A few weeks ago, Philadelphia-based indie artist Greg Mendez sat down for a brief conversation with WIUX following a live session on 99.1. Before performing at The Bishop Bar for the second time on February 28th, Mendez chatted with us about the beginning of his music career, his newest release, the end of his tour, and his future plans.
Initially talking about discovering his passion for music, Mendez explained that “I’ve just liked it for as long as I can remember. I feel like I’ve always just wanted to make music, and it seemed like kind of an elusive thing, and that just made me want to do it even more.” Starting out, Mendez remembers just "frantically" uploading song after song online, not really thinking intensely about releasing an album. He has played in bands since high school and has been active in the Philly DIY scene since 2006. It wasn’t until 2016, however, when he finally released his debut album, “Phone Records.” Nearly ten years later, he’s self-released close to a dozen releases including EPs, splits, and full-length albums.
His most recent release, “First Time/Alone,” was released on Dead Oceans last October. This EP is much more stripped back compared to his last album, as it is mainly Mendez on vocals and guitar with occasional vocals and bass from his wife and bandmate, Vi. Explaining the inspiration behind the EP, Mendez simply clarified that “There really kind of wasn’t an idea, to be honest. I really just focused on making the songs.” Following a wrist injury, Mendez was forced to make the majority of the EP’s songs on the keyboard with only one hand, resulting in a unique outcome. The last two songs, however, became more guitar-centered once he healed. Primarily, though, the EP “felt more like a period of time” to Mendez. The goal was to be simplistic, authentic, and real – to “not fuss about it too much,” as Mendez said.
There is not really an overarching “theme” for the EP. Instead, during the creation process, Mendez chose to focus more on his feelings about the music rather than fitting a predetermined goal. “Things just strike me, or they don’t,” Mendez explained. “I try to not think about it as much as possible on purpose, because once I try to start making things have connections, then the things that actually do have connections are more complicated.”
After listening to the EP ourselves, we wanted to hear directly from Mendez about his favorite track: “I kind of like the last song, called ‘Pain Meds’... The whole thing is actually just sped up... It just felt better like that, you know. I played it slower, and it was lower, and I just didn't like something about it. And I turned the speed up, and then I liked it.”
Mendez then humbly explained how he hoped that “First Time/Alone” would be received. “I mean, I wanted people to like it. I didn’t really expect much.” But, of course, Mendez clarified that the EP was received well. Many people often requested his new songs while playing shows, and “people buy the 7-inch's.” Generally speaking, Mendez is less focused on the reception or perception of his music rather than the creation process – if he feels like writing and releasing songs, he will, no matter what happens after.
The cover art, on the other hand, did have some underlying sense of purpose. Explaining that he has a friend who draws much of his brand’s art, Mendez said that he simply asked to page through that friend’s sketchbook, picked out an image of a falling star that uniquely “struck” him, polished it, and stuck in on the front cover of “First Time/Alone.” To some extent, the creation process for Greg Mendez is based on simply what feels right instead of a preconceived notion that fits a stereotype. Mendez is independent and makes exactly what he wants to make.
When putting together this EP, Mendez felt it was more spontaneous compared to his self-titled album, which felt like a lengthy, painstaking process. He also felt that this collection of songs on the release still were cohesive despite a shorter process piecing together the entire work.
“I do feel they fit together in a way, maybe not literally,” Mendez said. “But they feel like some sort of arc to me.”
Mendez also got a chance to collaborate with the bands Sun Organ and They Are Gutting a Body of Water, who headlined Culture Shock 2024, on the song “Krillin,” later released as a single in March of 2024. He explained that the idea to work together started with Doug Dulgarian from TAGABOW approaching him with only a verse of a song in which it reminded him of Mendez. The song ended up being recorded in Tim Jordan of Sun Organ’s basement, with everyone pitching in their own ideas to shape the song.
“Tim hopped on and wrote some guitar parts,” Mendez explained. “So it really ended up being a three-way collaboration of the whole thing.”
Our conversation then turned to Mendez’s tour that he was due to wrap up in Pittsburgh after his Bloomington performance. He explained that during his set lists, he focused primarily on playing a mix of everything that he’s worked on, besides his older work, “partially because I don’t remember how to play,” said Mendez. The songs were received well. His travels throughout England were particularly special, mainly due to the fact that, as Mendez explained, England is across the ocean and seems disconnected from his career that blossomed in the United States. Mendez’s winter tour spanned 17 dates, taking him and Vi across the country starting in Tennessee and over through the west with stops in California, Oregon, and Utah. Each night of tour, Mendez explained that both of them took turns creating the setlist for each upcoming show. They ultimately left it up to their intuition to decide what songs to play, but of course kept some “standby” songs, as Mendez put it, prepared for fans to easily recognize and enjoy.
As Bloomington was his second to last show on tour, Mendez explained that the close of his traveling era was bittersweet: “I’m ready to be home and work on new songs, see our cat, sleep in our bed, and see all of our friends, but I’m definitely in this mode where I’m just used to playing a show every night and driving all day. So I think it’s going to be weird.”
But Mendez has plans to move forward centering around work on his next record, which will be a full-length album. After his first full US tour, he primarily just wants to “chill out” and focus on both music creation and life itself – and see his cat, of course.
