Meekoh is an indie singer-songwriter from the Pacific Northwest. His music is infused with indie folk, beautiful acoustics, smooth reggae, and a bit of Latin mixed all together for one beautiful infusion of music. He chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his latest endeavors.
He is currently based in Los Angeles and is also an owner of the up-and-coming production film company called, Collidoscope. You can find his soulful music on all platforms and the newest music video “From the River’ on YouTube.
What are five lessons you’ve learned as a musician during the pandemic? Please explain each in depth.
I’d have to say the very first thing I learned over the pandemic was just how meaningless my career really was. Not necessarily the music or the art aspect, because that will always be a part of me, but all the other things like making fans, booking shows, exposure, numbers, analytics, algorithms, and fame became something that felt so silly to me. I’ve never really cared too much about them to begin with but the pandemic really put everything into perspective for me. No one really cares about what you do for a career when you’re trying to survive a pandemic.
Second, silence is golden. Or is it? The second thing would be silence. Living in LA everything is so fast-paced and there is always something going on which can make it difficult to remember to find quality time for yourself. The pandemic really forced me to finally spend some much-needed time alone and in silence. I’m not going to lie, it’s not always the easiest thing to do especially when you are a very social person. But I’ve really grown to enjoy spending time alone… to reflect on my life and also to focus on myself as a human and artist.
No. 3, e-commerce saved us. The third lesson I learned is how important the Internet is. Amazon prime was literally our go-to for everything we needed. And Social media kept us together with the ones we loved and gave us insight into what’s going on around the world. But as most of you know it can also lead to many negative things as well, so we had to be very careful how we spent our time online.
No. 4, you can record on your own. The fourth lesson would have to be the ability to create music on your own. I spent the past several years trying to learn everything I could about producing, engineering, and just really invested in myself so that I wouldn’t always be dependent on others to help me make the music I felt in my soul. There really isn’t a worse feeling as an artist just sitting around waiting on other people to help you because you don’t have money or knowledge on what to do. Luckily, all that hard work and time paid off because I spent all the pandemic writing and recording music in a small makeshift studio I made in a small cottage with my Fiancé and little puppy.
Finally, embrace companionship. I just remember getting a ton of phone calls from our family back home in Oregon and watching the world fall apart on the news. I felt helpless as everything around me was like a whirlwind and the only thing that mattered was getting out of LA to make sure my fiancé would be ok because she has a very rare and deadly respiratory disease called Cystic Fibrosis.
At the end of the day, nothing else even matters to me except her and my family. So we fled to a small cottage in southern Oregon to find isolation and safety in the midst of all the chaos. It was here that I realized how lucky I am to have the life that I do.
Even if I never touched another stage or microphone, I could die a happy man knowing that I have the most beautiful woman in the world by my side, a healthy family, amazing friends, and the most loyal puppy in the world!
Tell us about your latest project and the meaning behind it.
“From the River” is a song I wrote for the love of my life during the pandemic. She has a life-threatening disease called cystic fibrosis which forced us to leave LA and travel to the small gold mining town of Jacksonville, Oregon.
I spent the next several months in a small cottage where I found peace and fortitude in the midst of all the chaos that was going on in the world. Every day, I woke up to the birds chirping, rivers flowing, and trees whispering in the wind. It was during this time that I was able to finish writing this song which I had previously started writing over a year before the pandemic started. It all just clicked and I immediately started recording in a small makeshift studio that I made in our quaint little cottage.
It was also the first time I produced, wrote, and performed a song all by myself. I used real instruments on every part of the song because I wanted to create something that felt real and alive. A symbol of what love has given me.
Once I had most of the song laid out I called my dear friend, James McMillen, a brilliant composer who arranged the strings and horns on my last EP “Fire and Diamonds”. He immediately suggested we use Vitamin Strings, one of the most viral top string quartets in the world. We spent at least two months trying to FaceTime and email ideas on how to arrange melodies and solve Covid safety issues for the string players.
We could only track one musician in the studio at a time with days in between isolation and quarantine. It was going smooth until one of our string players, who was pregnant, got Covid19. It was a big scare for us all and forced us to really take even more safety measures. Luckily, in the end, everyone was ok and we managed to pull off one of the most beautiful songs ever.
With folky acoustics, beautifully arranged strings, deep upright bass tones, Americana drums, sweeping piano notes, and smooth harmonies, this is easily one of the best indie-folk songs that you’ll ever hear.
How do the lingering effects of COVID-19 and now the Delta variant, impact your future as an artist?
It definitely created a big shift in the way I normally do things. I can see and feel the desire people have to get back out and enjoy life again, as I do. I’ve learned the importance of being flexible and creative as an artist. There really is no one shoe fits all in this industry. If you can dream it you can almost always find a way to bring it to life.
I think adapting to the world is something we will always have to do as artists. I’m ready for that. I’m ready to play live shows in front of packed venues and I’m also ready to play for 10 people on Ig live. No matter what happens I just want to be happy doing what I love with the people I love.
What can fans expect from you over the next few months?
Well, my next single “Coming Home” comes out on Sept 3. It is by far one of the best songs I’ve ever written and I fully believe it’s a song for everyone! It’s an upbeat indie folk ride that just keeps going and going! Perfect for road trips and blissful moments.
My full EP “The Sun EP” comes out on Oct 29 and that is by far the thing I’m most excited about! It’s been a labor of love for over two years now and I can’t wait to share it with the world.
“From the River” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Meekoh, check out his official website and his Facebook page.
