What do the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cody have in common?
They’re fans of Adrian Jay Mitchell.
The 31-year-old’s musical journey began back in Michigan, where his middle school best friend and fellow bandmate, Jackson Simmons, just so happened to be the nephew of Chili’s frontman, Anthony Kiedis. They met before a concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2014 and Kiedis was enamored with Mitchell’s music.
As Mitchell looked for a place to strike out on his own in California, he crashed with Kiedis for a while, living the dream, riding around sunny Los Angeles and making music at their leisure. The fast-paced lifestyle began to wear on young Mitchell as he decided to venture out on his own in search of a new, quieter life in Bozeman, Montana.
“Boze-Angeles” might’ve been the perfect next stop for Mitchell, a smaller town with a growing music scene and an opportunity to reinvent himself. Mitchell was a staunch atheist in his teens but ultimately found his wife and spiritual comfort in Christianity.
“I used to pursue music as if it was the only end that would make sense for my life. I lived the rock star lifestyle, even though I wasn’t a famous rock star. It was a path of death and destruction. There was a lot of fun to be had on one hand, but on the other hand, it was a bit of a dark path,” said Mitchell during a recent interview with KHOL.
Now he’s putting down roots in Park County with a wife and newborn son, both of whom he referred to as his greatest muses. Mitchell currently lives in Cody and works for radio station KODI as a sales representative, but sheepishly admits he wished he was more involved with the music department.
His most recent release, “Ghost Notes,” is an intimate and cathartic message written to Richard Devon, a lifelong friend of Mitchell’s who passed away in January this year at the age of 29. To honor Devon’s legacy as a musician and “brother,” Mitchell penned an Elliott Smith-esque ballad, a process that shifted his perspective on the loss.
“It started with this crushing loss and then by the end of the song it was pure gratefulness for the experience,” he said.
Using a mixture of analog and digital recording techniques, Mitchell also drew inspiration from the solo work of the Chili’s guitarist John Frusciante. He prefers to handle all the aspects of producing his own music but feels open to collaboration when the time’s right. With such a personal subject matter, Mitchell’s thoughts and emotions remain raw and unfiltered.
For now, Mitchell’s focus remains on his family and career at KODI. He’s a slow writer, he says, but his next musical endeavor is to reimagine an old release of his and breathe new life into songs he still feels a connection to, even if the person who wrote them was different back then. Mitchell’s experience with the dark side of life allows him to continue pursuing lighter moments with an unwavering sense of optimism and belief that something good will come.
Listen above for KHOL’s full conversation with Adrian Jay Mitchell.
Support for this arts and cultural coverage comes from the Wyoming Arts Council.
