Al Quandt recently sent me an e-mail regarding his brother Carl, the lead singer of Pleasing Melani. I was fishing for information on the Fort Wayne band, and Al noted that Carl has a definite “stage presence.” After seeing the band play for a gathering of the faithful at the cavernous Sunset Hall in late September, I concur with Al’s (understated) assessment. Carl has stage presence akin to a bull having presence in a china shop, as the idiom goes. Not in a destructive way, but with a manic charisma that seizes the attention of the china. He resembles a young Shane MacGowan (the Pogues), but with much better teeth.

      Pleasing Melani play a mixture of jazzy, punk Irish blues that may have yet evolved before this story goes to press. The band collects the talents of Quandt, sax player Scott Snyder, guitarists Nate Ochoa and Max Forbing, bass player Scott “Scummy” Knepple and drummer Justin Omo. Carl Quandt put the band together in late 2004 and, after several lineup adjustments, believes the group has finally developed a sound all their own.

    “I originally just wanted to play oldies, like Sam the Sham’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Then I heard Rage Against the Machine and wanted to rap. After I heard Tom Waits, everything changed.” That’s evolution, baby.

      Along with Quandt’s frenetic, Waits-inspired vocal style, Snyder’s sax and Ochoa’s guitar form the core of Pleasing Melani’s sonic concoction. Sporting extreme muttonchops and a funky fedora, Snyder (with sax) emitted a calm, cool counterpart to Quandt's possessed performance during the Sunset show. Ochoa, who plays mean slide leads, also contributes to the chanting style backup vocals of P-Mel. Ochoa recently acquired a banjo and is going to work that instrument into the band’s sound as well. (I said it was an evolving sound, did I not?)

      When they are not Pleasing Melani, Snyder and Ochoa are also part of the Red Barrels, a raw and rugged folk-blues outfit that warmed up the same Sunset crowd. Snyder, using the nickname ‘Indiana Mud,’ switches over to a harrowing electric steel guitar for the Barrels. Ochoa again provides lead guitar for the Red Barrels. (He was also spotted playing piano at the rear of the hall between sets.)

      Bass player Knepple uses the “Scummy” moniker to (partly) distinguish himself from the "other Scott" in the band. He is definitely the sartorial standout of the band. He was decked out in a jester’s costume (I think) for the Sunset Hall show. I also spotted Knepple in a lime green leisure suit at another recent show. “Scummy” also fronts a metal band in town named Kan’tus.

      The band followed up the Sunset Hall show with a recent set at Benson’s. Ochoa admitted that on this night the band wasn’t quite up to the level of the Sunset Hall show. He then related a story that might explain the drop-off. The band practices and stores their gear in an “abandoned motel” in Fort Wayne. When they arrived to get their gear for the Benson’s show, they had been locked out. Ochoa says he thinks this may have something to do with a rent due issue.

      Who knew abandoned motels charged rent. Regardless, the show must go on.

      The band entered a rear entrance (sometimes called a window) and was able to get their equipment out. Just as they spotted the landlord driving up, the Pleasing Melani crew made a quick getaway. Ochoa says he is confident the band will be able to make amends soon.

      Pleasing the landlord may not be as easy as pleasing the crowd, or Melani for that matter.

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