On her debut EP ‘untitled.jpeg,’ LA-based singer/songwriter Jessie Mazin channels her passion for social justice through song, using songwriting as personal expression and a means of processing social and political realities.
Stream: ‘untitled.jpeg’ – Jessie Mazin
In a fast-moving world where our attention spans are like currency, it feels like a gift to come across an artist whose music makes time stand still.
Los Angeles born and raised singer/songwriter Jessie Mazin achieves this with her debut EP, untitled.jpeg. Produced by Carlos de la Garza and Adam Melchor, this soul-baring six track EP tells the story of a young woman finding her place in the world while in the throes of heartbreak and existential exhaustion. It’s a coming-of-age story that holds up a mirror to many of our own lives and the profound experiences that have shaped us.
On untitled.jpeg, we not only bear witness to Jessie Mazin at her most vulnerable, but we also get to meet her at her most unapologetic, divisive and bold. “I’m coming out the gate completely honest and strong in my beliefs,” she says. “With my first project, I’m setting a tone where I’m not going to back down. I believe what I believe and I’m unafraid to speak on it.”
With a gut-punching opener like “the man with money in his hands” – a song that calls out the greed and corruption we so often see from people in positions of power – this EP leaves no room for doubt on Mazin’s stances regarding current societal and political issues. It’s as if you can hear her processing her frustrations in real-time, as her voice oscillates between a soaring rally cry and a mournful whisper with effortless command.
Breathing poison from a swirly straw
Let the children think they’re safe,
then trade their souls for the law
And the law won’t listen to anyone
but the man with money in his hands
– “the man with money in his hands,” Jessie Mazin
Emerging from social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, Jessie Mazin’s raw, unfiltered songwriting has captured the hearts of thousands across the internet, and across the world.
Atwood Magazine sat down with the rising singer/songwriter to chat with her a few days shy of her debut. In our conversation, we discuss the central themes of untitled.jpeg, the highs and lows of building an audience on social media, and using songwriting as a tool for connection and social justice.
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:: stream/purchase untitled.jpeg here ::
:: connect with Jessie Mazin here ::
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A CONVERSATION WITH JESSIE MAZIN
Atwood Magazine: untitled.jpeg opens with “the man with money in his hands.” It’s a dark, brooding song, socially and conceptually, and I thought it was a really powerful way to set the tone for the rest of the EP. What does this song mean to you? Was it an intentional choice to have it be the opener?
Jessie Mazin: I am a very passionate person when it comes to social justice and the state of the world and economics and everything under that umbrella. I wrote “the man with money in his hands” about not only the corruption in the government, but the extreme wealth gap that we’re experiencing, not only in this country, but all over the world. It’s kind of about how money is power. Right now, everyone in power has way too much money and it’s a deeply corrupt institution at the moment. I thought it was a great opener and a great first single because I wanted everyone to know right out the gate that this is where I stand, this is how I feel about the world right now, and it is really integral and important to my identity as an artist. I just wanted to immediately weed out anyone who might feel uncomfortable with my stance on this issue and just let the world know that I’m unmoving in my positions, ideas, and ideologies.
Something that immediately captured my attention with this EP were the visuals accompanying it. I love how nostalgic the cover art is and how it looks like it came straight off an early 2000’s Windows desktop computer. Even the name of the EP, untitled.jpeg, is literally an unnamed computer file. Was this also an intentional choice? What inspired this vision for the project?
Jessie Mazin: I think that Gen Z, millennials, Gen X alike all have this nostalgia for early internet, early technology, and a time where technology was less evil and less life-ruining the way it is now. I really think back to the visuals, I’m incorporating the interfaces that really reminds me of my childhood with things like the family desktop, playing on Microsoft Paint, and things like that. I just felt that the subject matter of a lot of the songs is dark, such as “the man with money in his hands,” and it’s very critical of society. I thought it was just an interesting juxtaposition to have it kind of be this nostalgic technological world. As for the title I mean, spot on, it is exactly like an unnamed file. I just felt that there was no word or title that really spoke to me. I felt that it was an untitled project. It’s kind of meant to be like an unfinished Microsoft Paint drawing – you’re not sure what it is yet, but you’re proud of it, so you just save it as untitled. I also just think that that theme visually is really cool and appealing, so I just kind of went with that.
Expanding on the visual aspect of this project, I’d love to know what the EP would look like to you if it were its own little world. When listening to it I personally feel like I’m somewhere very blue, like deep underwater. What place do these songs take you?
