“That film modified my life and perspective. It made me understand how a lot you’ll be able to admire somebody for being themselves. The world can respect you for who you’re,” he tells New Times over the telephone from Dallas, the place he is scheduled to carry out later that night.
While there was all the time a guitar mendacity round his Southern California childhood residence, it wasn’t till he watched Joaquin Phoenix channel the Man in Black that he tried strumming it.
“At my highschool, there was this factor referred to as ‘in home,’ the place individuals hosted concert events at their residence. People would do poetry or sing,” Mehro says. “I carried out ‘Folsom Prison Blues.’ I used to be nervous, however it was so fulfilling. That music took me a lot time to study, however writing my very own songs got here from there.”
Fast-forward a number of years later, and in 2023, he is put out his wonderful sophomore album, Dark Corners and Alchemy. It’s a quiet, introspective file paying homage to long-gone folk-influenced albums by Nick Drake or Sparklehorse, although Mehro says the album has no direct influences.
“It’s the end result of all the pieces I’ve ever heard. There’s no idea for the album; it is extra a group of songs the place each music got here from a distinct supply or channel,” he provides. “Sophomore initiatives are all the time a tough activity for an artist. What are you going to do? Where are you going to go? I did not wish to select one sound. Let’s present each facet — the playful, the intense, the lustful. It’s an exposition, displaying my soul in its entirety.”
The album’s fourth observe, “Exploding,” explores a previous relationship. “The music was impressed by a love curiosity that was considerably older than me, and about seeing one thing, needing it, and never having the ability to acquire it,” Mehro explains.
The video for “Exploding,” which the 23-year-old codirected, discovered its type within the enhancing room.
“We needed to make an announcement however did not know what the assertion was,” he says. “We went by way of tons and many footage and located an announcement of sexuality and what TV evokes however would not let individuals categorical. It’s additionally about that factor inside us we won’t shut up, our darkish facet.”
So a lot extra footage was left on the cutting-room ground that Mehro is considering splicing collectively alternate cuts for the music video.
Still, his major focus is being on tour, serving because the opener for Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy, bringing Mehro to the Broward Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday, May 30, for his first-ever Florida present. You can count on Mehro and his three-piece band to channel authenticity, vulnerability, and uncooked emotion throughout his stay efficiency. He’s assured that his music is robust sufficient that this present can win over new followers.
“Come with no expectations and provides the music an opportunity,” he says. “See if it might have an effect on your coronary heart and have it outline a sure second of your life.”
Just the way in which Joaquin Phoenix enjoying Johnny Cash as soon as did for him.
Dermot Kennedy. With Mehro. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 30, on the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-462-0222; browardcenter.org. Tickets value $39.50 to $59.50 by way of ticketmaster.com.