Ears Wide Open: Junior Mesa

on
0
Junior Mesa (Photo by Sydney Yatco)

Bakersfield-bred Junior Mesa is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music is deeply rooted in the 1970s and, in turn, all the music that got the world to the ’70s.

He turned 21 years old today, celebrating by releasing two new singles, “Losing My Grip” and “Creep.” They’re the first new tunes since Mesa relocated to L.A. after the 2019 release of his debut EP “Peace.”

“I’m trying to bring together ’70s, alternative, funk, soul, indie, rock and old school jazz,” Mesa says. “I aim to build a world. It’s why I’m personally playing everything and writing all of the lyrics. I create it all piece by piece.”

Indeed, Mesa is a do-it-yourselfer who is self-taught on guitar, drums, piano and bass and counts the likes of Wes Montgomery, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone among his heroes, although legend is that after he picked up his grandfather’s guitar as a high school sophomore, the first song he learned was Nirvana’s “Lithium.”

“Losing My Grip” is a brisk, self-effacing rocker with a tasty flute that sounds like three or four ’70s hitmakers mashed into 2 1/2 minutes, with a little Canned Heat on the side.

“I hope people get whatever they need from the music,” Mesa says. “Personally, it comes back to giving me serenity. We all feel different things. A sad song can often make you feel good. You finally know somebody is thinking the same thing you are. If I can connect that way, I know I’m doing something right.”

The new singles are out via Nice Life Recording Co., whose founder Ricky Reed mixed the tracks.

||| Watch: The video for “Losing My Grip”

||| Also: Stream “Losing My Grip” and “Creep”