Msaki and Jesse Clegg have collaborated to create an EP set to be released in January; however, they've already released a single.
Artists often express a desire to collaborate and make music together, but these wishes tend not to come to fruition for various reasons.
However, for singer-songwriters Msaki and Jesse Clegg, their desire for collaboration has become a reality that has organically unfolded.
The two have been friends for three years now. Their bond is akin to that of siblings, poking fun at each other while maintaining deep reverence for their skill and talent as songwriters.
“Like we wrote a song the first day that we met, we were in studio. It feels normal to us, but everyone is like ‘what, why, how’,” says Msaki, telling The Citizen about working together.
“Jesse is one of those people, when he decides to do something, you best believe it’s gonna get done,” Msaki.
Msaki says that when she first met Clegg and eventually got to know him better, she realised he was a serious and passionate songwriter.
“He’s just generally an artist with a high work ethic, and it made me feel not crazy ‘cause I feel like I’m always doing stuff, I always wanna push myself as a songwriter… I hardly find that in people who are just willing to put themselves in a space where they’re learning or stretching that muscle, that’s the first thing I noticed about him.”
ALSO READ: Jesse Clegg and Msaki to drop first single from joint project featuring Sjava
An organic bond
Jesse says the collaboration of the two has been a very organic experience.
“We just started hanging out, we were working on a different project together,” Clegg tells The Citizen.
Their genuine friendship is also exemplified by how Jesse, in the interview, refers to Msaki by her real name, Asanda.
“I don’t think there’s a conscious intent to make an EP. You know, we just became good friends, and we connected on a lot of different things. We were both in a moment in our lives where we were in transition, and we happened to be making music. We started writing songs,” shares the singer.
According to Jesse, once they had written about two or three songs, he was excited that their collaborative effort had a unique sound.
“It didn’t sound like my music, it didn’t sound like Msaki’s music, it sounded like something new,” he shares.
Their first single, Wayside Lover featuring Sjava, has a pop feel to it. However, Jesse says that of all the songs they’ve done for their project, Wayside Lover is the most poppy on their upcoming EP.
“It’s weird how it ended up having this like synth, pop wave sound as a through line, you’ll hear it in the rest of the EP, it has a bit of that as a backbone. Which I’m not sure where it comes from,” Msaki says.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Jesse Clegg remembers his father in song on what would’ve been Johnny Clegg’s 72nd birthday
The Peter Gabriel concert doccie
The two bonded over a 1994 Peter Gabriel concert doccie, Peter Gabriel: Secret World Live, which Msaki says she made Jesse watch.
“I’m a huge fan of Peter Gabriel, but I remember thinking ‘this is so camp, so showy, like it’s a Broadway musical’. There were so many props, the stage was moving, it was such a spectacle,” says Jesse.
Jesse says they’ve tried to replicate that in their EP.
“We watched it in December, and I think in January we were on holiday and you [Jesse] were blown away by like artistry and how serious the concert was,” Msaki says.
The duo doesn’t have a collective name for their collaborative work; they only go by their respective names.
Msaki quips that they thought of names such as Salty Caramel.
“I think at one point we were toying with a band name, but I think like the umbrella concept for the music is entropy. The album title felt like this was a body of work that was encapsulated by that concept,” says Jesse.
They plan to release the EP in January, rather than dropping it during the busyness of December.
“No, it’s too noisy. We need to do it when everybody is thinking about their lives and their quiet, in Jan…when they’ve spent all their money in December and are empty inside,” jokes Msaki.
Jesse adds, “Yeah, when they’re at their most vulnerable, and we come in with our heart-wrenching album.”
They will, however, release another single before the end of the year.
“We don’t want to give people a lot of things to digest while they’re still trying to digest the concept of us working together.”
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