Having grown up in a multicultural household – though his parents were raised in California, his maternal grandmother was born in Jalisco, Mexico – 38-year-old Jess Sylvester’s music inevitably draws on a rich wealth of influences. “My mom introduced my sister and I to Mexican music just as much as she did Michael Jackson or Paula Abdul,” he recalls. “We grew up listening to Trio Los Panchos – they’re amazing musicians and masters of three-part harmonies – and Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones De Mi Padre was a huge hit.”