Hailing from Raleigh, NC, Sage “Gemïny” Wesley is a recording artist fine-tuning a mix of raspy rock and smooth jazz into his pop-soul vocals creating a unique sound that keeps audiences grooving. Previously studying music composition under John Fitz at the University of South Carolina, Gemïny returned from his musical hiatus in 2020. Initially, he began participating in freelance work, recording hooks and background vocals for varying aspiring artists in hopes of raising money for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This charity work later grew into small gig work in the local Columbia bars where Gemïny performed backup and keys for various bands.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hey Gemïny, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Yeah thanks, for having me on y’alls platform. I really appreciate it. So I always attribute it to 2 things.
Firstly, My great Grandmother got me this blue toy piano when I was super young Couldn’t have been older than three and I would carry that thing around like it was my binkie… well I had a stuffed lion at first so I started doing this after I lost roary in a staples so you can age me a little bit to like 8 or 9. But that definitely had a huge influence on me and why I chose to learn to play the piano.
And secondly watching the BET awards with the family growing up. I always remember being so amazed with everyone on stage performing and their showmanship it just blew me away. Especially MJ there was something about those shoes, they had me hypnotized. It seems silly now that the magic veil’s been lifted and I know how it works but as a kid… That was one cool cat. MJ, Usher, and Chris Brown growing up I just appreciate what they did on stage – void of anything that went on in the real world, when they were on stage they were electric and I loved it. And the sense of community the award show itself brought to my family really added to that. It would be my cousins, grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, The whole clan gathered around, and while little me would never admit this, I really appreciated that. Was very different from my usual isolation. My family’s also just always been super supportive of my creativity so that’s always a plus. I remember a few years ago it was nani pearl calling me on the phone telling me how she was really hoping I would get back into music, and here I am. So super grateful for them and all they do for me and my career.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
It’s hard, it's a toss up between Arianna Grande and Tate Mcrae. I just see those sessions being a good vibe for different reasons. But, if I ever want to write a Sad boy hours anthem best believe Imma be praying to the stars for a collab with Tate.
Your latest song is 'Rock (Right Now)'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
Yeah so Rock is a part of my upcoming EP “My Dark. Twisted Valentine.” The real life events span exactly 24 hours, But it’s this waking fever dream I was experiencing and it goes through these recurring dreams i”ve had since I can remember. Rock is probably the newest of the dreams; it started freshman year of High School. And it just details this scene where I’m in this flooded prison courtyard getting stoned, and berated and it’s seemingly about just being an outsider and only being noticed when it fits into someone else's agendas. But I actually randomly started having the dream again but now there;s this dancer gliding around on top of the water in the cell with me and Instead of the typical bleed out and wake up, now there’s a raging crimson tsunami and the walls are crumbling – it’s honestly a very chaotic and cinematic dream I’m usually half suffocating in real life when it’s taking place honestly feels like an Imax experience at times. So anyways for the first time ever I don’t die in the dream so naturally I wanted to dissect that and where I landed on that seemed to fit perfectly into the EP and kind of setting the tone for the Episodic releases. Just to explain that when everythings said and done there will be 2 tracklists for MD.TV we’ll have the Episodic version which we’re active going through every release is an episode and that’ll be one way to go through the journey and then the actual EP is set up exactly like it happened in real life so everyone can go through the experience as I did and get that perspective as well. Vice is technically episode 4 but New Years was the right time for Vice to be released so We’ll do something special for the 4th episode's rerelease.
What are you focussing on right now?
Well it’s weird because everythings done so far in advance. So currently, I am actively working on a single that ties the Ep and the Album together to make it a cohesive experience like If MD.TV is the TV series I want Victoria’s Secret to feel like the Movie that finish the arc. But, because of how it’s set up there’s this gaping hole in the middle that’s been spoken around, Like currently the Love story goes as follows: We start at creep, I get stalked by Jane Doe, and that leads me to bumping into the main love interest. A good majority of the album happens, things develop and everything seems… not perfect, but healthy. Then we jump to Too Close where we find out there was this huge secret that was kept from me that ultimately ends this excessively long term situationship I was having. And then Avalanche happens – not really trying to get into that one, it was a thing that happened lines were blurred. After that her mental health components come into play until ultimately we land on a song called over where our end becomes very concrete. Then somewhere in the distance we get MD.TV where I stayed awake a little too long and went through this Dreamscape experience where I’m living out all these recurring dreams and a song which will release on May 5th called Run me down (Top 3 songs of mine on both the EP and Album - it makes sense in both contexts I promise) Happens. It addresses a fight we had at a bonfire but because I’m delusionally sleep deprived a bunch of other stuff is also playing out. And eventually the EP leads me to explaining the actual journey of me accepting my faults and the situation. But the actual event that was this huge secret is never addressed. Because it really needs more than RnB and Pop can really provide. So The goal right now is mapping out some way somehow to finesse some Disturbed influence into a pop single to bring this arc together.
What are you most proud of?
Actually releasing Avalanche. My brain loves to just forget random tid bits until something just triggers the memories and that’s for everything not just my traumatic memories. And with that specific situation it was so far tucked away and when it did come up I didn’t really accept it for it was, and it was really bringing me out of character. So being able to share that experience and convey that struggle to my audience feels like a major accomplishment especially with how good the reception has been so far, it’s a great feeling.
