Hydra Melody is an independent indie rock band from San Antonio, Texas. They have been featured on the cover of the San Antonio Current, won Summerfest’s 2013’s “Land The Big Gig” contest and have toured as direct support for Third Eye Blind. Having an extremely successful 2013, I caught up with Hydra Melody at this year’s SXSW to talk about their success, recent endeavors and plans for 2014.

When asked about how they were able to land showcases at this year’s SXSW, Jason Harari (bass/vocals) stated that “tours that we’ve done, the people that we’ve met along the way, our publicist’s at Big Picture Media have been really helpful with that. Just playing the circuit and being in Austin often enough, we were able to been seen by people who just decided to put us on we had their showcases.”

We went on to talk about their experiences with SXSW throughout the years. Manny Prince (percussion/congas) said “crazy, party, jam. It’s just like this big kind of party.” “Lots of leg work, dense, but you get to meet new people and make some new fans.”

The week before spring break officially started, Hydra Melody played on the UTSA main campus. When asked about that experience, Jordan Berlanga (lead vocals/guitar) said, “We’ve been trying for a long time to get into the college circuit, especially in San Antonio where we’re from. We were fortunate enough to be asked to do it. It was different. Not so much a show but a hangout between college people and friends and just, hey! Let’s play some music.” Taylor Ferguson (lead guitar) added, “It was awesome how well they responded. The day after, we were talking to some of the people who were there and they said that was the best thing that UTSA has ever seen! For them to still be hyped and talking about it is pretty cool.”

With it still being early in the year, I asked Hydra Melody if they had any plans for new music in 2014. Harari stated, “Yeah! We’ve been working on this record for a long time. We’re anxious to release it but we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves and release something unless it’s exactly what we want it to be. Within 2014 we’ll release, what we feel, is our best record to date, but we really want to take the time to do it right.”

When asked about their cover story on the San Antonio Current, Harari stated, “We had a really crazy 2013. We got on a huge tour with Third Eye Blind. The Current had not done too many stories on Hydra Melody until then. We didn’t even know we were going to get the cover until after the fact. It was a really cool moment for us. It was really cool way to end that run with Third Eye Blind and all the things we had done that year.” Berlanga added, “For me personally, growing up in San Antonio, the Current has always been there. It was cool to read it throughout the years and to see some of my favorite bands be on the cover and then to see yourself on the cover. You can’t really describe how it is when you first see that.”

Hydra Melody had a great 2013 and has a bright 2014 ahead of them. They also stated that they were going on tour in April and May of 2014. More information can be accessed on their official website. New singles and video releases are scheduled as well. Hydra Melody is a band that is growing at a phenomenal rate that you do not want to miss out on.