Mesani is a singer-songwriter who debuted in 2019 with the single ‘With Me’. This month, Mesani released his first EP ‘Jungle’. The moniker ‘Mesani’ (메사니) stands for the Korean dialect word for ‘echo’.
The self-proclaimed ‘country boy’ started music at 16 and has been working on his craft until now, at 25. “All I really wanted to do was create art.”
“All my music is about myself and my experiences. That’s why the song ‘Flame’ of the album is my favorite. I sat down to write and I realized I didn’t want to make money. I just want to chase that ‘flame’, or in other words pursue my passion.”
The overarching message of ‘Jungle’ is mother nature. “I wanted to talk about how we ruin ourselves and mother nature with our simple instincts. Because of the climate crisis, we’ve lost a lot of resources and all living things start to feel threatened. My team and I tried to explain those situations with the ambient and sometimes catastrophic sounds. With the last track, ‘Gehanna’ you can really feel the anger.”
If you check Mesani’s Spotify, you’ll notice the theme of the animal album covers. “It’s a bit embarrassing. I chose them because they were beautiful and best suited to the song. My first cover is a beautiful red with flamingos. Is there any artwork that is better than this?”
The creative process
“The starting point of ‘Jungle’ was during the overwhelming hot and humid summer. I was going to release a single in the summer, however that was cancelled. So we decided to share the feeling of nature with its extreme humidity. There’s more to summer than beautiful beaches and beautiful people.”
Mesani has credits for the entire creative process. He’s involved in the writing, arranging and composing. “The arrangement is the hardest part. Writing a song takes me a day, but arranging it takes me a whole month.”
“I don’t really write songs with a particular concept in mind. I write it out first and then the concept comes after. I usually start with the lyrics and then build on that. It’s something that surprises my team.”
For ‘Jungle’ Mesani worked together with Kwon Namwoo from 821 Sound for the mastering. “He’s a great professional engineer. He really gave a lot of suggestions and helped us achieve better results. I’d love to work with him again in the future.”
The goal of his music, of his art is to save lives like Marvin Gaye saved his. “My songs will help you if you are faithful to your feelings. All I want is to amplify those feelings.”
You can find Mesani on Instagram here.
