{"id":10180,"date":"2026-04-13T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/mei-semones-id-like-to-stay-in-touch-with-my-animal-side\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:00:00","slug":"mei-semones-id-like-to-stay-in-touch-with-my-animal-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/mei-semones-id-like-to-stay-in-touch-with-my-animal-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Mei Semones: \u2018I\u2019d Like to Stay in Touch With My Animal Side\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/leadPhoto-Credit-Alec-Hirata-1.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" alt=\"Mei Semones. (Credit: Alec Hirata)\"><figcaption>Mei Semones. (Credit: Alec Hirata)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mei Semones creates an airy, effortless blend of jazz and indie pop that makes some people feel like floating. At least, that\u2019s how Flea would describe it. A couple of years ago, as Semones released her 2024 EP <em>Kabutomushi<\/em>, the legendary bassist took notice and evangelized the up-and-comer on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C9fT2XNxd0O\/\" target=\"_blank\"> social media<\/a>. Calling the EP \u201can absolutely beautiful record\u201d that \u201ccarries a mysterious power,\u201d he added, \u201cIt gets me floating around my hotel room \u2026 It gives me so much hope for the young people making music today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no idea how he found my music,\u201d Semones admits, still grateful for the exposure. The unexpected co-sign led to a bump of 3,000 new followers in one day and people who still find her music through the recommendation. \u201cHe just DM\u2019ed me on Instagram, and we kind of became friends from there. He came to our show in L.A. and I went to his album listening party recently [for his solo debut <em>Honora<\/em>]. He\u2019s a really nice guy, and I\u2019m very honored that he\u2019s a fan because I\u2019m a fan of what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2026\/04\/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-inductees\/\">Rock Hall Inductees: Oasis, Sade, Wu-Tang, Luther<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2026\/04\/summer-smash-2026-lineup\/\">Summer Smash Snags Carti, Keem, Uzi, Skrillex<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2026\/04\/no-doubt-tom-dumont-parkinsons-diagnosis\/\">No Doubt\u2019s Tom Dumont Reveals Parkinson\u2019s Diagnosis<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s now two years later, and the 25-year-old is holed up in her Brooklyn apartment doing a round of press as she readies another new EP, <em>Kurage<\/em>, out April 10 on Bayonet Records. It\u2019s not even a year after her acclaimed debut LP <em>Animaru <\/em>was released in May 2025, and the buzz around her work continues to grow. There\u2019s even talks of her and Flea possibly collaborating at some point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s kind of loosely been like, \u2018I\u2019ll play trumpet or bass, whatever you want.\u2019 I\u2019ll take him up on that at some point if he\u2019s interested in doing it,\u201d Semones says with a nonchalant vibe that\u2019s as zen as her music.<\/p>\n<p>For now, though, she\u2019s focused on her current crop of partners who appear on the collaborative <em>Kurage<\/em>. The list includes the British-Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Liana Flores on the song \u201cKoneko,\u201d Brooklyn bossa nova rising star John Roseboro on \u201cTooth Fairy\u201d and her own father, Don Semones, on the title track. Their handiwork and vocal duets add yet another set of layers to Semones\u2019 fluid music style that mixes in everything from jazz to math rock to J-pop to alt rock and Latin-inspired arrangements. All of it is accompanied by bilingual lyrics that blend in English and Japanese, two languages Semones has been fluent in since she could talk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like collaborating with people,\u201d she admits, explaining more about her process. \u201cI write the song as I\u2019m thinking about them and making sure I\u2019m leaving space for them, while also making a song that sounds right for their style.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each of the songs on <em>Kurage <\/em>are perfect examples of this kind of artistic marriage, especially when you add in the fact that each is rooted in a specific place where Semones and her collaborators have intersected. For example, the jazzy dreamscape that comes across in \u201cTooth Fairy\u201d\u2014complemented by the instrumentals of Semones\u2019 full band that includes Noam Tanzer on bass, Ransom McCafferty on drums, Claudius Agrippa on violin, and Noah Leong on viola\u2014was inspired by a chance run-in on a train platform in their shared home of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<p>Semones and Roseboro happened to be on the same train headed to Greenpoint. When the two friends saw each other at the station, Roseboro explained how he was on the way to see his dentist after a tooth had fallen out. \u201cDid it hurt when you lost it? Does it hurt after it is gone? I hope the tooth fairy will give you something to make it up,\u201d Semones sings in the lighthearted piece, an ode to friendship and living in the moment.