Review Fix Exclusive: Undefeated’s Meredith Dunckel Talks Goals And More

May 1, 2020 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Meredith Dunckel who discusses the origin of her band, Undefeated and their goals for the future.

Review Fix: How did the project start?

Meredith Dunckel: Believe it or not, the host of the Rock N Worship Festival in Dalton, MA, walked up to me. For some unknown reason he was like “hey! I want you to come sing!”. I was playing electric guitar for my church’s youth band (needless to say, it was a less-than-stellar performance). 

So, I went. I had just turned 14. There were all ages and genres at the Rock N Worship Fest; from metal to reggae to gospel. Something clicked. These people were like me! I asked my younger brother (a rockin’ drummer) on the 4-hour ride home to start a band, and he said yes! We met bassist Ian through mutual friends. (Truthfully, he literally fell -he says he jumped- out of a tree. But I guess there’s worse ways to meet people!)

We played under the banner “Undefeated” for the first time August 5th, 2017 on the lawn of a bookstore. From there, every show has been booked through word of mouth!

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Dunckel: I write the initial melody and lyrics, and we all collaborate on the music! Let me tell ya how we come together. Our drummer (Christian) is a die-hard djent/metal/screamo fan. Ian’s (bassist) heart was born and raised in classic rock. You know, The Beatles, Zeppelin, the whole thing. Then there’s me. I LOVE to sing. You can’t take a singer and stick her in one genre. The trick is melding these three sounds without losing what God gave each one. The whole is greater than the piece.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?

Dunckel: At the moment we have two singles out. (3 more songs in the coming months to complete our first EP!) Where Are You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEvEAQkIK0E) and Shadows (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62xRoCrGHRg) have very different in styles. We consider both standouts, as they show the two major sides of our band. Shadows goes the classic rock route, and Where Are You is our power ballad! 

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?

Dunckel: There’s a lot going on in the world with the COVID-19 virus. It has reached every corner. Due to this, all of our shows March through May are on hold. We were booked in New Jersey, Maine, and locally. So, looking forward to rescheduling those. We can’t wait to tour. Christian (drummer) has two years of high school left. But, we’re ready to try our hand at short tours (3 weeks to 3 months!) And… putting out our EP! 

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Dunckel: We want people to enter into an arena where they’re AWESOME just the way they are! Where they can come together and enjoy some good war music. Life can beat you down, and sometimes it seems like a war to just feel alive. A place where nothing negative or ugly. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Dunckel: We’re super pumped to play our newest song, Land of the Dead, live. It integrates some punk vocals against a metal backdrop. We can feel ourselves locking into this style!

Connect with us here, we want to say hi! 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/undefeatedofficialmusic/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/undefeated_official/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrXWbsn9Ey3ft62D4zVSStA

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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