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 before, going on a hiatus, Gemïny returned to the music scene in 2020 where he began participating in freelance work recording hooks and background for varying aspiring artists in hopes of raising money for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This later grew into small gig work in the local Columbia bars where Gemïny performed both back up and keys for various bands.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Gemïny. Can you tell us about your early career? Where did you get the idea for the music industry?
Well, I mean, it was always something I think I wanted to do, you know, we always have those grandiose dreams growing up to be something bigger than life, whether that be an astronaut, surgeon, Actor what have you. There's always that bigger than life image you have as a child that you want to reach. So I'd say being a singer was always something I wanted to do, just not something I thought was realistic. But, I think that life just happened and it became one of those things where it was just like "yea this makes sense." I've also always received tremendous support from my family to do the more creative things that I wanted to do and there's no doubt that, that definitely contributed to my ability and confidence to release my music out into the world and trust the process.
Where do you start when producing songs?
This is always a hard question to answer, because It depends on the song. In the cases where I'm completely involved in the composition, arrangement, and production of a song there's a lot that goes into it, and I'd say that most of the ideas come from just playing around and improvising on the piano until I catch on to one really strong melody that I want to expand on. Even then, My favorite track off the forthcoming album "Victoria's Secret" was written completely in the shower as this "improv performance"-- Like something I would do when I was much younger, happy as can be singing in the shower (I know it's cringe. It be like that sometimes). But with that it all pretty much came together in unison. The lyrics were immediate the melodies and basslines were just kind of teleported into my brain like some trans-dimensional earworm in my head, and it just, kind of, happened. But, it's probably, compositionally, the best track I've made to date. So I really do mean it when I say my creative process is its own living entity that does what it wants how it wants, I promise to start documenting more of it. However, now that I'm thinking about it, despite my background with percussive instruments I'm absolutely horrible at putting together the drumkits and 808's so that's always last May not be consistent with my start, but the finish is very uniform.
Your latest song is 'Hesitation'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
It was just really quick. There really wasn't time for anything to happen. Like with "too close" I waited so long to release due to my aggy Perfectionist tendencies that I allowed a lot of things to happen. I mean people died, cars were totaled (unrelated), There was a lot of time for reflection during some very unorthodox visitation hours. And all of that kind of forced me to acknowledge that there was no better time to get the ball rolling then at that moment in time. But with Hesitation, I was very conscious of how meticulous I could get if I sat on it to long so I literally heard the beat From Tommi and Tuomo over at BigBadBeats, wrote the lyrics, recorded, and had it sent off to TJ to mix within 72 hours. There was no time to get in my head no time for anything crazy to happen. Hesitation was sent by 3-day express air and I think that's really what allowed it to be the song that it is.
What was the most difficult challenge you faced?
I don't want to downplay any one event that happened, or anything like that there were a lot of challenges and negative experiences that ultimately impacted my life for the better. But, a coach of mine in Kenya once told me, "perfection is just pressure, you either crack or become diamond." and that pretty much destroyed my mental-health. I became very creative in self-harm efforts to achieve this ideal aesthetic, or to achieve certain accolades, and I was very steadfast on being alone just because I didn't feel like I was worthy of support. I spent a long time on that "island' and It really effected how I learned to interact with people and build relationships, Even how I view the world just became very dark and twisted you know I went from having a very open grey perspective to an almost completely black point-of-view and it led me to do some crazy and rebellious things. So now that I'm beginning to overcome that way of thinking and living life a little more healthily it's become easier to recognize just how difficult of a time that was. Obviously, my battle with perfectionism will probably go on till the end of my days, but it's a lot more civil than it used to be, to put it nicely.
What is your goal in artistic activities?
To completely discredit everything I just said, Really just want to reach for the pinnacle, I don't want to limit myself to a small quantifiable goal ya know? I just want to see how far I can take it. How wide I can stretch my range, how far I can push my sound, and how many people I can reach through the music. How many times I can really get the point across that no matter how dark times may seem there's always light at the end of the tunnel. I know I always say that sometimes you just have to put on that smile like batman and trust that it'll come but I truly mean that, those bad days aren't forever. They may be long as hell. But everything, even the pain has to end eventually. I really just hope my music becomes a testament for that message.
How do you know when a work is finished?
You really have to understand the balance. Understanding where in the mix you have space, and weather it is vital to fill every crevice of the frequency range or if the emotional content of the piece requires a more spacious feel to deliver the impact you're looking for. Sorry I'm speaking nerd-linguish, basically it's a feel thing and more times than not less is more, and that's definitely something I've had to learn but when it feels right, when the projects execution brings out the right emotions at the right times and the beats and lyrics hit just right in your head. You know you're there, and it is at that point where you have to trust your vision because, if you overdo it, that masterpiece can easily become muffled static to the listeners, and you have to put their experience first, they're the people we do it for.
What is your trademark? Is It about unique sounds or behaviors on stage.
I like to believe it's just the vocal versatility and bringing all those different styles together weather it's rock grit, jazzy riffs, or R&B sultry I have a lot of fun blending together and applying them in unconventional settings. When it comes to live performances I also feel the energy comes from my versatility. But I also would say that on stage I get to be the person I was, rather than the person I am now and it allows for a lot of fun and engaging happenings, I get to channel a complete different side of myself and when you're jumping on railings and belting raspy toplines it really allows you to throw a lot of energy to the crowd and when they reciprocate, the feeling is unreal.
What are your biggest achievements so far as an artist, but also personally.
I recently hit 100k all time streams on Spotify and that was really just so surreal to me, because it's been such a short amount of time and if three months ago you told me the reception would be like this I'd look at you funny no lie. So I really do appreciate that and everyone listening and engaging with the music y'all mean the world to me genuinely.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
I was at a bar a few weeks after the sophomore single avalanche came out and someone came up to me and told me how the song really touched them and how they appreciated me being able to open up on that subject because it gave them the courage to begin their journey to overcoming the damage their attacker did to them and just being entrusted with that story by someone I'd never even met before was really special. Made me feel like there is an impact and the message is getting out there and there really is no better feeling.
What are your plans for the future?
Currently the goal is to just keep pushing to keep performing recording and making the experience a fun journey for everyone whose along for the ride. The next single "Creep" will be out October 7th, really excited for that one, a little jam about the stalker girl that really got the ball rolling for the whole story of "Victoria's Secret" and with It being a Halloween jam I'm just really excited to have that out in the world for my favorite holiday. That'll be the last single released from the album for a while, have to leave a little surprise factor for everyone, but the music's going to keep coming have a little disco-esque pop vibe coming, and with that (as I was saying earlier), I'm planning to be a lot more transparent with the process so I'll be on tik tok and Instagram sharing the day to day of putting a single together. So yea, everyone stay tuned, we're just getting started, but for now the story of "Victoria's secret" will have to be continued…