Spotlight: Junior Mesa Navigates A Journey of Peace Through 'Cirque Du Freak' EP
WHILE I CAN’T TRULY RECALL A TIME I’VE NEVER NOT FELT LIKE A FREAK AT MY OWN CIRCUS - Luckily for me, Junior Mesa is here to ring-lead, and I got to sit down with him to ask a bit more about the inspiration for his new EP, Cirque Du Freak, his first CDs, his fashion sense, and which of his sisters he likes best (jk jk).
In his sophomore EP, Cirque du Freak, Junior Mesa navigates a vast and winding world of contradiction in his struggle for peace. Throughout the project, Mesa confronts his relationship with music, his epilepsy, and their relationship to each other (or rather the lack thereof) through use of colorful imagery and metaphor. The singer/songwriter/producer from Bakersfield, CA was diagnosed with epilepsy at 19 when he experienced his first seizure during a Lauryn Hill concert. Since then, Mesa says, it’s been an uphill battle in terms of finding the right medication for his epilepsy, understanding and dealing with an entirely new responsibility, and the challenges it poses; specifically to a musician.
“Music and epilepsy don’t really work together”, says Mesa, 22, “so the EP is about the fight between the two”. Specifically in “Listen Close”, Mesa details his “toxic relationship” with not only his epilepsy but with another person as well. The song, Mesa says, reads as a love song, but serves to speak as a letter to his epilepsy too. The lyrics illustrate a push and pull, a juxtaposition that really drives the point of the project home. That adversity, Mesa tells us, is not only the theme of the EP, but the reason for its existence in the first place. Cirque Du Freak (just as all of Mesa’s music) acts as an escape through the struggles he faced in his 19th and 20th years, but fits the bildungsroman motif perfectly by relaying Mesa’s ability to overcome it all through love and through music.
Year 22, however, is looking up for Junior Mesa. With the help of new medication, Ableton 11, the promise of a new relationship, and a fresh lens on fashion, Mesa is gearing up for a breakout year. Drawing inspiration anywhere from Prince to Thundercat, Mesa gives us his version of “funky pop” in Cirque Du Freak. This light, happy take on some really sad stuff makes you feel like you kind of want to die to the songs? In a good way. Like if you had to pick a song to literally die to, What’s Enough is up there. “I want people to have a good time [listening], even if it’s a sad time,” says Mesa, laughing a bit. “Like a Phoebe Bridgers concert?” I ask. “Exactly!” Mesa chuckles again. The EP airs on the side of happy overall though, c’est la vie, you know? The yin and yang, the ebb and flow, the Tom and Jerry, Mesa reminds us that life is hard no matter what, it’s all about rolling with the punches. Amen.
Obviously, I had to ask Mesa about the fashion as he’s got some iconic looks going on - am I wrong?
“When I turned 21 I basically just stopped caring what I wore. Like I really just wanted to wear whatever I wanted to wear” says Mesa, readjusting the ankle of his snakeskin pants. Mesa says his sisters are the inspiration behind his passion for fashion, and his “Fuck it I’m gonna put on anything” philosophy. Mesa also credits his sisters for some of his earliest music taste, “My first concert was… Hannah Montana?” Mesa says, uncovering the memory as if for the first time in years, “Yep. Hannah Montana. With my sisters. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep at one point?” He laughs, “First CD was definitely Beyoncé,” he goes on to tell me. A king in his freaking court.
Rest assured that Junior Mesa will continue to fight the good fight, he’s currently in love and phone-less, which he says he’s enjoying a bit too much. “I just enjoy creating music and I hope people enjoy listening to it, but if not, that’s fine too I guess.” He continues, “I hope that we never lose touch with experience because we’re numb from pain from the past. I think it’s important to keep exploring, keep evolving, keep breaking down the walls of the mind’s universe.” Junior Mesa’s EP Cirque Du Freak is available on all platforms and music streaming services now.
