Zine 34: MEGAGONEFREE

Close your eyes, you’ll still hear their smile. You can hear the truth when their tongue hits heavy against their teeth on certain sounds. A few videos in, and it’ll be muscle memory to associate the ukulele with MegaGoneFree before anyone else. When they hit the high notes, the sturdiness of their vocals still carried in falsetto, it strikes a chord (pun intended). Mega is the intoxicating hybrid of technical talent and raw emotion. The way they envelop syllables, enunciation with authentic riffing. Their songwriting: simply worded in bite-sized crunches. Intuitive talent.  I should reiterate the bite in bite sized. Because in just a few words, Mega can puncture. The messages within offer a look inside weighted worlds like mental health and the Black experience in social media culture. A subject beautifully described in their single, ‘Ctrl+Del’ which oscillates between disco, jazz and classic rock vibes. Funky and very on key with retro pop right now, its sonic relevance only serves to underline the message even more. That the trends, the art, the movement that Black people bring to the world is then gutted and monetized, and denied back to them.

MEGA’s Linktree

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Bb: How did you first get involved in music? Creatively, not industry-wise

M: Well my whole life I’ve always been told I can sing. I never really thought much of it until I got to high school. I joined a club called the Floetics Lyricist club and it showed me that music is more than just singing and can be used as a creative outlet. This was maybe my junior year of high school.

Bb: Oooo that title is very intriguing. I’ve never heard of something like that. What would y’all do in meetings? How did it help you take music in in a new lens?

M: Well floetics lyricists was kind of a safe space for artists to express their creativity. There were rappers, singers, spoken work artists, poets. In meetings we would just all take turns showing what we created that week. Sometimes we did workshops on song writing and things like that to help each other become better lyricists. 

It helped me find beauty and release in song writing. Whatever I was feeling I could just pour it into a song. Song writing every week just slowly became my method of emotional healing. Seeing all these different people, their perspectives on the world. The things they felt so strongly enough to create artwork about it. It really just made music go from just something you listen to, to something you can create for me.

Bb: Wow I’m glad that existed for you, sounds really nurturing. What did you find yourself emotionally healing from with your music?

M: Just anything honestly. At the time it was mostly boys lol. But eventually it was all sorts of things. Emotions I felt but couldn’t describe, Social issues, feelings that I had towards certain people whether it be envy, guilt, disappointment, My personal Identity etc. Just anything that I feel strongly enough about to be inspired by.

Bb: Hahah it’s weird looking back and thinking of the people who broke our hearts as kids, sometimes I’ll still feel giddy and other times I’m like, gdamn past me, that was just dumb. Why do you think it’s easier for you to work through those things via songs? Is there a wall up that disappears?

M: It’s less so working through them. Writing helps me better understand the things that I’m feeling. It’s not like a wall per-say, subjects like those just inspire me to write. Always have. They are such complicated subjects, and I love the challenge of putting them into my own words.

Bb: With Ctrl+Del, it’s an anthem against over reliance on social media and letting it overrule creativity, and I think it does a really beautiful balance of condemning the delusional reality we see while not dismissing the advantages. what sparked that song?

M: Well around the time I wrote that song was starting to feel like I was letting social media dictate the meaning of my music. I started to write music around what people wanted the hear from me vs what feels true to me as an artist.

Bb: what was it like creating in the beginning of pandemic?

M: During the beginning of the pandemic I had kinda went on a music hiatus. Life got in the way of me making music. I had a normal job and bills and stuff to worry about so I never really had time or felt inspired to create.

Bb: Yeah, some creatives (like myself) have to be aware that the privileges we have allow us to use lockdown as a creative exploration. But back to the song, I really love the lyrics especially “but I know my place, in the archives” take me behind the emotions and experience behind that line, I’d love to hear.

M: Well it’s basically like a nod to how Instagram has the archives feature to hide photos on your feed. It’s basically saying “I know no one wants to see me or the things I do, so I’ll go where no one has to see me and get out of everyone’s way”. 

Bb: Why do you feel no one wants to see you? I feel like with social media, everyone but a select few chosen teens feel as if they’re being hidden. For me, just posting my graphics gets me left out of the algorithm because it’s not a selfie. Is that lyric a nod to the algorithms inherent racism, sexism and biases and/or the music community or anyone else?

M: I don’t literally feel that way. It’s more so just showing that this is a way that someone may think. I just use “I” to make it more personal for the listener. I try to give the perspective for the people who are at the bottom, unseen or unheard, bc I was once one of them. 