What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?
I touched on it earlier but all the magic vanishes, or maybe it’s just presented in a new color. But once you’ve spent all those hours going through the process specifically in the Mixing and Mastering stages when it comes to listening to music you start to notice it. Like now, songs I used to adore don;t sound the same because I can hear the De-essing and the saturation and all of it. And it’s still a great experience but it’s different because I know it never sounded like that before.
*for the readers think of this next paragraph as a spoiler so if you don’t want to know please don’t read it*
So for instance Because of you by Ne-yo I absolutely love that song still love it, but i was listening to it a few years ago and all of a sudden there’s no S when he sings “because” And like obviously you have to because of the doubling and blah blah blah boring technical stuff. But, before I never noticed it. And like I said, it's still a great song and how they let certain S sounds cut through to add a percussive element. I appreciate it. Shoot I used it as a reference for Too Close. But it was so much more magical when I didn’t notice it. So learning to enjoy my old classics again in the same capacity as I did before, has definitely been the biggest struggle.
How do you structure your day?
It’s actually kinda wild that you ask because the ep focuses on my insomnia and this 24 hour stretch where it was really messing with my mental.
But for most of my life I considered my insomnia to be my superpower. I was never inherently talented at anything, I just had more time than most people and I would take advantage of that to the fullest. And, I mean always my mom would always tell me stories of me as a baby just refusing to sleep at all for days at a time. And high school was definitely the peak.
But after weeks of not sleeping there were “hyper-somnic” days where I would sleep most of the day away for a week at most, but still you obviously can’t function like that. So now, my hyper-somnic episodes getI split into four six hour “days” or blocks and I go from there.
So for block one (9am-3PM) i go to work, sell some insurance, do what it do and I have a 90 min break where i’ll try to get in a quick auxiliary workout nothing crazy 100 push ups or 500 abs for 30 mins and then we aim for a 1 hour nap. I also work a desk job so every now and then I’ll do my vocal comping when things are dead and all my tasks are done.
Block 2 (3pm-9pm)has like 2 more hours of work and then just decompression so scrolling through tik tok or IG brainstorming new content ideas, or pretending like i can play the guitar and rearranging old songs for fun walking, my dog, or playing video games just things that are low stress and fun. I’ll do that for the remainder of that time. I may write a song if I'm in the mood but block 2 is pretty heavy on the relaxation vibes. Also usually when I handle a lot of back-end day to day music stuff, as well as vocal exercises, and I may read up on news around the music and fashion industries.
Block 3 (9pm-3am) is a very weird time because it’s usually going out hours so thursday through sunday I may be multi-tasking involved, because I will get lit. Anywho somewhere in this time I’ll spend 60-90 minutes at the gym trying to stay in shape, not necessarily for the aesthetic I just try to make sure I don't run out of breathe when I’m singing and I feel confident when performing – it also helps tire me out for another hour nap als. After that any scheduling, or self-prep for the next days events will take place, and 8 times out of ten my studio sessions will be scheduled for the remaining 4 hours. If i’m not in the studio I’m doing what I like to call “Networking” aka having a great night somewhere in the wild.
Block 4 (3am-9pm): Usually a quick wind down, and if everything played out right I’ll get 4 hours of solid sleep before I wake up and get back too it.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
Of course. Anyone who follows me on the gram knows food is my first love. I love to cook, I love to eat, I used to go on dates exclusively to have an excuse to eat at nice restaurants. They were the most casual conversations, the most casual invites, I was just there genuinely like you seem like you’d be cool to talk to and I do not want to sit at this fine establishment by my lonesome. (eventually I got over it and just started eating at the bars and talking to the bartenders). So there’s always food. And besides that I’m a really outdoorsy person so hiking, walking my dog, my god mother used to have a few horses so I’m always down to ride as well, and then on the opposite side I do love my PS5.
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
I’ve kind of relaxed on that lately; I try to be considerate of my roommates. But, it used to be my favorite place to sing for sure. You literally can’t tell me that bathrooms don’t have the best acoustics. Maybe not for recording but I genuinely don’t believe you can sound bad singing in the shower. Growing up I would be throwing a full blown concert in the shower just jamming out, making up new tunes, it was a blast. Honestly, even recently (granted my sense of time is way out of whack and this was probably like a year ago but it feels like last week) I Caught on to a random tune and ended up freestyling my way into what is probably my favorite song on the tentative album. I think I ended up crying at the end of it too. It was a super emotional,intimate moment in my head like I was feeling all the feels, but in reality just vibing in the shower reminiscing and singing. THere’s no feeling like it.
Anywho top 5 shower favorites is kind of hard so if someone asks me tomorrow this list might switch up a little bit but currently it goes:
Paramore - Misery Business (or Crushcrushcrush depends on how angsty I’m feeling)
Bruno Mars - Natalie
Bon Jovi - You Give Love a bad name
Tone Stith - Devotion
Mariah Carey - We belong together (An absolute staple just beats out Usher’s Hey Daddy, but I’ll be damned if I’m not trying tohit those high notes).
What are your plans for the future?
I really live 3 months at a time. I obviously am going to keep releasing and living life. They work hand in hand so I have to live the next story to tell it. With summer coming up and most of the tracks being ready for release throughout the year. Just expect to see a lot of new adventures on Instagram and the music to keep Rolling. Definitely not slowing down!