Mei Semones
Photo by Sophie Minello.
Photo by Sophie Minello.
Mei Semones makes songs with a gentle but passionate artistry that we have spent a lot of time with, because time is what her songs deserve.
And it isn’t time wasted. Exploring her catalog is to explore the jazzy rumblings of a future star - someone about to be hugely and rightfully enormous. Her songs are gently complex and reflect a certain resurgence of jazz and orchestration that never quite left the musical consciousness of American culture, but perhaps left our literal consciousness for a period of time. Despite the clear rock and roll influences in her music, drawing particularly from artists like Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins in aspects of chord stretches and chorus structure, Mei’s style of playing and composition is more closely tied to the precise improvisations of jazz and lounge legends like Wes Montgomery and Stan Getz. Watching her play is hearing a swarm of notes rifled with intent in a way that scratches an itch just to the left of thick Marshall stacks and just to the right of minimalistic folk. Mei straddles a line just in between, and just right for us.
Photo by Jailene Garcia.
Who are you?
Mei Semones.
What do you do?
I play guitar and write songs.
How long have you been doing that?
I’ve been playing guitar for twelve years, and writing songs for around the same amount of time, but I didn’t write anything I thought was good until around four years ago.
Where is home for you?
I live in Brooklyn, but I am originally from Ann Arbor, MI.
“The first song I ever released, Hfoas, was the first song I wrote that had lyrics in both Japanese and English. It was the first song that I felt truly represented who I am both as a person and as an artist, and it was my first step towards finding my sound. ”
If you weren’t in music, what would you be doing?
Nothing.
What do you think about the current state of the music industry in terms of the culture and/or economics?
I like what I do and I like being in music, but unfortunately I often feel like I have to have my guard up.
What do you do outside of music and how does that thing influence or affect your craft?
Recently I have been reading more, and sometimes the themes and imagery from the books I’m reading find their way into my lyrics. I’ve been reading mostly Haruki Murakami, he’s my favorite author.
The best/worst thing about the music industry?
The best thing is that I’m making music. The worst thing is dealing with logistics like social media and timelines and finances.
Photo by Sam Wiesenthal.
Something you’re most proud of?
I am proud of my band and their musicianship and the music we make together.
Biggest lesson you’ve learned in life so far?
I should do what makes me happy and remember to always be grateful for what I have.
Something anyone can do today to make the world a better place?
Listen.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome so far?
Being comfortable singing and performing my songs in front of people was really hard at first, but now it’s one of my favorite things to do.
What is something people might not know about you?
My favorite vegetable is carrots.
Who do you think is doing it the best/coolest in your industry right now?
John Roseboro – he is always true to himself and consistently making really special music. Listening to him always makes my day better.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing young people today?
I’ve noticed it's hard to find good work and make a living and live comfortably/sustainably in this day and age, especially in the city.
You incorporate elements of your Japanese cultural heritage into your work which I've always found to be a creative challenge, particularly with language. How do you approach that enmeshing and what advice would you give to a younger generation of mixed-heritage artists who'd like to explore those aspects of themselves?
The first song I ever released, Hfoas, was the first song I wrote that had lyrics in both Japanese and English. It was the first song that I felt truly represented who I am both as a person and as an artist, and it was my first step towards finding my sound. I realized that writing in both English and Japanese is what feels natural and authentic to me, and that’s what I would say to any other artist – do what feels natural and true to you.
Your compositions are very complex but work well even stripped down to you and a guitar, is that by design? Where do you start in your creative process to ensure that functionality?
The songs always start with me and my guitar, and then my band and I build the parts on top of that. I think that’s why they work stripped or full band or anything in between. It’s important to me that the song is fully there, just when I’m playing it by myself, before we start adding more to it. For me personally, I think for a song to be good it needs to be strong enough to stand on its own in its simplest form, me and my guitar.
How do you think your creative process has changed from when you started to now?
I think I’ve become more intentional with my decision making in my songwriting, and as I write more songs I try to experiment with things I haven’t done before to keep things interesting.
What are your long term goals and have you found that they've changed over the years?
My long term goal is to make music that I love, with people that I love, and have that music be a source of comfort and solace for the people who listen to it. My favorite artists and musicians provided me with comfort and helped me feel less alone, and that’s what I want my music to do for other people. I think that has always been a goal for me.