Hailing from the most electric musical hotspot of North America, Philadelphia musician Greg Mendez is a lo-fi, indie rock artist known for his melancholic, yet gentle tunes. Through his lyrical storytelling, Mendez has perfected the art of creating songs that feel simultaneously devastating and deeply comforting, providing an intimate and engaging listening experience for his audience. Mendez graciously joined me to gossip about his upcoming album, Beauty Land, his relationship with creating music, and of course, the 1997 masterpiece Titanic. 

So, why did you start making music? 

Hm, I have always been really drawn to music. I used to spend a lot of time thinking about music, and thought making music was something I wanted to do. At some point it turned into something that I felt like I had to do. 

How old were you when you started making music? 

I started begging for a guitar for a long time before I finally got one. But, I think I actually started when I was in middle school. I finally got a guitar and I immediately started writing songs. I was in a sort of pop-punk band, it wasn’t very good. From that point on though, I guess music just became my thing and I knew it was what I wanted to do. 

What artists inspire you?

Ha, at that time it would have definitely been Blink-182, Green Day, you know the classics. It’s interesting, it’s all still the same kind of melodies that Blink-182 and Green Day used. Now I like a lot of older pop music. I like The Beatles, The Kinks, that sort of sound. Stuff that has those good pop melodies, the stuff that feels good. 

I was definitely into the 90s rock stuff too, like Pavement and Elliot Smith, but I started getting into that later, probably around high school. But if you really trace it back, all of that stuff is basically just The Beatles and The Beach Boys with different aesthetics, maybe treating the lyrics a bit differently. Nirvana too, very Beatles inspired shit. 

What does your writing/recording process look like? 

I usually just fumble around with the guitar or keyboard and wait for something to pull me in. It could just be a chord change or some nonsense with a snippet of a melody that feels like something. Then I’ll just take it from there. 

Other times I’ll be out walking or driving and hear something in my head and hope that I’ll remember it. Sometimes I’ll make a voice memo and get home and think, “Wow, this is terrible.” But every now and again it turns into something good. At the beginning stages, I try not to put any limitations on myself. I don’t go in with a clear idea of what the lyrics are going to be, at any point really until it’s done. 

I basically do everything in the recording process myself. My wife, V, sings the harmonies on some songs from time-to-time and we play live together a lot, but for the recordings, It’s usually just me. 

Has living in Philadelphia influenced your sound?

Yeah, so I’m originally from Jersey, but I moved here for the first time when I was 17. I definitely think living here has influenced my sound in some way. Maybe not in a way I am aware of, but life is a little different everywhere, and people are a little different everywhere and those influences bleed into your work. The music scene here has its own sounds and I came up in that. I also think it's the lead. There is definitely lead in the water. 

Do you play in any other bands? 

I played in this indie-pop band with a bunch of members back in the late 2000s. It was called Airports. I’ve also played in a couple hardcore/punk bands over the years. Sometimes I play with my friend Shannen Moser in their live band. Oh, and V has their own project called Mary Saint Mary, I am half of that. 

Upcoming tour, how are we feeling? 

It’s a bit daunting, but I’m excited. I’ve had good times and bad times on the road for sure. Driving is pretty easy for me, I like doing most of the driving. I can just lock in and meditate in a way. It can get a little intense though, especially if it is a really long stretch of shows, or if there’s a bunch of shorter runs all back to back. It’s easy to get burnt out and then I don’t get as excited about it, which can be a bummer. 

Favorite city/venue? 

Honestly, they kind of all blur together. It's not like any of them are bad though. I like being out on the West Coast. I never really spent any time out there before the past couple of years, so it's always cool to see. 

Any pre-show rituals? Do you get nervous? 

I don’t get that nervous anymore, but I definitely used to. I usually just try to chill and attempt to have some alone time, even if it's just ten minutes, before I go on. Go to the bathroom, maybe smoke a cigarette. Maybe drink some tea if I'm sick. Man, there’s always a period on tour when you get sick, so it can be hard to sing. You just don’t want anything to pop up when you are on stage. 

If you could tour with anyone, who would you pick? 

I’d tour with Neil Young. I just feel like old Neil Young would be chill. He doesn’t take shit from anyone. He’s always pulling his music off these streaming services and putting it back on, I like that. He’s not afraid to change what he is about, he just seems cool. 

Favorite Books & Movies? 

I love Pride and Prejudice, both the book and the movie (specifically the Keira Knightley one). I just read Their Eyes Were Watching God and I really enjoyed it. Honestly, I’ve been really into the movie Titanic. One day I started watching it, and then I just kept watching it. I like Rose, Jack is cool too. I don’t even like the romance part that much, but I enjoy a lot of period pieces and I feel like they did a really good job of making a convincing world out of it. I like The Hunger Games a lot. The first two are really good. I like old movies too. There were a bunch of horror movies with the “leaving soon” label on HBO, so I was just watching these weird horror movies from the 60s for a while. They were cool. Some of the effects are corny, but not any cornier than the CGI shit today. The rest of the movies ususally looked quite realistic.

How has the rise of social media impacted your ability to reach new audiences? 

Thinking back to when I first started, we still had platforms like MySpace and Facebook where I could put my music out. So there was always some sort of social media. It’s a blessing and a curse for sure. I’m not that active on social media, but I think people forget that bands still existed and operated before it. I think social media has so effectively taken hostage our means to communicate with each other that we give it too much credit. You could still reach people before, but now it is so much easier that nobody does all the other things anymore. It makes more work for the artist in the way. Like a show promoter would take care of all of that stuff, and now artists are sort of forced to have social media to advertise and post about their music. It’s definitely a double-edged sword. I don’t knock anyone for building up their online profiles, I just don’t have a lot of interest in it. 

And finally, what is the most scared you’ve ever been? 

I don’t know if I can truly answer that! Let’s just say very, very scared.