Powell Aguirre (born April 10, 2000), known by the stage name Surf Mesa, is an American electronic musician from Seattle. He gained fame for the single "ILY (I Love You Baby)" (2019), a song which sampled a cover of Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (1967) and gained popularity on TikTok.[2]
Surf Mesa | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Powell Aguirre[1] |
Born | Sammamish, Washington, U.S. | April 10, 2000
Genres | Electronic |
Occupation | Musician |
Years active | 2019–present |
Labels |
Biography
editAguirre was born in Seattle, and is the son of jazz saxophonist Tony Aguirre.[1] He has been making music since the third grade of elementary school, first learning through FL Studio and production tutorials on YouTube.[2] He began working on the Surf Mesa project in high school, releasing music on SoundCloud.[3] His stage name was chosen based on the Counter-Strike map of the same name.[4] As Aguirre was planning a move to Arizona to study computer science at a technology school, he broke his leg and was bed-bound for three months.[5] During this time, Aguirre was able to focus fully on producing music.[5]
Aguirre decided to move to Los Angeles after visiting a girl he was interested in, as he realized the opportunities for musicians in the city.[5] In 2019, Aguirre released his debut single "Taken Away" featuring Alexa Danielle,[6] and his debut extended play Bedroom.[7] In November, Aguirre released "ILY (I Love You Baby)", a song based on singer Emilee's cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".[2] The song gained massive popularity on video platform TikTok, leading to Aguirre being signed by Astralwerks and Universal.[8] By June 2020, the song had become an international hit, reaching the top 10 in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Singapore, and the top 5 of the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.[9]
In June 2020, Aguirre released an official remix for American electronic musician Marshmello and American singer Halsey's "Be Kind".[10]
Discography
editExtended plays
editTitle | Details |
---|---|
Bedroom |
|
Singles
editTitle | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [12] |
AUS [13] |
AUT [14] |
CAN [15] |
FRA [16] |
GER [17] |
ITA [18] |
NLD [19] |
NZ [20] |
UK [21] | ||||
"Taken Away"[6] (featuring Alexa Danielle) |
2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
"ILY (I Love You Baby)" (featuring Emilee) |
23 | 17 | 5 | 37 | 12 | 7 | 34 | 5 | 16 | 22 | |||
"Somewhere"[30] (featuring Gus Dapperton) |
2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Carried Away"[31] (with Madison Beer) |
2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —[A] | — | ||
"Lose My Mind"[33] (featuring Bipolar Sunshine) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Another Life"[34] (featuring Fletcher and Josh Golden) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart in this region. |
Remixes
editTitle | Year | Other artists | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Sleeper (Surf Mesa Remix)"[35] | 2019 | Subtoll | — |
"Be Kind (Surf Mesa Remix)"[10] | 2020 | Marshmello, Halsey | |
"Wonder (Surf Mesa Remix)"[36] | Shawn Mendes | Wonder (Deluxe) |
Notes
edit- ^ "Carried Away" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 14 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[32]
References
edit- ^ a b Torres, Matt (May 7, 2020). "Meet Surf Mesa – Producer of Viral Hit 'ily (i love you baby)'". Soundazed. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c "SURF MESA Meet the LA-hailed producer at the forefront of a new wave of music". Wonderland Magazine. June 12, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Surf Mesa – ily (i love you baby) ft. Emilee". Surfing Sound Waves. February 3, 2020. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "EQUATE Meets: Surf Mesa". EQUATE Magazine. August 3, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Meet Powell Aguirre of Surf Mesa in Venice". VoyageLA. February 3, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ a b Lin, Vivian (March 28, 2019). "We're "Taken Away" with Surf Mesa and Alexa Danielle's warm collaboration". Earmilk. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Given, Kellie (2020). "Ones To Watch: Surf Mesa and Surfaces – Two Different Artists Chasing A Similar Sound". UMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Leight, Elias (April 18, 2020). "You Have a TikTok Hit! Now, Quick — Change the Title". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Murray, Gordon (May 21, 2020). "Surf Mesa Hits Top 5 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart With Frankie Valli-Inspired 'ily'". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ a b "Be Kind (Surf Mesa Remix)". The360Mag. June 12, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Bedroom - EP". iTunes. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Surf Mesa, HSI". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
- ^ "Discography Surf Mesa". australian-charts.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
- ^ "Surf Mesa". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Chart Search: Surf Mesa, Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top Singles (Week 18, 2020)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Surf Mesa" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 23" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Surf Mesa". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "SURF MESA FT EMILEE". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "American certifications – Surf Mesa". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2020 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "British certifications – Surf Mesa". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 24, 2022. Type Surf Mesa in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Surf Mesa)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "Italian certifications – Surf Mesa" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 24, 2022. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Surf Mesa" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Tutte le sezioni" under "Sezione".
- ^ "Canadian certifications – Surf Mesa". Music Canada. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
- ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Surf Mesa feat. Emilee – ILY (I Love You Baby)". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
- ^ "French certifications – Surf Mesa" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "Somewhere - single". Apple Music. July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ @surfmesa (February 9, 2021). ""Carried Away" coming this Friday with @madisonbeer Pre-Save https://SurfMesa.lnk.to/CarriedAwayPreedAwayPresave" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ "Lose My Mind (feat. Bipolar Sunshine) - Single by Surf Mesa on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ^ "Another Life (feat. FLETCHER & Josh Golden) - Single by Surf Mesa on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ^ "Sleeper (Surf Mesa Remix) - Single". iTunes. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Wonder (Deluxe)". iTunes. Retrieved May 23, 2021.