We had the good fortune of connecting with Mei Semones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mei, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
The main reason I pursued a career in music is because there was nothing else that was as interesting to me, and because playing guitar and making music is what makes me the most happy. Both playing and listening to music has been central in becoming comfortable and confident in my own identity, and it has helped me feel less alone when I feel isolated. I want to give back to the people around me what music has given to me, and I want my music to be a place of comfort for other people. I also want to provide representation to people who may have not felt represented before, through the bilingual/multicultural aspects of my music as well as the blend of different genres and influences I take from.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was first introduced to music when I started taking piano lessons at the age of 4. Around the age of 11 I switched to guitar. I briefly took classical guitar lessons and then switched to electric. I started studying jazz in high school, and that’s when I felt that I wanted to play guitar and pursue music as a career. I went to Berklee College of Music and majored in Pro-Music with a concentration in jazz guitar performance, and am now living in Brooklyn, NY, working part-time at a Japanese preschool and working on my artist project.

Although I started writing songs in middle school, the first time I wrote a song I truly liked was after I got to college. It’s the first song I ever released, called Hfoas. It was the first song I wrote that had lyrics in both English and Japanese, and compositionally it was inspired by a tune called Nardis. In terms of feel it was inspired by Bossa-nova music, since I had been listening to a lot of Gilberto that year. This song was a turning point for me — writing in both English and Japanese and drawing inspiration from the music I had been studying and playing the most was a big part of finding my sound. I draw inspiration from my favorite standards, harmonic techniques, and solos when writing my songs, and it’s important to me to show in my music how special it can be when jazz is incorporated in to new music. Writing in Japanese allows me to stay connected to my heritage in a creative way. During college, the only time I would speak Japanese was when I called my mom, so it was important for me to use it in other ways. Now since I work at a Japanese preschool I have the opportunity to speak Japanese everyday, which I’m very grateful for, and I think it’s having a positive effect on my lyric writing as well.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend was visiting me in New York, I would want to take them to Chinatown to get dim sum, boba, rice balls, and Banh-mi. I’d also want to go to Little Italy to get some Italian pastries, and K-town to get food and desserts too. And St Marks Pl since theres some good food and shopping around there! Depending on if they’d been to the city before I think it’s always fun to do the main touristy stuff like the highline, Central Park, going on a ferry, Times Square, etc. Also walking the Williamsburg bridge and the view from Domino Park is something that I enjoy. Greenpoint is super nice too!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shoutout my family, my boyfriend Micah, my band (Noah Leong, Claudius Agrippa, Ransom McCafferty, Jaden Raso), and all the other friends & creatives who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with over the past couple of years as I’ve gotten started with my artist project.

Website: https://www.meisemones.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mei_semones/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@meisemones2259

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Cp20KSVlMlFuOdqiqHFGR?si=WUVK1CqzR3GwvsFNTPj5hg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mei-semones/1502896956 Bandcamp: https://meisemones.bandcamp.com/music

Image Credits
Deanie Chen Apollo Nava Sofie Hojabri Micah Rubin Sam Damon Luis Vera

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