The Return of MEGG
By Mai Ly Hagan
By Madison Hedgecock / Courtesy of the Artist
After a five year hiatus, MEGG is back with a new project, Here For Now, released in September. The EP is a much needed return to MEGG’s Southern California roots, mixing influences from punk, pop, reggae, and rock ‘n’ roll. Here For Now is a delightful documentation of the past few years of MEGG’s life, chronicling its ups and the downs. It seems that MEGG is not only here for now, but is also here to stay.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Congratulations on your release! To start things off, could you introduce yourself — what you do — where you’re from?
So, my name is MEGG. I’m a South Bay based singer-songwriter. I’ve just released an EP called Here For Now, which is my third solo EP.
You've taken a break from releasing music for five years. How has it been returning to the industry?
It's been a fucking trip. I’ve been making music or performing my entire life. I’ve been in musical theater since I was eight. I went to Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and I was one of the five vocalists accepted into the University of Southern California’s brand new, popular music performance program. After college, I started a band, released an EP with them, went on The Voice, did a solo EP — then, well, I actually fell in love. I’d never really been in a relationship like that before and I guess I got swept up into that life for a while.
Then somehow I ended up just so unhappy and I couldn’t figure out why. I thought, “Oh my god, am I not in love with this person anymore?” Eventually, I realized I was depressed because I wasn’t doing music. Not performing. Not writing. Not doing that thing that brings me the most joy. So, I moved out and began making music again.
When I started writing the EP about two years ago, I was so fucking lost. But coming that far and being back in the scene, I feel like I know who I am again. It all makes me feel so grateful.
How did the pandemic affect the process behind making your EP?
COVID definitely put a halt to things. There were some personal issues that we had to work through with my team. It was important to make sure everyone felt supported and was healthy. An upside was that, with the shutdown, I had time to finish the songs. “Feel Good” and “Disney Shit” both had six or seven versions, so I finally had time to sit at home and make sure I was secure in the songs.
How have the past couple days been for you [after releasing the EP]?
It’s been a whirlwind. I just had an EP release show this Thursday at a brewery in my hometown, and the way that my community showed up for me and made me feel so supported … like everyone knew the words and was singing along. And it was just like, “Oh my god.” It was like a hands-on-heart moment, you know.
The past few days have been overwhelming, with people I know calling and texting, people following me from the beginning talking about relating to my songs or being through that situation and — I’m not even sure what to say. The past few days have been wonderful.
It’s very evident you have a lot of love for your hometown. Can you tell me about South Bay?
I feel very lucky to have been plopped here as a kid. My dad’s from North Dakota and my mom’s from Indianna, and they both busted their asses to make sure that their kids could live a better life. They were like, “Fuck it. Let’s go to California.” Before moving in, my dad went up and down a couple of streets, knocking on doors, trying to get a vibe for the people there. Everyone on the street we grew up on had kids the same age. I met my best friends when I was six months old and we’re still best friends to this day. So, my street was very much a community in its own way.
Here, everyone is very connected to the ocean. It’s very special being around people where the waters mean as much to them as it does to me. Everyone is barefoot here. Everyone is real. Everyone is gritty and scrappy in their own right. And I think being around other people where the water means as much to them as it does to me. It's just a special thing. Everyone is barefoot down here. Everyone is kind. Everyone is real. Everyone's a little gritty and scrappy.
How did growing up in such a tight knit community, with a relationship with nature, influence who you are now?
I think having that kind of upbringing keeps me grounded. Like, looking out into the ocean and realizing all the stupid shit we worry about on a day-to-day basis, at the end of the day, is not that big of a deal. If all else fails, I always have the beach, and my family, and my friends. I owe a great deal to where I was raised and the people that raised me.
Tell me a bit more about your family.
I’ve been incredibly lucky with my family. My mom and dad were fucking beasts when it came to supporting me. I knew what I wanted to do at a very young age. It was very clear that I wanted to perform and that I wanted to sing. And my parents, they rode with me through the whole thing. My mom was constantly getting me in musicals and making sure I went to a good high school. They both worked full time and figured it out.
My dad wasn’t alive by that time, but my mom made it work. My brothers, too, would pick me up and come to all my shows. My mom and dad both loved classic rock ‘n’ roll. So, every Saturday morning, we would all wake up to AC/DC, Guns and Roses and KISS playing through the whole house. They took me to live music as a kid, and said I would get up on stage with the band and dance until two in the morning.
Here For Now EP cover.
Like, they didn’t have to do that, you know? They were both, like, soup-can poor. My mom loved to dance as a kid, but could never afford lessons. She never had anyone in the audience watching her dance. She told me how heartbreaking it was every time. So, she was determined that — when she had kids — she was going to show up for them.
That’s so lovely to hear! Onto your EP, Here For Now. Can you walk me through the process of making the songs?
Okay, so, “Shamoo” was the first song [my friend Mathias Mara and I wrote together.] Basically, Shamoo is the name of my car. It was my dad’s, that was gifted to me after he passed. It’s just this giant suburban that has this insane stereo system to listen to music loudly. So, I would pick up all my friends cause it was the biggest car we had; we would all just pile in there and it became this space for me and my friends. If we were having a shitty day, they were like, “Will you come pick me up?” Then we would drive Shamoo around and flip off the world and blast Britney Spears. So, Shamoo definitely became an entity that everyone I knew got to experience. I wanted to write an anthem about feeling good. When Mathias asked me, “What makes you feel good?” All that came to mind was driving in Shamoo. So they said, “Let’s write a fucking song about it.”
The next song is “Disney Shit.” I actually wrote that chorus when I first started dating my boyfriend at the time; that was five years ago. I was just head over heels for him. I’ve always been a little too loud and aggressive, or at least I’d been told that. So, I wrote that song about how loved I felt to have someone who appreciates those parts of me. I was allowed to be unapologetically myself and he loved me for all of it. I wrote that song to say, “Fuck the misogynist standards of what we need to look or act like in order to find love.” People love you for who you are and you don’t have to fucking change.
What ended up happening with that relationship … Well, two years ago I realized that I had fallen out of love with my partner at the time. Mathias and I sat on the balcony with an acoustic guitar and wrote “Change.” We took the lyrics straight out of my diary. I was journaling at the time, trying to sift through all my emotions. It was when I realized I was miserable because I needed to be doing music again. So, I started writing, and eventually went on to make that song.
After that, we worked on “Summer on the South Bay.” That day, I had been very irritated because it was so nice outside and all I wanted to do was be at the beach. So, we ended up writing a song, I suppose, about being on the beach. During that period, I had been in a pretty heavy Sublime phase, which definitely reflects in the track.
Finally, the last track on the EP is a cover of P!nk’s “Missundaztood.” It was actually P!nk’s first single. A while back I heard that song on the radio, and I think it just shifted something within me. If I hadn’t heard it, I probably wouldn’t have committed to moving out and throwing myself back into music. So, it felt like a good homage to commemorate my return.
Since your lyrics were all written during different phases of your life, I’m wondering, how was it to revisit the material you’ve written for the EP?
I think it was a full circle moment for me because, when I had started writing this EP, I didn’t know who I was anymore. There’s a lot of pluses and minuses to falling in love, I suppose. I think the minus for me was that I started letting go of my priorities and passions and really putting myself on the back burner for this relationship. When I began writing again, I started rediscovering pieces of myself, lyric by lyric, note by note. It really made me have to question who I was. So, listening back now and knowing exactly who I am is both empowering and really sad in a way, because it’s almost like you’re grieving the loss of the person you once were.
It’s scary shedding your skin, so to speak. Usually, I don’t break down before shows, but before this gig I had this intensely emotional moment. I had to lay down and started sobbing. It was just a moment I had never before experienced. Now that I’m saying it aloud, I realize it was really just me letting go of everything that has happened over the past two years. I mean, it’s been hard these past few years, and there’s been a lot of change. Now, I get to start a new chapter.
We’re all very excited to see the rebirth of MEGG. What would you describe as the difference between your earlier music, versus now?
I think, in my earlier music, I was still trying to figure out who I was as a writer and really trying to hit all the marks of what people expected of me. When I was in a pop punk band with my best friends from college, it was the first time where I was writing songs that felt like who I am. I think I stopped caring if people like my music or not. Either way, I want to make music that feels true to me. I think being able to go back to my roots for this EP was very thrilling as well. You can hear the enjoyment.
What is something you would tell your younger self?
I would tell young Meghan, or really any young, aspiring artist that if you want to do something then fucking do it. If you think something is cool then do it. Who cares? If someone thinks what you do is dumb then fuck them. Who cares? Lately, that has been my motto because it is so easy to get in your head about what everyone else is thinking and forget about what you really want to do. After 30 years of living, I’ve learned that there's no better way to put it. Just do what makes you happy. Money will come. Sleep will come. But you can’t get your youth back. So don’t fucking waste it. ◆
Keep up with MEGG on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Stream Here For Now on all platforms.