Nominated for the Los Angeles Music award, the band Neverwonder shares their pride with each other, evolving from American Idol to their latest CD, “Let It Out.” They have also performed dozens of concerts including the recent Long Beach Unity Festival. Megan Bobo, lead singer, was a top 25 finalist on American Idol and stuck around the Los Angeles area, where she collaborated with the original Neverwonder members, bassist Vincent Ramos and drummer Andres Ramos. The Daily 49er sat down with Vincent and Andres to discuss their musical success.
Daily 49er: What sets you apart from other bands?
Vincent Ramos: Music today, while there is some great music out there, is one genre based. We are mixing genres. Megan’s voice is soulful and powerful. She has this god-given voice that makes us think to our self, ‘what’s the best way surround her musically?’ Neverwonder has a groovy soul and rock feel; we hope we’re ahead of the curve. What it all comes down to is that we were writing the album the best we could come up with.
Andres [drums]: To add on to what Neverwonder sounds like, we’re combining our music with rock, punk, soul, funk, just as a brief description. Now, music is really modern and kind of a lot of pop. I don’t see combinations. I think we stand out because no one else seems like they’re doing what we are [doing].
Daily 49er: When and how did Neverwonder come to be?
Vincent: The band started off about three or four years ago. We did an album, but at the time we had different singer and guitarist. As time went on, things happened and people wanted different things. When Megan and Scott Ramsey [guitarist] came onboard, we couldn’t be happier.
Daily 49er: As the original members of ‘Neverwonder’, how did you acquire Megan Bobo as the lead singer? She became known by being on American Idol, correct?
Vincent: Yes, she was in the top 25. We actually found her name by looking through the CraigsList.com classified. After American Idol, [Bobo] stayed in Los Angeles as a solo artist. She was making a demo for herself, put an ad on CraigsList.com and we were looking to replace the old singer. More important than the talent, though, was that we could get along.
Daily 49er: How did you come up with the band name, ‘Neverwonder’?
Vincent: We’re all musicians from other bands. Our name basically means to not look back. “Never wonder” what could have been. If you live in the past, that’s where you’ll be. Never wonder what could have been and live for now. At first, we actually had 500 names and in the studio we would come up with anything. Random things like Pelican Fly were suggested, but with a name you have to go through websites to make sure we can have a dot com after it and be able to use it for MySpace and Twitter. It had to be original and reflective of us.
Daily49er: You said you were musicians from other bands; is this band different from when you both were apart of Exploiting Eve?
Andres Ramos: We’ve grown a lot since Exploiting Eve. I think we’re at full potential with this band; of course, we still have room to grow. Musically, I’ve matured at a different level with [Neverwonder] and have been able to try different styles to put into this band to make our music sound better.
Vincent: We learned a lot and experienced things we can to take into account. Exploiting Eve had a modern rock feel with an underlying funk feel, which we uncovered in Neverwonder. We appreciate the memories.
Daily 49er: Obviously music is competitive. What makes you continue playing?
Vincent: We love music; if you don’t absolutely love it, the music business will grind you down. We want to keep playing so we found ways to put it out. We have downloads, CDs and websites. You have to make it a competitive situation. At the end of the day, I love the challenge. It’s fun and it’s hard but it’s worth it.
Andres: We grew up playing sports so Vincent and I aren’t the single artist type. Playing sports, we’ve always identified ourselves with groups. For me, I grew up playing drums and any music in general. I just wanted to play. You have to keep learning from everyone in the world. It’s the love of playing and to be able to create stuff within a circle of close friends.
Daily 49er: What kind of fan base do you attract?
Vincent: Depending on the venue, we can get a crowd from ages 18 to 40. We draw a lot of attention. With our kind of music there is something for everyone since the music is crossing genres. We’re happy that it works out really well.
Daily 49er: What kind of message are the lyrics [of the new CD] supposed to convey to the listener?
Vincent: Megan writes most of them and we help out. She writes about experiences in life in a positive way. Her lyrics deal with things like relationships and of course, love. She’s very positive and the lyrics have good meanings.
Daily 49er: Are you excited that Megan Bobo was nominated for the L.A. Music Award?
Vincent: Yes, of course! Even though it is an individual award, when she’s nominated, it reflects on us too. Our band is a team, and she’s done a great job being a part of it. She definitely deserves it.
Daily 49er: What would you say is your best experience from being in this band?
Vincent: The process of writing the album is fascinating, difficult and exciting because you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. The day the album was finally mixed and we could say it was going to the printers, I knew it was going to be the best. It was in that moment I could say this was the best I could do. I was extremely proud of the team. It was a great moment just seeing everyone smiling.
Andres: To be honest, it’s from getting responses and interviews. People who want to come out to see us and genuinely say ‘you guys are good.’ Those who buy the CDs and cheer for us and the people who buy the stuff and who rocks out with us; those are my best moments. And thanks to all the writers who want to talk with us indie bands are helping us get out there.
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