Every musician dreams of having their music played on a global scale. They often start playing gigs at local venues, aspiring to tour across multiple continents and see the audience mouthing the words back to them. International artist Mersed has done the opposite: a Bosnian-born entrepreneur traveled the world before moving to the United States and mastering the intricacies of music. His groundbreaking debut album, Wishful Thinking, features love songs in four different languages, each reflecting a unique period in his life. Paradox was lucky enough to meet with Mersed to discuss his musical journey and bright future–including a sophomore album dropping next year.
Wishful Thinking is all about love. Love is a simple concept but has an endless list of complications. We’ve all encountered it: the never-ending quest for love, the breakups, and so forth. Wishful Thinking is a story of falling for a girl, the fallout of unrequited love, and daydreaming about the desired outcome. It’s thinking…wishfully.
Every song off Wishful Thinking has been released on streaming as individual singles, but they’ll be released as a complete album soon. Each track will have its own music video that will paint the story of love and the interactions that make it. Most of them have a sad ending. Sometimes you need to have a sad one to have a happy ending later in life.
I’ve never seen anyone doing four languages in one album before. Part of it was exposure. The second part of it was because it tells the story of my life. I was born in Bosnia, so Bosnian is my mother language and I also grew up in Italy, so I had to have an Italian song. I still have a lot of friends who support my music back home, so I wanted to have tracks that they’d be able to listen to and understand.
But for the majority of my life, I’ve lived in Texas. Living there allowed me to become fluent in Spanish and now I consider my Spanish songs to be my forte, along with English. That familiarity makes it easier for my Spanish and English songs to be my powerhouse bangers.
Out of all places, how did you end up in Texas?
I got a lot of love for Texas. It was a huge transition to move from overseas, but it made sense when I had a family trucking business. Texas makes it easier to do business regarding formalities like taxes, permits, licenses, etc. It was the ideal state to make my living before transitioning into music.
What can you tell us about your next album?
This album is about half way done. We’re on track to release the album sometime in the spring of next year. I’m excited to say that I’m working with local artists and recorded tracks with Aaron Carter and Twista.
The second album really shows my progression as an artist–it’s a little bit darker and a little bit more uptempo than Wishful Thinking. The difference between the two is night and day, similar to a kid learning how to walk before they can run.
I have two buddies who help me with my music: a producer and a vocal coach. I write down the lyrics, present the lyrics to them, and then construct the song around the lyrics. We usually start with a solid foundation of a drum pattern or some keyboard scales before figuring out the melody. Once we have the layout, we figure out the production: the little bells and whistles that really enhance the record.
Besides the album, what are your future goals?
After releasing the album, I aim to focus on live performance. I’d start local to get my reps in before performing some shows in larger cities. I just want to enjoy the process and get in front of an audience before getting back to business and starting on my third album.
Any thoughts on starting or joining a record label?
Maybe. I’m not entirely opposed to it, but it all depends on the circumstances at the end of the day. As long as I’m still having fun with it, that’s all that matters.
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