Hey my name is Mega, and here is a little bit about my EP Colour Your World.
This project is an honest and raw exploration of my journey through self-acceptance, growth and healing; and my realisation of the power that lies within me.
I’m excited about this project because it gives more of an insight into who I am, not just through the lyrics, but sonically as some of the music incorporates musical influences from my Uganda heritage. It’s the first time that I’ve really explored more of this side.
Life is so full of surprises and the unexpected, and it can be so difficult to navigate sometimes. Sometimes our circumstances are difficult to change, but the one thing that I often try to work on is my response to things and my perspective. I’ve called my EP Colour Your World as colour plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live.
Colour can influence thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. I see colour as my perspective, and this EP is a reminder to me of how important my perspective is of myself and my abilities. I really hope this EP can empower people as much as creating it has empowered me.
I really feel that songs on this EP reflect the emotions that we often experience in life on a day-to-day basis, and each track takes you on somewhat of that journey. I prefer not to use a genre to describe my music.
Someone once described my music as “taking themes of: self-growth, self-love and self-esteem, and turning them into emotive songs with enchanting and catchy melodies” – I thought that was pretty interesting and have now stolen that description for myself!
It has been great being to work with incredibly talented musicians/people on this project, and also to explore more of my creative side in the production department. I am obsessed with layering many harmonies and gang vocals on my tracks (it definitely is the thing to crash a logic project!). Sometimes that will be the first thing I do, and then I build around that.
It opens with a track titled “Smile” a fun and happy, mid up-tempo song. We all have those days in life where absolutely everything is going wrong from beginning to end. This song light-heartedly highlights those days, and the little things that tend to go wrong. Sometimes all you can do is just laugh.
I wrote this song with a talented friend who I have worked with for a while called Jonny Hockings. It started off with a simple guitar riff and then I took it to a talented producer and instrumentalist called Ed Riches.
We worked on this together and built it up with quite a few guitar melodies and bass lines, as Ugandan/African music of this genre is usually made up of multiple guitar lines/rhythms. This one gives a gentle nod to my Ugandan heritage.
It then follows with “Be Good Be Kind”, a song that is very important to me and a song that hopefully encourages anyone that is struggling with their mental health to reach out for help. A gentle reminder to them that they are not alone.
This one was written with the talented Jez and Martin. They are both really brilliant. This was one of the most emotional sessions I have ever been a part of, and I was grateful to be in a safe space. The song actually started off on piano and then found itself slowly transitioning into a guitar led piece.
“Box Of Regrets” is next up and was also written with the talented Jez and Martin. This one was another song that started off on the piano and then slowly transitioned into a guitar lead track. The verses were re-written twice for this track on separate occasions.
It was the first time I had been through this process (an important one too). It is about letting go of the past and holding on to the past for so many reasons. It can be difficult to do that for many reasons. “Box Of Regrets” is saying goodbye to the past (regrets) in life that have caused us pain.
Referring to the box of regrets as beautiful, is acknowledging that through pain, growth can sometimes be birthed. Although pain isn’t a requirement for growth, it can encourage change that propels us to grow. Additional production came from the great TJ Amadi.
The EP then transitions to another up-tempo tune called “All Day Long”. It started off as a loop that Jonny (who I mentioned earlier) had playing on a loop pedal. I walked in the studio with the sun shining and this wonderful loop was playing. I was immediately hooked and felt inspired to create something super relaxed and fun – something that made me feel good.
So, Jonny and I did just that! I love African music – it’s something that I grew up listening to. Guitar, bass and percussion are pretty key to this sound – it’s all in the groove, and it was fun to be able to capture elements of that and to put my own twist on it!
The EP finishes with “If Not My Heart”. This song was written with the very talented Joel Baker. It was great to be back in the studio with Joel – we got chatting about learning to believe and trust yourself, and rising above self-doubt.
It can be particularly difficult to do this especially when it is the voice of others (and their negative opinions of us) that has contributed to our self-doubt to begin with. So, we decided to put it in a song. This song is about the process of overcoming self-doubt and making the courageous step in the direction that we want to go in.
Our opinions of ourselves are extremely powerful, and are the only things that truly matter when implementing change for ourselves. I really hope this EP can empower people as much as creating it has empowered me.
Listen to Colour Your World below and stream it everywhere else here.
