1.
Ever since hearing “The Coyotes,” Mesita has been an artist I’m excited to hear more from. When I got my hands on his album The Coyote, I had very little idea of what to expect from James Cooley, a one-man-band who said he was trying to record an intense, sprawling album in his bedroom and closet. I pressed play, and “Ken Caryl” was the first thing I heard. I immediately dragged the entire album into my iPod.
Mesita – “Ken Caryl”
Here’s what Mesita had to say about the album and this particular track:
“The whole album was recorded in a house down in Austin these last six months. I’ve basically been locked in a room tracking and editing or outside doing yard work. It’s been a nice, sort of weird change of pace, but glad to finally wrap it up and continue on. The whole album started out quieter, more acoustic, subtle and roomy. But I wasn’t working with the best equipment, and nothing was sounding nearly like I wanted it to, so it started to become a lot more loud and chaotic, a lot more layers of electronics, all from being so frustrated with how it was ending up. Sort of when something’s broken, you end up getting so frustrated, you start banging on shit hoping anything starts to work. It all sort of exploded and became what it is.”
“‘Ken Caryl’ is the name of the area I grew up in Colorado. It’s a beautiful area up against the foothills full of great people. It’s strange growing up in such a comfortable place, though, and home can get pretty hard to leave. When you’re away, you miss everything you had growing up. The people I met back in high school are still the people I keep close. I’ve lived in Seattle, New York, and Austin. Met all sorts of new people from different areas with different stories, but you still find a way to gravitate back to those you grew up with. Go through so much, have so many new stories to tell, but then go back home to old friends, just sort of sit there without much to talk about. That familiarity can be nice to come back to, and it can be so numbing at the same time.”
