![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/the-memorials-June-2012.jpg\" "\\"the-memorials-June-2012\\"")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nFrom Berklee to Berkeley, their art has always been a collaborative effort \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When recording their second album, Delirium<\/em>, the Berkeley, Calif., outfit known as the Memorials employed a wonderfully effective everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sonic philosophy. For the follow-up to 2011\u2019s self-titled debut, band organizer and former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, vocalist Viveca Hawkins and guitarist Nick Brewer kept the tempo cranked and the stylistic influences varied.<\/p>\n On the surface, Delirium<\/em> is a hard-rock record, but anyone who gives it more than a cursory listen will know that the band\u2019s scope is fixed on a wider setting. Whether she\u2019s rapping, crooning or belting a ballad, Hawkins\u2019 sultry vocals provide a sensual accompaniment to the shredding guitar and frenetic beats, the framework for most of the Memorials\u2019 tunes. \u201cWe love so many different styles, and we love throwing in stuff that has influenced us,\u201d says Pridgen. \u201cThe Latin influences, the African and\u00a0Afro-beat influences, the rock from my high school years and the gospel from when I grew up\u2014I\u2019m inspired by it all.\u201d<\/p>\n The desire to learn about music is what brought the three bandmates together at the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. As someone who\u2019s kept time from the back of the stage for one of the world\u2019s musically wildest bands, Pridgen isn\u2019t shy about his hope to form an identity outside of his previous projects. \u201cIt seems like people don\u2019t know who we are as individual musicians,\u201d he admits. \u201cI don\u2019t care about the credit, but I do care about the art.\u201d<\/p>\n Pridgen views the Memorials as something structurally different than a traditional band. \u201cI could\u2019ve called this the Thomas Pridgen Voyage, or something like that,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cBut it\u2019s the Memorials, because I wanted to have something that represented all of us doing something together. The collective aspect is important because we use everyone who played on the record in such a major way.\u201d The sense of collaboration is strong throughout the Memorials\u2019 music. Each member has moments where his or her role is holding a song together. And all that is what Pridgen hoped for when recording Delirium<\/em>. The main mission, however, is as simple as it is fundamental. \u201cWe\u2019re proud of everyone\u2019s contribution to the record,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I just want to continue having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Kelly Dearmore<\/p>\n THE MEMORIALS From Berklee to Berkeley, their art has always been a collaborative effort \u00a0 When recording their second album, Delirium, the Berkeley, Calif., outfit known as the Memorials employed a wonderfully effective everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sonic philosophy. For the follow-up to 2011\u2019s self-titled debut, band organizer and former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, vocalist Viveca Hawkins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[4353,4300,4354,4357,4358,10156,4355,4356],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6916,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914\/revisions\/6916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"