Jessie Mazin walked into Medium Sized Backyard carrying the kind of quiet conviction that only comes from finally being ready to let something go. In this conversation with Medicine Box, the singer-songwriter opens up about her debut six-song EP, the creative spark she found with collaborators Carlos de La Garsa and Adam Meltchure, and the moment of raw fury that produced her standout track "Man With Money in His Hands" - written in the wake of the LA fires and a world that felt, in her words, deeply unjust.
On the Debut EP
Medicine Box: You have a debut EP coming out. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
Jessie Mazin: Yeah. I was given the honor of working with two amazing other musicians - Carlos de La Garsa and Adam Meltchure. We met and there was just this immediate creative synergy and I was like, I need to make more songs with them. So we got together for like a month or two and we recorded this six-song EP. Some of the songs I had written years prior and some I wrote with them. But it's just, I think, exactly what I want to put out into the world right now. I'm so excited to share it.
On Collaborating With Carlos and Adam
Medicine Box: Talking about your collaborators, Carlos and Adam - what was that aha moment of like, you guys are my guys? Did you find that they pushed you in ways previous collaborators maybe didn't?
Jessie Mazin: The first thing I loved most about working with them is that we were always giggling. I need to laugh and I need to feel like I can be goofy in a session. And those two are so good at taking what I want - like I could say I want something ethereal sounding here, and they just take what they hear from me and create a sound out of nothing, seemingly. They'd be like, "Okay, I hear you. What if we do that, but then what if we put it through this effect?" And I'm like, I didn't even know that was an option. It's really awesome working with people who are really good at what they do, but really good at a different thing than what I do. We all just brought something to the table and made some of my favorite music I've ever made. They're just the best.
Medicine Box: That must be such a dope feeling - wow, I've met two people, we collaborate so well, and now this baby has been born and it's going out into the world. How does it feel releasing it?
Jessie Mazin: I'm really excited to let the world have it, and also just to let it go, because I've been holding onto it for so long. I think one of the best parts about releasing music is you make it, you put it out, and then it gets to live its own life for however many people choose to listen to it. I'm really excited to see that life grow.
On Playing Live and Connecting With Fans
Medicine Box: How does that make you feel - the idea of having fans, meeting them, singing for them, being IRL with them?
Jessie Mazin: I'm so excited about that. I have been a fan my whole life. I love going to shows, I love screaming the words in the pit. So I'm really excited to be on the other end of that. I love playing guitar and singing - it's my favorite activity. And I love listening to music with people. Those two things combined are just best-case scenario. It's like a recipe for joy.
On Writing "Man With Money in His Hands"
Medicine Box: I want to talk about "Man With Money in His Hands." Can we talk about the making of that song?
Jessie Mazin: Yeah, absolutely. I wrote that song in January 2025, not long after the fires and the inauguration. A lot was happening in the world and in my life, and I was just really angry about how rich people - super rich people - get to be super rich and get even richer while so many people are just suffering. I think that is one of the greatest injustices of the world we live in currently, and I just needed to write about it. The production is very angry, very apocalyptic, and I think it reflects the subject matter well. I'm really excited for people to hear it so they can have a place to feel that anger, because sometimes it's hard to balance feeling angry and upset and also just living your life.
On What She Wants Listeners to Feel
Medicine Box: When this EP is out, what is something you want your fans to feel when listening to your music?
Jessie Mazin: I want them to feel heard. I think the best part about music is that the listener can build their own reality around a song, even if it's not what I wrote it about. I want them to feel like someone gets it, even if it's not the same thing they're going through. That's what I love about music - just feeling like someone understands what I thought was this really complex, personal thing, but in reality, we all feel a lot of the same stuff.