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/MeiSemones_PhotoCredit_AlecHirata2PM.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Alec Hirata)\" class=\"wp-image-657851\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/MeiSemones_PhotoCredit_AlecHirata2PM.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/MeiSemones_PhotoCredit_AlecHirata2PM-340x425.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/MeiSemones_PhotoCredit_AlecHirata2PM-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/MeiSemones_PhotoCredit_AlecHirata2PM-498x623.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Alec Hirata)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cKoneko\u201d is another example\u2014this time, also incorporating lyrics in Portuguese\u2014that pays homage to another friendship, memorializing the time Semones visited Flores in London last April. It was also Semones\u2019 first time in the U.K. The lilting arrangement captures the innocence of the trip, as they \u201cwalked along the canal, drank tea, ate strawberries and cookies, and played with her cat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the EP\u2019s final entry, the title track, Semones was inspired by regular family trips to her mom\u2019s birthplace of Yokosuka, Japan. \u201cI was thinking about when I used to go to the aquarium there when I was little,\u201d explains Semones, adding that \u201ckurage\u201d translates to \u201cjellyfish\u201d in Japanese. Recording the song took shape in another meaningful place as Semones went back to her hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she linked up with her dad. It was their first time recording music together, though a long time coming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to make a piece of music with him,\u201d Semones admits.<\/p>\n<p>By day, Don Semones is a trained chemical engineer who works for an automotive supplier, but by night he plays euphonium in a local concert band. His love of music was incredibly influential for his daughter as he introduced her to the jazz and rock that perked her ear as a child. \u201cHe always had it on the radio or was playing his CDs for us,\u201d Semones recalls. He also bought Semones her first guitar, an Epiphone Les Paul, though nowadays she can often be seen wielding her favorite model, the PRS McCarty 594.<\/p>\n<p>Piano was actually her first instrument, however, thanks to a grandmother who lived vicariously through the lessons she arranged for Semones and her twin sister. \u201cShe actually didn\u2019t play piano at all, but I think she always wanted to and just never had the opportunity. So one of the first things she did when we were really young, like 4 years old, was she bought us a piano and told us, \u2018you have to take piano lessons.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it only took a few years before guitar entered the picture, which can be credited to seeing the movie <em>Back To The Future<\/em>. As Semones recalls, \u201cMy parents showed it to me when I was like 10 or 11. There\u2019s a scene where the main character, Marty, is playing a Chuck Berry song on the electric guitar, and I just thought it looked really cool and fun to play, so I wanted to try it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/04\/unnamed.jpg\" alt=\"Mei Semones newest EP, Kurage. (Credit: Seiko Semones)\" class=\"wp-image-658136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/04\/unnamed.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/04\/unnamed-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/04\/unnamed-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/04\/unnamed-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mei Semones newest EP, <em>Kurage<\/em>. (Credit: Seiko Semones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By middle school, Semones had learned enough of the instrument that she wrote her first song on guitar, admitting, \u201cit wasn\u2019t great.\u201d But by high school, she became more grounded in the instrument after joining the school\u2019s jazz band. \u201cI figured if I can play guitar in a class at school, I might as well do it. And then I actually really ended up liking the genre and I started listening to it more and studying it,\u201d she recalls, remembering the influence of early standards like \u201cAutumn Leaves,\u201d \u201cAll The Things You Are\u201d and Miles Davis\u2019 \u201cSo What.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her passion for the craft eventually led Semones to study at Berklee College of Music where, by her last semester in 2022, she already had material for her debut EP <em>Tsukino. <\/em>Released that same year, it laid the seeds of her unique style that confidently crosses borders of genre, geography, and culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think in a sense people are drawn to things that they don\u2019t always understand,\u201d she says, commenting on her bilingual lyrics. \u201cOr maybe they are curious about it because they don\u2019t know what I\u2019m saying. But more than that, it reflects how music is a universal language. It doesn\u2019t really matter the language; it\u2019s more just the feeling of the music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That theory also can apply to the layered, genre-bending style she incorporates into each song, pulled from her other loves like J-pop, Brazilian artists Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Jobim, and Jo\u00e3o Gilberto and, of course, rock, going back to that first time she heard Chuck Berry. In fact, one of her favorite all-time acts is the Smashing Pumpkins, her favorite song the <em>Mellon Collie <\/em>track \u201cHere Is No Why.