Steely Dan,” says the band’s founder Mitch Melodia. “I love improvising and jamming and doing so with a band is a staple of every show. In the studio however, I may pull a Kevin Parker and just play every instrument on record. That being said, it’s also fun to have different voices and personalities on a recording so I might side with The Dan approach and bring in different session players for different styles.” For “Summertime (Doin’ Time)” Mitch made a musical round-robin and played every instrument on the track.
“That particular song ‘Summertime’ has gone through so many changes over the years,” Mitch remarks. “From George Gershwin, to Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Sam Cooke, Sublime, and recently Lana Del Rey, it’s still being played and listened to nearly a century after it was written. In the same vein of Bradley Nowell adding his lyrics own to Sublime’s version, I wanted to create some lyrics of my own with my take on it.”
The lyrics of Alpha Pegasi’s version are based off Sublime’s “Doin’ TIme,” but they are almost entirely redone. Instead of the LBC, the chorus puts a focus on Denver, Colorado. While Melodia has plenty of experience touring, performing festivals, and recording with different bands in New England, he moved out to Colorado for it’s thriving music scene. “Denver is such a supportive city for the arts, especially in terms of live music,” he says. “There’s so many different artistic styles converging in Den, and I tried to express that vibe in the song too. There’s a quick jazz-fueled intro, a Pink Floyd-like feel to the chorus, a couple of reggae verses, a drum and bass feature, a ska section, and a Santana-fueled solo. There’s a lot of different musical styles in the song, and there’s a lot of creativity always happening in the Mile High City.” Although there are many styles found in the debut single, Mitch describes Alpha Pegasi’s primary sound as ‘prog-pop.' “There’s roots in rock and a focus on mixing strong musicianship with fun, danceable feels.”
The release of “Summertime (Doin’ Time)” also marks the beginning of the song’s contributions to The 5ers Club. With Alpha Pegasi as the founding member, The 5ers Club is an organization of artists, musicians, and business owners who agree donate 5% of all profits earned to non-profits. “Every year AP will be donating 5% of profits to 3 main non-profits,” Mitch says. “This year, we’re looking to help out Conscious Alliance, The Sierra Club, and Charity Water. Who knows how much AP will raise, but I figure every bit counts.”
