OneRepublic considers its music to be influenced by everyone from the Beatles to U2, and anything in between. "We're no respector of genre," says frontman Ryan Tedder, "If it's a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they've probably influenced us on some level...nothing's new under the sun, we're a sum of a bunch of parts." They aspire to move their listeners the way Bono does onstage. "You go to a U2 concert and it's like church," Tedder says. "I'd love to make people feel like that. I don't want someone to just say, `Oh, nice voice, nice song.' I want that person to walk away and feel like he or she has had a religious experience; we want them to feel moved." The band was formed in Colorado by Tedder and high school classmate Zach Filkins. The pair moved to Los Angeles, where they picked up fellow Coloradan, guitarist/keyboardist Drew Brown and drummer Eddie Fisher. The band's most recent inductee, Brent Kutzle, plays bass and adds something extra to live shows with his classical cello. In addition to his work with his own band, Tedder is a Grammy nominated writer & has written & produced tracks with/for various other artists, including Natasha Bedingfield, Jennifer Lopez, Lil' Jon, Paul Oakenfold, t.A.T.u., Bubba Sparxxx, Tupac and uber-producer Timbaland. A remix of OneRepublic's song "Apologize" is featured on Timbaland's album, Shock Value.
The song "Apologize" explores the personal pain of multiple relationships gone awry and the necessity of moving on, while "Stop and Stare" describes the common frustration of getting to a place in life where you think, "How in the world did I end up here, this isn't where I wanted to be, watching what I wanted pass me by." "The lyrics have shades of melancholy, and there is a definite emotional undercurrent running through them," says the band. "If you can't tap into emotion, you're just selling catchy tunes."
