Finding My “Why”: An Interview with JMSEY

[UNPUBLISHED:] What made you want to release “sunny days” now? It was a pre-pandemic creation, but you have decided to release it now.

[JMSEY:] It was the second month into the pandemic – into lockdown – that I made the song but it was just the instrumental. The second month, I was really struggling, mentally, just processing what the hell's going on. As an artist, I was genuinely wondering, “When is it going to come back? What will it even look like?” I was definitely in the depths of a proper depression. I was playing a lot of music and I was playing a lot of instruments but not necessarily writing much. I did not really know what to write, and I did not know what I was going to do with it. It felt very strange putting a song out on top of the pandemic and all the civil rights issues that were happening in the States. I finally wrote to it, at a very intimate small show that was on someone's deck, and I just made stuff up on the fly. Through that process, I came up with the lyrics.

[UNPUBLISHED:] How did last year affect you as an artist?

[JMSEY:] Last year gave a lot of people a very interesting perspective of what it would be like to not to do something that you love to do, and what you would do to be able to do it again. I told myself to be less precious and be more honest – through that, I wrote. I have never been more creative in my life. Managing my expectations and caring less has allowed me to have more fun, which has allowed me to express myself with more honesty.

[UNPUBLISHED:] Is that something you have struggled with in the past? Caring too much?

[JMSEY:] Absolutely. I am a perfectionist. Being that I am Vietnamese, I like to pursue excellence and be the best at whatever you are trying to do. The fact that I was pursuing music was already a massive taboo within my family. I already felt like I was dying, struggling battling uphill. This, in a weird way, got me to a certain point, but then I realized that, because I was so focused on things being really good and perfect, it made me overthink. It made my expectations of myself, everything I wanted to be astronomically high, to the point where I was never achieving what I was hoping for. From that, I found a very healthy, harmonious, balance for myself. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Was it weird writing a song with everything going on? Were you using it as something that people could look towards to make them forget about everything for a little bit?

[JMSEY:] That is pretty much what I was going for in my quest to be more honest, sincere, and find my “why”. It is to figure out “why did you play music, other than it being fun. Why did you even pick up a guitar in the first place?” It really was therapy. I grew up in a family where my parents were good parents, but they were not good for each other. I turned to the music as a way to escape what was going on in the house. It is a surprise to me that I wrote such a nostalgic, jovial song during such a time. I started thinking about the little things that I miss, the things that most people take for granted. Something as simple as going to a show, or going out with friend. Some of the lyrical content that I am talking about is the morning after a rager, and you are waking up and the sun's beating on you. You are dying to figure out where your car is, and hoping you do not have a ticket. I hope that when people hear it does lift them out of any rut that they may be in, because, the next day, the sun will come out, and you have a whole new day to build. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Is there a significance in the sun for you? 

[JMSEY:] I'm a huge Beatles fan. My favourite Beatle is George Harrison, and, of course, he wrote the song “Here Comes the Sun”. I went through something really tragic with my first dog. He passed away very tragically and very sudden. It was horrible, still to this day probably is the worst thing I've been through. Which to some people sounds crazy but you form such a deep connection with an animal. He passed away, tragically, and I named him “Harrison” after George Harrison. I remember after he passed away, I was taking a shower, the next morning, still completely devastated. Then my phone played, “Here Comes to Sun”, and it was just so wild to me that in such a traumatic, devastating moment of my life, a song like that could pull me out of the depths. I took those words literally – “Here Comes the Sun”, it was early in the morning because I couldn't sleep. It put that perspective into my mind and that is how I try to pursue life. Every day the sun comes, you have another chance. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] You have played a few shows in the past month. How have they been?

[JMSEY:] I played this series called “lower deck sessions” based in LA. They invited me to play in November and that's when I wrote most of “Sunny days” too. That was a weird one – it was November and things had not quite started to open up yet so there was still a lot of like timidness and trepidation from people about whether it was right to go to a show, whether it was right to play a show. That one had very strange energy, but it still felt good.

[UNPUBLISHED:] Was playing a show liberating or was it nerve-wracking?

[JMSEY:] It was liberating. The location itself is on the side of the hill that overlooks a beautiful landscape and I felt like fucking Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. I was singing at the top of the hill and it was great, it felt amazing. It was such a great release during a shitty time. What's really cool is when I finished recording the song and I knew I was gonna put it out. I reached back out to them, I said “It would be really cool if I could, the day after my release, play your lower deck session.” They were all about it and so I came back. I also have two shows coming up this weekend in my hometown of Sacramento. I'm actually there now, prepping for the show but also working with the Hobo Johnson guys. We got videos that we're shooting, and we have an album coming out on June 23rd. I think it's just a mixture of people really wanting to get back into live music and they're thirsty for it. People are genuinely curious about what I'm up to because musically I have made quite a pivot compared to stuff I have done in the past. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have a dream location/venue where you want to play? 

[JMSEY:] My ultimate dream would be a Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. Being from Sacramento, that is one of the coolest venues that were close to us. I would love the idea of headlining and selling out that place and then inspiring someone in that audience to do music. It would be a complete dream come true. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What is in store for 2021? 

[JMSEY:] I just submitted to the tiny desk competition, I actually shot a video of my new single, which is coming out mid-August. It is called “Style”. If people want to hear that, they can go to my YouTube channel and check out the video I did for it. Then I have, two or three more releases, and I also plan on releasing stuff in between my collaborations with artists that I've gotten to know. 

Also, me and the guys did a cover of “Like a Virgin”. We did our last show, and it went over so well that we are going to put it out as a single so my, next single is going to be “Style”, and we're shooting for, mid-August release, but then after that, we're going to put “Like a Virgin” out as a single, and I'm hoping that it becomes a wedding party staple all over the world.

Album out 23rd of June for Hobo Johnson & the Lovemakers 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMCrM5vfT8I – Tiny Desk Competition 

Stream Sunny Days Now! https://open.spotify.com/album/67Hz1eV3uzZNJPFV1ByvAD