Yes it is a nod to that. It’s a nod to all the things the algorithm may suppress you for being. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia. Now a days it’s so hard to just be your self and be accepted online, especially if you’re different. Not just in the music community but just in life in general. The song just uses the music community as an example.

Bb: You have a following on Tik Tok, how has that benefited you? And are there ever times where you wish you didn’t?

M: It’s benefitted me so much. It’s mind blowing and crazy to have a community of people who just want to hear me sing. It’s really unheard for me especially for where I’m from. People don’t ever get famous here, most of the time people run away from here to get famous. It’s given so many AMAZING opportunities and I’ve learned to much from it. Before music was just a hobby but tiktok turned my dream into a career. I just get to do what I love everyday. I don’t know how I could ever repay my supporters for giving me this platform. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love them so much 😭

Bb: Aw that’s beautiful, I’m happy for you, that you have that genuine love and support. I think some people, especially older people, underestimate the authentic connection people can form online. You said people from where you’re from don’t get famous. Where are you from?

M: Baltimore, MD. This horrible beautiful city lol

Bb: Hahahahha ooo so what kinda horrible beautiful is that? For me, my hometown is horrible beautiful because my experience and a lot of the people can be horrible but it’s a city that has a reputation of being idyllic and like the quintessential coastal town.

M: Well Baltimore is a really dangerous city one of the most dangerous in the US. It’s horrible bc of all the crime, we have a corrupt city government, the racial imbalances. It’s only thing to hear about it but living through it is some serious stuff. I’ve seen a lot of things. But it’s beautiful bc in a way that’s part of what makes the city what it is. Even though there is a very large crime and murder problem amongst our hoods, there is also a very large sense of community. The city just has so much potential to grow and I hope one day I can aid in that. There’s so much talent and amazing assets to the city that main stream media never sees.

Bb: It sounds like being an artist in that environment is aid in its own way. People associate danger with constant trauma, which obviously is a component. But what is the art scene like there? What was it like (pre pandemic) at shows or community events?

M: There are a lot of artists in the city, but there is not a big art scene here. We have a college here called MICA which is a school for the arts. And a high school for the arts called BSA. But other than that the city it self isn’t very big on art. Everyone here has old fashion values. The only big art event that we have here is called Artscape, which is mostly for visual arts. There are a lot of open mics around the city, they are a good way to connect with other artists.

Bb: That must’ve made it hard to find a creative community nearby. And I can imagine how draining it can be to try experimental or weird art when the community is more traditionally minded. You said before musically, at first you tried to do what people wanted. Growing up, did you have to stifle yourself because of that environment and what parts of yourself did you feel pressured to change

M: I never really allowed anyone to make me feel like I had to stifle myself. I was never like any of my peers in elementary or middle school, but I never really felt a need to fit in. I was very smart as a kid and was pick on a lot for it. Also very chubby and very quiet. I would get pressure to change these things about myself, but I never really cared about other peoples opinions enough to change it.

Bb: And did this sense of self come from a catalyst or just, you just always have been. Because we’re taught, HEAVILY taught, what insecurities to have but that means at birth, we don’t have any reason not to love ourselves. Do you think you just kept that love and refused to learn otherwise?

M: Yeah, I’ve just always relied on my own opinion rather than others

Bb: Do you think people subconsciously gravitate towards or get intimidated by that confidence? Or a mixture? I know now that I love to look up to and surround myself with people who feel and love  themselves because it helps me normalize that personally. But in high school, I would let my insecurities get in the way and project onto girls with confidence and judge them arbitrarily. Thank fk for personal growth 🙏

M: I definitely think it’s a mixture of both. There are some people who would embrace that confidence for the exact same reason you said. It helps with your personal confidence to have confident people around. But I can definitely be an intimidating person to be around at times. I try my best to make myself a safe space for others. I’m confident but also very humble and a very understanding person. I can’t really control how people perceive me, I can only react to their perception. And I kinda just live my life by that lol.

Bb: Yes! I saw your bio said safe space for the freak shows of society, obviously we all know the gist of the meaning but to you, what is a safe space look and feel like?

M: A safe space is just somewhere you can be 100% authentically you, without fear of being judged by others. It’s important to me that my supporters know that my platforms are safe spaces for them. I want them to know I’m always rooting for them as much as they root for me. It’s a place where we uplift each other and embrace our differences. Anyone is welcome to join our family, no matter what others might think off them. 

Bb: That’s beautiful. And what do you have in store for your fans?

M: Well right now I’m working on my debut E.P. which they don’t know much about yet. These next few months are basically just going to be focused building a relationship with them and upgrading my content quality for their viewing experience. I don’t have BIG but plans until the summer time.