For rising star MEHRO, every song begins with an acoustic. His method, “Being open, being in tune and channeling the inspiration”
Building a substantial following online since the tender age of 20, LA-based singersongwriter mehro (styled with a lowercase ‘m’, as he prefers to be “unassuming”) has quickly made a name for himself with a blend of intricate fingerstyle guitar work and dreamy falsetto vocals. This year he released his sophomore album, Dark CornersAnd Alchemy – the rich, multi-layered music tackling what he describes as “the duality of the human experience”, juxtaposing themes of despair and self-destruction (the ‘Dark Corners’ side) with hope and healing (Alchemy).
If that sounds deep, well, it is – mehro is a self-professed “scholar of the human condition”, and he’s an artist of great depth and empathy. His lyrics are introspective but worldly. His videos – which he acts in and either directs or co-directs – are, most often, storyboarded allegories dealing with emotionally charged life experiences and issues of personal identity.
Employing a select choice of Martin, Taylor and Gibson acoustics, and a Fender Road Worn Strat, mehro insists he is no gear nerd, claiming, perhaps like most of us, “it’s purely about what the feeling of the sound gives me.” But it was an unlikely early influence who first inspired the then teenage mehro to pick up the guitar, and reassured him of the validity of his own musical identity…
Who did you listen to growing up and when you started making music?
The person that inspired me to make music was Johnny Cash. I saw Walk The Line, the [2005] movie, by accident. I didn’t expect it to do anything for me but I watched it and it changed my life. I started playing guitar that night and I started writing songs shortly after that. Johnny wasn’t somebody who wowed you with technical ability. He wasn’t somebody with a voice like Aretha Franklin or Marvin Gaye and he couldn’t play guitar like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen, but he was loved regardless. He was enough just the way that he was. And for me, it made me realise that I am worthy of my dreams. I can be enough just by being myself.
Who did you get into after discovering Johnny Cash?
I was recommended to listen to Astral Weeks [by Van Morrison] and Tea For The Tillerman [Cat Stevens]. Those albums were very influential [on me]. The Velvet Underground’s debut album had a huge impact on my life. I really got into Led Zeppelin, too. Frank Ocean’s Blonde – that album is just spectacular. Joni Mitchell, Blue. So many albums that I’m missing, but those are the ones that are coming to my mind.
How do you describe your music?
I’m assuming you couldn’t put this in a magazine, but I think th
