Sam Plascencia

The Houston-born, LA-based artist and producer Josh Mehling welcomes his latest EP release, Concrete Beach. Under his solo musical project, JDM Global, Mehling curates a summery world of vibrant juxtapositions as found in the title itself. Concrete Beach is a colorful burst of lyrically dynamic pieces packaged flawlessly into five tracks.

We caught up with Josh Mehling during golden hour over ice cream in Echo Park surrounding the release of the EP. Read more about the importance of collaboration, the main themes explored in the project, and Mehling’s most fulfilling projects!

Bad Wreck: What inspired the musical direction for your first solo project - JDM Global?

Josh Mehling: My vision for JDM Global has always been to create something much bigger than just myself – hence the name. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t have much of a choice then but to start by doing everything alone, but now it’s been fun to open up the world to many other musicians to join me in this project. I would say, initially, the JDM Global project was heavily inspired by artists like Gorillaz and Beck who have always been able to take their musical projects in whatever direction they choose. It’s always been impossible to box them into one thing. I love a project like Gorillaz because it feels like it’s a musical project that’s grown into an entire world and an ever-expanding community of many different artists and musicians – as opposed to just being a band.

BW: In what ways has producing for close friends and other artists cemented your sound for your solo work? Do you enjoy working collaboratively?

JM: I’ve almost never taken any real lessons or had any training at all in music-making, but I feel blessed to have met and collaborated with so many incredibly talented and inspiring musicians. That feels like my classical training! Picking up new ways of looking at, thinking about and creating music from all the artists I’ve met has definitely all found its way into the sound and inspiration for the JDM Global stuff. I love learning about other musician’s processes and thinking about how that compares to my own, and then breaking my own mold to try new ways of creating. That’s where some of my best ideas have come about. Collaboration is everything – it’s the heartbeat of music and the reason why I’ll never stop making it.

BW: Looking back on past projects, what has been the most fulfilling to work on?

JM: Creating “Steeeam” and “Natural” alongside the other members of Shelly will forever be one of my favorites musical experiences. Not only are these three of my best friends, pretty much siblings of mine, but they are each so talented and inspiring to me in different ways. Coming together and making songs came to us so organically in 2020 when creating was the best way of coping while the world felt like it was ending around us. The songs are so special because they came together like true magic – something that I think happens only when you’re creating music purely for the love of creating. We were all four in separate cities and the songs were made in a group chat, which is so cool to me. That inexplicable magic is what I think still resonates with people some 4 years later.

BW: Concrete Beach is a colorful and lively project reminiscent of summer — what are the main themes or messages addressed in the project?

JM: I really can’t help but make songs that have a summery feeling. But it’s been fun to keep that sound while diving into all kinds of topics, many of which aren’t very colorful or lively. The name ‘Concrete Beach’ came to mind as almost a paradox – something hard, heartless and colorless paired with something reminiscent of life, light, sunshine and fun. It felt like a good name for the EP, as many of the songs are full of these kinds of juxtapositions. “Morning Blitz” is essentially about being too depressed to get out of bed, but does end on a hopeful note! It transitions into “Wishes” which is about missing someone but finally getting to savor a moment with them. “Bronco” as a whole is basically about acting sweet and innocent while also ready to throw someone out like trash and wreck their car if they do you wrong. I love the juxtaposition of cute and violent. “Bug” is about someone always lingering in your mind like an infestation, but you let it happen because you’ve fallen for that person. And the song “Concrete Beach” is actually about becoming desensitized and finding comfort in loving each other through screens and watching our whole natural world get paved over. I may have just been fed up with my phone that day! Overall, I had a lot of fun pushing myself lyrically with the storytelling of this project, while still upholding that colorful, summery sound. 

BW: How did you curate the visuals and concepts for the EP?

JM: I am so honored to have collaborated with the incredible artist Frank Dorrey on the visual world for this project. He is such a singular artist and someone who pushes the boundaries with his art and his process behind it. We spent many months talking extensively about ideas, and we immediately clicked creatively. I have always been the biggest fan of his, so it was a dream come true to have him involved. We ended up with three incredible artworks, the main EP artwork being my favorite, as it encapsulates this feeling of what could either be a fantasy-like dream or some type of nightmare.

BW: What are your future plans for JDM Global and how do you hope to grow as an artist?

JM: I see JDM Global growing even larger as a community – in terms of bringing in more and more artists to collaborate with and introduce into the world of the project. I hope to continue shapeshifting and expanding what JDM Global can sound and look like, while still making stuff people can simply just enjoy, of course!

Gallery

Digitals by Sam Plascencia + Polaroids by Jenny Sorto

Listen to Concrete Beach here!