Half-Alive, The Walters, Mehro

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The three members of Half-Alive and friends.

Half-Alive

media release: Indie pop/rock trio half•alive have released their third studio album, Persona, available to stream and purchase here today via Virgin Music Group. The bold, cohesive and compact body of work that touches on love, anger, longing, crisis and estrangement. Throughout 11 tracks, half•alive explore what it means to be human – how do personalities develop and how does the outside world perceive you. At the end of it all, they challenge you to answer the question – are you looking or are you seeing?

Fans will get a chance to hear these songs live on their Persona World Tour, produced by Live Nation, kicking off in March 2025, with a stop at The Sylvee in Madison on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Full of top-notch production, incredible dance choreography, and unique arrangements of their catalog, half•alive are truly a band that you have to see live. The Walters and mehro are touring as support.

The creative lengths of this band know no bounds as they have teamed up with Ray-Ban for the video for new song “All My Love (Imperative)” filmed entirely on the new Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses - watch here “A consistent state of busyness is normal in a city like Los Angeles. We don’t know how to rest. We don’t know how to differentiate what we do from who we are,” shares Josh Taylor. “We are all guilty of responding to the simple ‘how are you?’ with a knee jerk ‘I’m good, I’m really busy’ to try and attach our degree of hustle to our self worth. ‘All My Love’ is poking at the idea that worth is downstream from work.

“I get warm, soothing chills down my spine when I’m around people singing in harmony. Whenever it happens I can almost see the voices twisting together, and molding into one beautiful thing lighting up the room. I think that’s why so many people are drawn to concerts. Whether you’re singing along with the band or just listening, there’s a certain magic in the room that gets shared by everyone there, “ shares Josh Taylor, looking ahead to getting back on the road. “We’re looking forward to feeling that at the shows next year. The high intensity, the introspection, the swaying, the absorbing and participating-  it’s all creating a harmony. 

Tickets will be available starting with an artist presale beginning on Tuesday, November 19 at 10 am. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on sale beginning on Friday, November 22 at 10 am. For more info and tickets go to  www.halfalive.co. 

For a band that is known for their dynamic visuals and captivating production, the Long Beach-based trio, made up of multi-instrumentalists Brett Kramer, Josh Taylor and J Tyler Johnson, were inspired to peel back the layers in the studio with producer Tommy King (HAIM, The 1975, Vampire Weekend). Adding in collaborators like Justin Tranter, Skyler Stonestreet, Emma Rosen and Jonah Shy, half•alive created songs that were captivating and shocking while also being focused and intentional, as well as having award-winning choreographers JA Collective (made up of Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry) reprise their roles to direct movement across the visuals.

Throughout the music videos for previously released singles including the heart-warming harmonic single “Songs”, indie-pop anthem “Sophie’s House” and the heavy-hitting “Automatic”, fans have been introduced to the mascots of Persona – Sonny and Cher. These two “monster-like” creatures were created when the band stumbled upon a digital artist online. An Instagram account (@blatant.space) full of images of exaggerated monsters and fantastical creatures with both animal and humanoid features left half•alive wondering about the stories behind these characters and what it would mean to bring them to life. With the artists’ blessing, the band fabricated two monster mascots that represent the idea that your persona is a different skin that you wear to protect your true self. Fans can now make their own monster while listening to Persona by visiting https://halfalive.lnk.to/monstermaker.

“Persona has allowed us to lean into big choices while also learning a valuable lesson in editing. Anything that didn’t contribute to telling a story was left on the cutting room floor and we couldn’t be more proud of this album. It is truly the best version of half•alive and we’re so happy these songs are now yours.”

For more information, please be sure to follow half•alive on socials and at their website.

