The Sonic Landscape
Right from the start it was hard for MESA to ‘pigeon hole’ their music into a single ‘genre.’ Mainly because their individual musical influences were wide and varied. However, after many years, songwriter David Morgan admits he is now comfortable with their music finally being classified as ‘Folk Rock’.
Behind The Classification
“Selecting the right music genre for a band nowadays is so important, especially when putting music into the many online stores. Even though it was important when we started, the demise of record stores and the increasing growth of online music stores now means selecting the wrong genre drastically reduces any chance an artiste may have at having a fair go at the market.”
“At the beginning of MESA, I think we were more focussed on the instrumental side of our sound and ‘Country Rock’ seemed a convenient genre fit at the time. I personally never felt comfortable with the ‘Country Rock’ genre, especially when the time came around each year to enter a song or two into the various industry competitions. I always failed to find a suitable genre that truly represented the songs.”
“The release of the ‘Hello Vietnam’ CD put another dimension to the conundrum, and I fell into the trap of classifying it in the online stores as ‘World Music’, mainly because it was songs about another country.”
“Then, one Saturday night I was driving home, listening to ABC Radio when I heard a band that sounded very similar to us. Afterwards, the presenter commented how the words had told a wonderful story and had been fully complemented by the music. “A classic folk-rock song,” she said.”
“Just how had I missed the obvious? I had never seen myself as a writer of folk type songs. Growing up in England in the sixties and seventies, it was just not fashionable amongst my mates to be a folk songwriter, but to me, on reflection, MESA’s songs fitted Folk Rock like a glove.”
“It’s funny how something you know so well can be so simply overlooked. Just one glance at the internet confirmed my thoughts: ‘Folk Rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music.’”
“Some folk-rock music relies more heavily on the ‘folk’ part of the genre, which often tells of regional cultures and people’s traditions, while other music trends lean much more towards traditional rock. Where the line is, when does a song simply become a folk song or a rock song, is up for debate. So, as MESA songs tell of the regional cultures and people’s traditions in the ‘Pilbara Region’ of Western Australia and Vietnam, I am finally happy to nominate ‘Folk Rock’ as the genre.”
- David Morgan