Q&A: Welcome Your Weirdness With mehro
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
Photo by Sasha Gebert
“I’VE JUST BEEN SEEING GREEN EVERYWHERE — not natural green, that’s the point,” mehro shares in reference to early inspirations for their album weirdthrob, released on September 9.
An unnatural variation of the color is a symbol of distinction and imperfection. With weirdthrob, mehro invites acknowledgment—even celebration—of what each listener’s personal green may be.
Although the album is assorted with its experimentation and refusal to identify as a single sound, weirdthrob still fits perfectly into the world of mehro. Perhaps because that world is an open one. It is unlocked for anyone who wishes to take a chance on honest and forgiving reflection.
The album feels like an extension of mehro’s song “who are you” from their 2023 album Dark Corners and Alchemy. In that track, they ask, “Who are you in your darkest dreams?” Similarly, weirdthrob is about your strangeness. It’s about the parts of yourself you might doubt as unloveable. It’s about individuality. The aim is not to tame those parts of yourself, but rather, to coexist. They are what make us whole, after all.
“Everyone tells you to not express yourself the way you want to express yourself, and to be polite,” mehro explains. “It’s important to be conscientious of the people around you, but there’s a balance of being honestly yourself and true to who you are, and what things can’t change. What things just are.”
What is special about the thematic focus of weirdthrob is that idiosyncrasies—whether they be insecurities, fears, curiosities, or tendencies—will differ from listener to listener. You will be able to bring your personal oddities to your listening experience. In essence, weirdthrob is what you make it.
Read our conversation with mehro below.
Photo by Sasha Gebert
LUNA: The concept of weirdthrob is feelings of otherness, of being an outsider. The album is a willingness to dive into those exact parts of yourself. Did you experience any hesitancy during the creation of this soul-bearing project?
MEHRO: The hesitancy came after it was created as a full piece. As it was happening, there was no thought of it. It was like food being cooked. I wouldn’t even say that I was the chef. I don’t know what I am—the plate, the food itself? It was just happening, just chemicals. Then you see what’s available, you see what you’re looking at, and think, “Can I give this to these people out there? I don’t know if they can eat this.” But the plate is already being taken away. The food is already been taken away. I surprised myself, but not while it was being made.
LUNA: Following the recording, did you find your relationship to those parts of yourself change at all?
MEHRO: Tour and music has allowed me to dive deeper into myself and see that the eccentricities that an artist provides is our asset, our uniqueness. How we see the world is what we provide to it.
LUNA: One of my favorite lyrics on the album is “I don’t see fate anymore / Maybe it’s in my hands.” It made me think about how art is somewhat of a loophole because it’s creation from scratch and there’s a sense of control in that, although the things inspiring the art might not always be our choice. I’m curious about your relationship with that. How much of you is simply listening to your experiences and what comes through, and how much of you is actively chiseling away?
MEHRO: I don’t think it’s separate. I think it’s all one experience. It’s obvious that you’re listening when you’re creating something, but in those moments, it’s not the same as just listening. It’s almost as if you’re distracting a child before they’re getting a shot at the doctor’s office—and then something else is giving you what you need. It’s almost as if the more stimulating things are happening, the more your conscious brain can be distracted. Your fears, your constructs, the things that you’ve learned, they can be distracted. Then the real thing happens. It has nothing to do with you. It never had anything to do with you. You’re being channeled and you are a vessel.
Photo by Sasha Gebert
LUNA: You don’t hand out too many answers in your music. You like for listeners to make their own associations. Why is it important for you to encourage that openness for your listeners?
MEHRO: You have all the answers, you just need somebody to ask you the questions. Who better to ask you the questions than yourself? You have all the answers that you’re looking for. Why do I provide that for the audience? Because then it’s more inherently theirs. The art is then only theirs, and their interpretation of it is priceless. That’s what makes the art belong to you. That is the gift that art brings to us—our interpretation of it.
LUNA: Interestingly, you end the album with a question: “Leave me alone / Where are you going?” When you get to the point in the process where you’re tracklisting and choosing what would make a good ending for a project, what kind of considerations are you making?
MEHRO: The tracklisting for weirdthrob, to be honest, was throwing things against the wall because nothing made any sense. After all the songs were done, it was like, “Do these things just not fit together?” But we kept chiseling away and feeling what the story represents. Ending with a question was not a conscious decision, but that feels right. It feels right that this album would end on a question.
LUNA: On “Sex Fiend” you do this thing that I’m calling an “anti-scream” where we might expect you to belt something out, but you whisper it. I think it’s so smart. When you were choosing the sonic risks you would take, or something you might turn upside down, do you remember how you landed on those decisions? Was it intuitive?
MEHRO: I didn’t expect it. I guess you should just coax yourself into a specific state, let yourself go there. So many people don’t even let themselves go there. There are so many reasons to not. But it’s all there. You could pretend that it’s not, but it’s there in your subconscious. Have a little fun. Make fun of yourself. Don’t think about it.
Photo by Sasha Gebert
LUNA: What does allowing yourself to go there look like for you?
MEHRO: A trance. A seance. The musicality takes you to different places. The notes take you to different places. The chords take you to different places. It looks different depending on where you’re going.
LUNA: But you don’t always know where you’re going.
MEHRO: That’s the best part. That’s when you’re fucking doing something—when you’re in new territory.
LUNA: When it comes to your lovely community, are you thinking of them when you’re experimenting with new sounds? Or are you trusting in their unconditionality?
MEHRO: I think of their names and their faces as I would friends—because they are. I’m in constant communication with them. Going back to the chef thing, I’m making the food and they’re at the restaurant. They’ve had enough meals to know that there isn’t a set menu. I’m not working with a certain amount of ingredients. I’m going to change it up. They know that now, so I have to let the art come as it will. I love them very much. I’m so grateful, so blessed, that these people feel this strongly about the art.
