Zander Bleck started off his career by modeling in New York City — his first big break since he grew up in “farm country” — but he knew that music was always calling his name. The musician was part of a band, which was based in New York, called Monument, but he then decided to go solo.
“I got my first record deal with Interscope Records, and then I was on tour with Lady Gaga, which was really interesting — it was almost like a college experience,” the artist exclusively tells GRAZIA USA. “I was trying to make rock happen because I idolized Queen and Led Zeppelin, and I was trying to reinvent it. It almost worked, but the audience just wasn’t there.”
Ultimately, Bleck decided he need to “reinvent” himself, leading him to start Mojave Grey during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to dive head first into this new project,’ and I haven’t looked back, and it’s been the greatest moment of my career.”
“The genre change is really fascinating to me,” Bleck, who sings, while Michael Pozzi is on guitar, says of the new venture. “We’re leaning into house and dance music. Bleck says the duo look to Rüfüs Du Sol or Bob Moses, electronic dance groups, for inspiration. “I’ve always had bands where you have a drummer and a bass player, and now it’s more about programming. I look at it as an evolution of rock music, which has been dead for a long time. It’s been exciting.”
Mojave Grey took a bit to find their groove, as they wrote songs for almost one year, “but it was a really good time to create something new,” Bleck notes of their latest tunes. “We had all of this new material, and as soon as shows started happening again, we started experimenting, and it’s been an amazing difference. The audience has changed. I think people are ready to dance. We’re also super efficient — we’ve been writing, producing and performing the songs, and it’s been interesting to see how the industry has changed.”
Bleck shares that it wasn’t easy to leave his past projects behind, but ultimately, he’s glad he took that big leap. “I had to have a really tough conversation with myself. I’ve had success, and I’ve been able to really show my skills, but it wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” he says. “I knew I had to make this pivot. I woke up one day and almost forced myself to think outside the box. It was this lightbulb moment of, ‘I need to dive in’ because I’ve been dipping my toe in electronic and dance music for a long time, but I never fully committed.”
“I feel incredibly lucky to have discovered this new sound, and it feels like I am being true to myself. It feels more organic than anything I’ve done. I feel like I’ve found the right recipe to get my music out there,” he adds.
This past summer, Bleck and Pozzi have been busy traveling all over, including performing at the Surf Lodge in Montauk, and the former still can’t get over seeing people’s reactions to his beats. “We can play at hotels, lounges and clubs, and it’s much more streamlined, which has been great. Seeing people dance is the biggest joy so far,” he shares.
The duo have big plans going forward, including dropping a debut album. “We’re going to perform all over the world. I can’t wait to play South America and be back in Europe. Just playing in front of thousands of people and doing this gives everybody a taste of the desert,” he says, referring to how how he moved to Joshua Tree, which is where he concentrated on Mojave Grey. “It’s so much different than what I have experienced before as a solo artist. This feels like a great platform that all sorts of creativity can flow from, so I am hugely ambitious for the future.”
In the fall, Bleck hopes that he and Pozzi will go on a tour, but until then, they will be traveling to New York for Fashion Week, in addition to promoting their third single, which drops at the end of August. “We’re going to be coming out with a new one almost every month for the next 18 months while we build our following and tour,” he reveals. “We have a lot going on. We’re also doing a short art film to accompany the album, so each song has its own little video imprint. It’s an exciting and creative time!”
For more information on Mojave Grey, click here.
