Video premiere: Peel’d, ‘Cahuenga Pass’

Kevin Bronson on July 11th, 2019

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Since Lewis Pesacov debuted his solo project Peel’d last fall, the singer-songwriter, producer and composer has unleashed a steady stream of EPs and singles — all music fueled by the deep introspection and personal inventory that comes with turning a certain age. In Pesacov’s case, it’s 40.

Such milestones inspire questions like “Who Am I?” (the lead track the Peel’d EP “Take It As It Comes,” released in March). They also make one wonder what constitutes “over the hill.” And the Los Angeles native uses a famous local hillside to meditate on the issue on his third EP, “Cahuenga Pass.”

Last year, Pesacov got a case of mountain fever when he scaled Mt. Whitney. Cahuenga Peak is no Mt. Whitney, but it offers the kind of spectacular vistas that inspire contemplation. And Pesacov, born in Hollywood and reared in the San Fernando Valley, had traversed the Cahuenga Pass countless times. After all, in the parlance of Angelenos, “over the hill” refers to the Valley. So, he says, “I’ve been thinking about turning 40, you know, being over the hill, more as in goin’ home, as in going towards death and having to learn to be OK with it any moment. We’re there much longer than we’re here.”

Not quite so fatalistic in the song, Pesacov sings “Coming down over the hill, today won’t be my last / I still got some more thrills, this side the Cahuenga Pass.”

Poet and visual artist Jenna Putnam directs the video for “Cahuenga Pass,” which tours familiar L.A. locales but is centered at the Wisdom Tree, the lone pine atop Cahuenga Peak. It’s a poignant visual to accompany the tune’s distinctly L.A. musicality and its Tom Petty vibe.

Pesacov, who played guitar in the widely acclaimed L.A. bands Foreign Born and Fool’s Gold, produced artists such as Best Coast, FIDLAR, Nikki Lane, Oberhofer, Guards, Happy Hollows and Valley Queen and even composed a chamber opera in 2013, has long been regarded for virtuosity. On his Peel’d EPs, he’s reaching new heights.

||| Watch: The video for “Cahuenga Pass”