Exploring one’s past can be a difficult journey. But for Indonesian singer-songwriter Mezzaluna, to know the past is to know the present.
Being the daughter of daughter of Indonesian rockstar, BimBim — drummer of the legendary Indonesian rock band Slank, Mezzaluna started picking up the piano and guitar at an early age. However, she admitted that she didn’t consider music as a serious career until the pandemic hit.
“I’ve always been surrounded by music, to the point that it felt like a normal thing. I only started taking it seriously recently, in the beginning of the pandemic because I didn’t realize that it was something I loved. I wanted to be more productive in the pandemic,”
After reaching that epiphany, she soon rediscovered a project she was working on five years ago, an experience she recounted as “like looking at another person.”
“At first, I really wanted to change it because it’s so not me anymore, but I decided not to because it will lose its authenticity. I made that, so it was me at some point. It feels weird at first, but at the same time, to connect with your past is to know you,” she stated.
Like most successful artists, Mezzaluna drew inspiration from personal experiences in creating her art. This, combined with her deep, sultry vocals, give us a brooding, melancholic yet empowering take on pop music. However, she quickly realized personal experience alone was not enough to get her feelings across.
“You can literally be inspired by anything,” she said, “So I’ve learned to romanticize everything that happens to me, and other than that I also get inspired by watching strangers and making up stories about them,”
From this came Mezzaluna’s debut single “In Situ,” which she wrote at the start of her music journey.
“It was one of the quickest writing processes I’ve done as I was being honest with my feelings. Since it was based on my own personal experience, I was just speaking from my heart. I was going through a period of time where I was feeling completely hopeless to the point that I couldn’t fight for anything anymore, so I was just writing down my feelings on a notebook, ”
A soulful and mature depiction of hopelessness and reaching out, the song’s darkwave and trip-hop, soul and jazz fusion is brought to life by renowned Indonesian producer Gio Wibowo and Deby Sucha, who directed the music video. Together, they create an “In Situ” that perfectly captures the raw and anxious wistfulness and vulnerability of youth.
“’In Situ’ is a song about reaching out to someone that isn’t responding, so what’s left is a feeling of hopelessness to the point where you just accept anything without expecting or fighting for it anymore,” Mezzaluna explains. “The music video truly captures the essence of the song. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Mezzaluna’s “In Situ” is now available in major streaming platforms. Watch the official music video here: