Building a considerable following online because the tender age of 20, LA-based singer-songwriter mehro (styled with a lowercase ‘m’, as he chooses to be “unassuming”) has rapidly made a name for himself with a mix of elaborate fingerstyle guitar work and dreamy falsetto vocals.
This year he launched his sophomore album, Dark Corners and Alchemy – the abundant, multi-layered music dealingwith what he explains as “the duality of the human experience”, juxtaposing styles of anguish and self-destruction (the ‘Dark Corners’ side) with hope and recovery (Alchemy).
If that sounds deep, well, it is – mehro is a self-professed “scholar of the human condition”, and he’s an artist of fantastic depth and compassion. His lyrics are reflective however worldly. His videos – which he acts in and either directs or co-directs – are, most typically, storyboarded allegories dealing with mentally charged life experiences and issues of individual identity.
Employing a choose option of Martin, Taylor and Gibson acoustic guitars, and a Fender Road Worn Strat, mehro firmlyinsists he is no equipment geek, declaring, maybe like most of us, “it’s simply about what the sensation of the noise provides me.” But it was an notlikely early impact who veryfirst inspired the then teenage mehro to choice up the guitar, and assured him of the credibility of his own musical identity…
Who did you listen to growing up and when you began making music?
“The individual that influenced me to make music was Johnny Cash. I saw Walk the Line, the [2005] motionpicture, by mishap. I didn’t anticipate it to do anything for me however I seen it and it altered my life. I started playing guitar that night and I started writing tunes quickly after that. Johnny wasn’t someone who wowed you with technical capability.
“He wasn’t someone with a voice like Aretha Franklin or Marvin Gaye and he couldn’t play guitar like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen, however he was enjoyed regardless. He was enough simply the method that he was. And for me, it made me understand that I am worthwhile of my dreams. I can be enough simply by being myself.”
Johnny Cash wasn’t someone with a voice like Aretha Franklin or Marvin Gaye and he couldn’t play guitar like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen, however he was enjoyed regardless
Who did you get into after finding Johnny Cash?
“I was advised to listen to Astral Weeks [by Van Morrison] and Tea For The Tillerman[Cat Stevens] Those albums were really prominent[on me] The Velvet Underground’s launching album had a substantial effect on my life. I truly got into Led Zeppelin, too. Frank Ocean’s Blonde – that album is simply magnificent. Joni Mitchell, Blue. So numerous albums that I’m missing, however those are the ones that are coming to my mind.”
How do you explain your music?
“I’m presuming you couldn’t put this in a magazine, however I believe the music is like a caring ‘fuck you,’ in a method. You understand, it’s stating, ‘I love you however I’m going to do what I’m going to do. And I love you simply the method that you are and I hope that you love this, simply the method that I am.’ It’s music that I hope makes the listener love themselves more.”
Love Kills is a actually expressive tune, yet perfectly basic with its ostinato two-bar guitar part. How did you piece it together?
“Like a lot of these tunes, it simply sort of occurred by being open and being in tune and directing the motivation and the impact. It was initially composed for a film, [but] the production business passed on the tune.
“I idea it spoke a lot about how something lovely can likewise hurt you and how thi