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But jazz has always been at the forefront. \u201cI think what first drew me to it was the technical aspect, the music theory stuff. Obviously there\u2019s so much more that goes into it, but when you\u2019re first learning jazz, you\u2019re learning some theory and I liked how it was challenging to me, and it still is,\u201d Semones says, touting classic players like John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk as heavy influences. In addition to the instrumentation, she also was inspired to try jazz singing after spending time with Chet Baker\u2019s catalog and favoring his style of intonation. In 2025, a full-circle moment came when Semones contributed a cover of his \u201cMy Ideal\u201d to the tribute album <em>Chet Baker Re:imagined <\/em>for Decca Records.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1290\" height=\"1930\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-1290x1930.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Lotus Josephine)\" class=\"wp-image-657852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-1290x1930.jpg 1290w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-340x509.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-768x1149.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-1027x1536.jpg 1027w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-498x745.jpg 498w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-1668x2495.jpg 1668w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Hi-Res-Image-Mei-Semones-by-Lotus-Josephine-scaled.jpg 1711w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Lotus Josephine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs I got into jazz more, I think what I really like is how important it is to have your own voice and be recognizable as a musician and as an improviser,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe best jazz musicians in my opinion, you know who they are, you can hear who it is, just from hearing the first few notes of their solo. In jazz it really is important to have your own voice, and that is important to me as a person and as a musician.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like Raye, Laufey, and Samara Joy, Semones has been influential in pushing jazz forward for a younger generation of listeners. Not only has Laufey sold out arena tours and made pivotal breakthroughs for the genre at events like Lollapalooza, but Raye and Joy have both been a contender and winner, respectively, for the Grammy\u2019s Best New Artist category. In recent years, Spotify has also reported that up to 40% of its listeners who tune into jazz are under 40, showing a pivotal evolution in listenership. Semones is happy to see her fellow Gen Z community resonating with the music and is glad to be any kind of gateway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s awesome that more young people are listening to or getting into jazz. I think it\u2019s really cool that it\u2019s more a part of pop culture now, and I hope that it brings people to listen to more of the older classics,\u201d she says, also grateful to have such a strong live jazz scene in New York that she can continue to immerse herself in when she\u2019s not on tour. Though that won\u2019t be any time soon.<\/p>\n<p>Semones has a busy trek through the summer, including headlining shows and dates opening for Snail Mail and American Football as well as a spot at Montreal International Jazz Festival. In between, she\u2019ll also be working on the follow-up to her full-length <em>Animaru<\/em>. The title translates to \u201canimal\u201d in Japanese, which is an interesting theme that seems to pop up in all of her work, continuing with <em>Kurage\u2019<\/em>s jellyfish connection and her new song \u201cKoneko,\u201d which means kitten.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love animals, and I think it\u2019s easy for humans to forget that we\u2019re all animals too,\u201d says Semones, relating it back to her art. \u201cFor me, I\u2019d like to stay in touch with my animal side in terms of following my instincts and living life, just instinctively doing what feels natural and feels right.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/spinmagazine.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mei Semones. (Credit: Alec Hirata) Mei Semones creates an airy, effortless blend of jazz and indie pop that makes some people feel like floating. At least, that\u2019s how Flea would&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,5856,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-mei-semones","category-pushly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}