EQUATE Meets: Surf Mesa
For 20-year-old Powell Aguirre, ‘mellifluous’ is the word he likes to use for the music he makes as ‘Surf Mesa’. Rooted in dance (but sounds best by the light of the full moon we’ve heard), his electronic sound is full of organic texture and undoubtedly makes him a hitmaker. In other words, as Surf puts it, his genre is: “music for good feels”, which is certainly what sums up his biggest hit to date, “ily (i love you baby)” featuring Emilee, a tropically tinged summer-of-love smash hit that was born on TikTok, but quickly conquered listening platforms around the world, amassing over 300 million streams in less than three months, topping the U.S. and Global Viral Charts, and debuting on Top 40 radio. We caught up with Surf Mesa ahead of the release of his latest single “Somewhere” Ft. Gus Dapperton and spoke all about his ascension into the spotlight, as well as what’s to come next.
Read the interview below…
EQ: For those that don’t know, who is Surf Mesa?
SM: Surf Mesa is a project I started when I was 16 years old, working a dead-end retail job, dreaming of becoming successful. All of the music at that point was made in my bedroom, where I would sit at my desk and work on songs that I hoped would one day take me out of Seattle and around the world. Surf Mesa was my escape.
EQ: How did you come up with your artist name – is there any background behind it?
SM: During high school, I played this game called “Counter-Strike” and “Surf Mesa” was one of the maps within the video game. I actually thought I might go pro as a gamer but decided my time was better spent on music.
EQ: Your music has fun, mellow pop vibes. Who did you grow up listening to and who do you draw the most inspiration from now?
SM: My dad is a musician in a local jazz band and his taste in music has influenced me greatly. Even now I can call him up and send him demos I’m working on or ideas I’m thinking about and he’ll give me such amazing feedback and critique. He heard my latest song “Somewhere” as it was just beginning to come together. Big inspirations for me are The Killers, Coldplay, David Bowie, Prince, Queen – classic bands and legends. I love listening to old music and being inspired.
EQ: Your song ‘ily’ quickly took off thanks to the help of Tik Tok and is now a major hit all over the world. Considering the song is basically a cover, what made you choose to sample this one?
SM: The singer on ‘ily,’ Emilee, already had an existing cover out of the original on Tik Tok that I heard and thought was absolutely amazing. After DMing with her over Instagram, I got her vocals added to the version you hear today. I loved her take on the classic, and thought my sound and production would complement it all.
EQ: What’s the best Tik Tok Video you’ve seen with your music?
SM: Seeing a video of Jason Derulo making brownies to my song was pretty up there. I actually got to FaceTime him shortly after he posted that Tik Tok and he gave me some good advice and congratulated me on how well the song is doing. That was a crazy moment for me.
EQ: You’ve recently dropped a brand-new song, Somewhere ft Gus Dapperton. First of all, how did the collab come about and what was it like working with him?
SM: I’ve looked up to Gus for a while – he’s an extremely unique and talented artist. I’m a fan of his original music as well as of course “Supalonely” with Benee which also blew up on Tik Tok. I’m glad we were able to capture his vocals with my sound to create something we’re both really proud of and will stand the test of time. It’s a bit harder to work in person these days because of COVID, but Gus makes things seamless and positive.
“…the upside, though, is that in the digital age we now have platforms that can accelerate new artists faster than ever before, so once you get the break, it can be big.”
– SURF MESA
EQ: What’s your creative process like when creating a new song?
SM: I always start with chords. I’ll sit at my piano for hours just playing chords, jamming, until something comes that feels like it might turn into something. I like to produce upbeat music that has a soul – music that moves people.
EQ: For artists of your generation, what did you find is the biggest challenge to get recognised and heard in the music industry?
SM: A lot of new artists feel like their only platform to get heard is Soundcloud, which is also where I started. I was uploading every single bedroom beat I made onto the site. In addition, I emailed almost every music magazine, blog, and website that exists – hoping that someone would love my music. It was so much work and I was constantly uploading and sending music to people. The upside, though, is that in the digital age we now have platforms that can accelerate new artists faster than ever before, so once you get the break, it can be big.
EQ: Do you have any more plans for this year music-wise?
SM: We have a lot of music ready to be released. I’m ready to put these songs out – we’re gonna do singles and work our way to a longer project, EP or album down the road. Things are truly just getting started, and I’m lucky and grateful to have such a big catapult-like ‘ily’ to kick things off.
EQ: Other than music, what else do you enjoy doing?
SM: Quarantine is making a lot of things tough – I’m trying to stay home as much as possible so that we can all go back to normal lives (and go to festivals and concerts!) ASAP. As I said earlier, I’ve always been a gamer, so I’ve been playing a lot of Xbox. Lately, I’ve been playing Skate 3 in between writing music or when I hit writer’s block. I’ve found that playing a game for a bit can help in the creative process.