"THE FIRST STEP FOR ME IS FINDING THE GUITAR TONE THAT SPEAKS"

For rising star MEHRO, every song begins with an acoustic. His method, “Being open, being in tune and channeling the inspiration”

- Chris Bird 

Building a substantial following online since the tender age of 20, LA-based singer-songwriter mehro (styled with a lowercase 'm', as he prefers to be "unassuming") has quickly made a name for himself with a blend of intricate finger-style guitar work and dreamy falsetto vocals. This year he released his sophomore album, Dark Corners And 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, story boarded 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?