Born and raised in South Bay, LA, MEGG shares her spunk with a Pop-Rock single called “Shamoo.”
She grew up with four brothers and exposed herself to a variety of music from Britney Spears to Rancid. Known for throwing wild house parties, it is clear that MEGG has an outgoing and contagious personality that shows through her music.
With her new release, she is broadening her fan-base with more catchy melodies and passion-filled beats. Sparse plucks of an electric guitar and the repetitive tap of a high hat create a quick tempo that sets the tone for “Shamoo.”
It is clear in the first ten seconds of the song that MEGG does not hold back. Her explicit and edgy lyrics are enough to hook a listener immediately. With her attitude and vocal confidence, MEGG will have fans yearning to drink in the rest of her music. With flavors of pop and rock, “Shamoo’s” intensity is evident during the first verse. MEGG continues to hype up the energy level during the chorus with rock and roll instrumentals and passionate vocals. By sharing her authentic self with her new track “Shamoo,” music lovers will be excited to have another edgy and powerful artist to watch for.
Listen to "Shamoo" here.
Hello MEGG, it's so great having you with us at BuzzMusic. Could you tell us about the message behind the lyrics of “Shamoo?”
Absolutely. I wrote SHAMOO as an anthem to my late Dad’s suburban that was passed down to me when I was 16. My Dad and I were really close… I was a total Daddy’s Girl and was honored when my Mom gifted me the suburban as my first car. There was a lot of sentimental value to this thing - not only was it my family’s last Christmas gift to my Dad before he passed, but my Dad and I spent a lot of time together in that suburban! Between acting classes, musical theatre rehearsals, soccer practice, it was a lot and I so loved my time with him driving around listening to Linkin Park and Peter Gabriel. When he died, it was really hard for us. He brought so much joy, laughter, and plain silliness to our lives and we really felt the absence of that when he was gone. The only time I started to feel that joy again was when I would drive SHAMOO. Driving around in that suburban provided me this outlet to deal with my grief, gave me a sense of connection to my Dad, and ultimately became my safe space where I could let it all hang out and be whatever version of myself I was in that moment. God, I loved blasting music till my speakers blew, driving way too fast and just flipping the bird to the world and all my problems in it in that thing!! Not only was this suburban my saving grace, but it quickly became that same safe space for my friends! It was this running joke, “Hey - I’m having a shit day. Can you pick me up and take me for a ride in SHAMOO?” There is something so damn magical and freeing about riding around in that beast so we wrote this song as an invitation to join me on the wild ride of letting go. SHAMOO doesn’t care who you are, what you’ve been through, or what you’ve done; she only aims to accept you as you are. I hope this song can be to the listeners what my Dad’s suburban always was for me: an escape, a home, and a f*cking party.
You have opened for The Used at Musink, performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Disney Concert Hall, and appeared on NBC’s The Voice. What have you learned from these experiences, and how have they shaped you as an artist?
Oof, I think each one of these experiences came with their own set of lessons but one of my biggest takeaways from opening for The Used was that you can’t expect people to love you and your music - you have to make people give a shit about you… they’ve never heard your music, they don’t love your songs the way you do and they don’t really owe you anything. When I opened for The Used, I was SO hyped about opening for one of my all-time favorite bands and went on stage expecting the same amount of excitement from the crowd. In reality, they didn’t know me, they were waiting for The Used to come on and I was just a half-hour of music to get through before that. During the first 2 songs, I remember feeling so defeated that no one cared, and then it hit me- MAKE them like you, MEGG! I turned the rest of the show into a little challenge between me and the crowd where I was determined to make them care about my set. Once the head bangin’ started and people starting getting into me and my music, it was a massive high - I worked for that shit and it felt GOOD. That show was such a dream and so insane. Since that show, I never expect shit when I play - I gotta earn the respect of my audience, and honestly, I’m down for that. These experiences also taught me to sit into myself and not let any reaction or opinion sway my self-confidence or make me question who I am as an artist and I think that has shaped the hell out of my artistry! I think the major example of that was going on The Voice and not getting a chair turn - although I gave one hell of an audition - and at that moment, I really questioned myself! It messed with my head and in return, I didn’t make music for a while. A few years later, I was like “what the fuck am I doing”, realized I let the opinion of 4 people get to me and stop me from doing the thing I love most. Since then, I work really hard to stay in my zone and not let anyone fuck up my energy. You gotta know you got it and let the ones who tell you you don’t ignite a fire under your ass to continue believing in yourself and push you to work harder. We were captivated by the hard-hitting energy of “Shamoo.” What was your inspiration while producing this song?
Thank you!! Well, first of all - I gotta credit my producer Matias Mora for this one. He is just one of the best producers out there and I’m so grateful that he made this song come to life with me. We’ve been making music together on and off for about 10 years, we’re great friends and musically, we like a lot of the same stuff so when it came time to create the first song of my new project, I knew I had to work with him. To answer your question, the main inspiration for the production was definitely that we wanted this song to sound and feel like you were riding around in SHAMOO (I had the suburban in college when we met so he definitely had his share of experience riding around in that beast). Once that was identified, Matias had me create a playlist of my biggest inspirations and the music I’d been listening to. We listened through that, identified what drew me to each song and why and off he went with his producing magic. Once he had a rough pass put together and came up with that insane guitar riff in the chorus, the “Hey! You! I’m talking to you!” came straight to my head and from then on, the song really wrote itself. He took my SoCal beach punk roots, my love for pop music and our emo, pop-punk upbringing, and created this blend of all the shit we like! Matias really killed it with the production, I couldn’t have imagined it any better. I also can't forget to mention the insane drums that were played by Eric Downs!! Having his live drum pass really added a lot of that exciting energy to the production as well. As one of FIVE vocalists to come out of the first graduating class of USC Popular Music Performance Program it is clear that your training has helped you develop your intrinsic vocal talent. How has your education benefitted and influenced your music career?
Thank you! Ah, that was such a beautifully gnarly 4 years… I think the two biggest takeaways from that program were the confidence it instilled in me and my craft and the experience of having to learn my voice all over again. All of the training and education I received really set me up for success and in turn, created a sense of confidence in my abilities that I hadn’t had before. I learned how to conduct rehearsals, how to write music, I learned what I needed locally in-studio sessions and on stage, got personalized advice from some of the biggest legends in the music industry and learned the shitty lesson that partying all night before a gig was NOT the call. In fact, I almost got nodes from the partying, the screaming, using my voice incorrectly, the late-night rehearsals, it was awful but it taught me (the hard way), I had to take better care of my voice and my instrument in order to perform at my best. The Pop Program helped solidify that this was the career I was destined for and ultimately helped me take my art more seriously. It was an intense program but it really shaped and prepared me for this industry so that when I graduated and got my hands wet, I knew what I was doing. I’m very grateful for that.
What can fans anticipate to hear next from you?
Well, I’ve got another single coming out in August and an EP to follow in the Fall! I’ll be releasing a bunch of videos and other content as well in between releases but honestly, I’m mostly excited for everyone to hear this EP. It’s a total blend of all the music I’m inspired by and it’s got lyrics straight outta my diary - it’s really just me in a group of songs and I can’t wait for people to hear it.