About half•alive:

The music of half•alive breathes, evolves, grows, and changes alongside the lives of the Long Beach trio—Josh Taylor [vocals], Brett Kramer [drums], and J Tyler Johnson [bass]. half•alive officially came to life on the 2017 3 EP, which sparked a palpable buzz on the strength of “The Fall” and “Aawake At Night”. Over the course of the next year, they crafted what became their massive breakout single “still feel.” which has been RIAA certified Gold, rocketed into the Top 10 at Alt Radio and has over 290 million worldwide streams to date.

Since then, the band has released now three full-length albums, were named YouTube’s Artist on the Rise, have had multiple Top 20 Alt Radio singles, performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, secured a spot in Vevo’s DSCVR class and showcased their incredibly creative artistry at NPR’s Tiny Desk with the outlet calling them “a band with a clear vision and gift for design, not just in the earworms they write, but in their entire presentation.”

With help from incredible collaborators like choreographers and creative partners Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry, otherwise known as JA Collective, half•alive have completed three headlining tours across the United States, EU and UK, supported Twenty One Pilots on a massive arena tour and have graced major festival stages like Outside Lands, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. Celebrated for their cutting-edge choreography and visual presentations both on and off the stage, the band has quickly become the definition of a must-be-seen to be believed act.

"You’re So Pretty,” the new track from rising artist mehro, premiered on Feb. 14. This guitar heavy single marks a new creative direction from the genre bending artist who further showcases their ability to craft songs that scratch and pull at your emotions.

Of the song, mehro writes:

“A beam of light piercing through a small window near the top of a high ceilinged dark room.

The debris flies through the light like meteors and moons then disappears into the darkness boundary set by its opposite, likely to never be seen again.

Sometimes I feel like debris. Sometimes I feel like light. Sometimes I feel like whatever the light chose to ordain. Sometimes I feel nothing. And sometimes I am all of these things at the exact same time… 

Departure? Evolution? Career suicide?

Call it whatever you would like, but this song came to me in the very chair that I am writing this quote from and I am honored that I was the vessel that it chose.

I continue to flop forward, like a fish out of water. And what does it say about me that I wouldn’t have it any other way?

On another note a dear friend of mine who espouses himself as a music aficionado said that this might have the worst chorus that they have ever heard.

Cheers to polarization.

Cheers to moving forward.

Cheers to the muse.

p.s.

Rest in peace David Lynch”

mehro will also take their live show back on the road this spring with an extensive run of North American tour dates supporting indie pop/rock trio half•alive. Kicking off in March, this tour will stop at iconic venues across the country, including performances at New York’s Brooklyn Paramount, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium and Nashville’s Marathon Music Works. Full tour routing can be found below. 

Enveloped in music from childhood, mehro initially resisted a career as a musician. That changed when the then-teenager watched the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. Inspired, they picked up a guitar that night and began learning “Folsom Prison Blues,” eventually beginning to write their own music. Since arriving with their debut single “perfume” in 2020, the singer-songwriter immediately caused ripples. The stripped-back love song has since garnered more than 77 million streams on Spotify alone and heralded mehro as one of 2023’s breakout artists. 

Last year, mehro released their thematically raw new record trauma lullabies on their mother’s birthday, which continues to receive praise; PAPER Magazine proclaims, "mehro’s moody melodies linger… [Their] music is confessional and tender, songs that tap into love, despair and everything in between,” while Ones To Watch furthers, “trauma lullabies' nostalgic yet immediately inviting soundscapes supplement lyrics that take listeners through a layered emotional journey.” In September, they also released an electrifying track “Lady Parts and Mannequins” alongside an accompanying video. This guitar heavy single marked a new creative direction from the genre bending artist who further showcased their ability to craft songs that scratch and pull at your emotions. 

Spring of 2022 saw mehro perform on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series and garnered praise from the likes of NPR’s All Songs Considered, FLOOD Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, FLAUNT Magazine, GEN V, Wonderland Magazine, Under The Radar and more. Most recently, mehro was named a 2025 “Artists To Watch” by Grammy.com and currently has 30x weekly spins on SiriusXM’s Alt Nation.