Jessie Mazin: I totally feel blue. I feel like for me, it’s kind of galaxy colors – I really see dark blues and dark purples. When I close my eyes and think about it, I imagine it as just a lone person – maybe it’s me, maybe it’s the listener, whoever – kind of just walking on the moon. I kind of imagine the moon from the little prince where it’s kind of small, you can walk around the whole circumference in one go, and just taking a stroll on the moon among the stars in the galaxy in this vast never-ending darkness. That’s just where my mind takes me when I think about it.
I can hear so many different influences shining through each song on this record, especially early 2000s alternative bands like Radiohead and Paramore. Who were some artists you were influenced by while making this project?
Jessie Mazin: Absolutely Radiohead. I really think about my songwriting in a “before Radiohead” and an “after Radiohead.” In 2023, I really took the time to listen to Radiohead’s discography from top to bottom and really, really take it in. I think it just absolutely changed my songwriting and my perception of the art that I wanted to create. I definitely have to tip my hat to Radiohead. I also think Alanis Morissette, definitely, and just a lot of the women of the 90s are just so outspoken, interesting, and amazing are always a huge inspiration for me. Then I think more modern, more current – my favorite artist is Phoebe Bridgers. Although I wouldn’t say the EP sounds like her. I mean, I hope not – I hope it sounds like me! But I am always so inspired by her lyrics and her storytelling. I feel like those were my biggest inspirations.
Some of my personal favorite lyrics off untitled.jpeg come from track 3, “Alive.” Lyrics like: “I’m worried I’ll never keep hold of anything good / I’ll keep letting go,” and “I will never trust the weakest parts of me / not even my bones” are so vulnerable and pierce so deep. If you feel comfortable getting into it, what were some things you were dealing with at the time of writing this song?
Jessie Mazin: I wrote “alive” a few weeks into my first semester of college. I was coming off of a great senior year of high school. I just was feeling so amazing. Then I moved across the country alone and had to dive into this completely new world that felt scary and unfamiliar. I felt myself getting lost and just descending into a darker place than I was before I went to college. “Alive” was me working through that and realizing that I don’t need to be happy, perfect, and just filled with joy and light constantly, but I just want to feel alive – like I’m moving through time and living my life. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but I wanted to feel more present in my life and the new world that I was entering.
I think a beautiful part about that song and recording it so many years later is that I’m now, and at the time of recording it, in a very good place – a place that at the time of writing Alive, I wasn’t sure I would ever get back to. I am so happy and so at peace with the world right now, so it’s kind of a beautiful reminder that everything will pass. The darkness and the sadness is never forever.
Which song off the record do you feel most connected with or proud of at this moment?
Jessie Mazin: I think at this moment, right now, I’m feeling very connected to “i cut out my brain.” I think it’s just the coolest song title ever and I am so grateful for past me for coming up with that. That song is about feeling jealous, but also bad, for the people in this world who live their lives in this state of blissful ignorance where because they come from a place of privilege, they don’t feel the need to know, or care about, the atrocities going on in the world. That’s something I wrestle with every day – the balance of knowing, caring, and protecting my peace. I think lately there’s just been so much going on that is so deeply upsetting, so that song is a good reminder that although life seems peaceful and easy, it is not worth it to not know. I’ve been thinking about that one a lot these days.
I first came across your music about a year ago while scrolling on TikTok, and I was so blown away. There are many negatives to TikTok and social media as a whole, but coming across your account reminded me that social media can still be meaningful and inspiring, and it can still be used for good. How has it been navigating social media as an artist? Have you found it to be rewarding or challenging building an audience online?
Jessie Mazin: I think that TikTok and social media in general are simultaneously the worst ever and also the greatest gift of the internet. TikTok and Instagram reels are how I got to the point that I am currently. I’m so grateful for that door that connects me as a musician, as a writer, and as an artist to the world and to fans that may never come across me in another way. But, it is hard to feel like you’re just a slave to the algorithm – this abstract, confusing, all-powerful algorithm – that really can make or break you. It’s really hard to separate that from the art. It’s like – “Oh no, I posted this song that I was so proud of and it got fewer views than normal, so the song must be bad.” That kind of thought pattern is something that I think a lot of artists struggle with, me included.
I think it’s just about finding balance in it. It is a game really, and that’s kind of the fun part. I like to think about it where it’s like – “this type of video worked. Why did it work, what got people’s attention, how did this play out?” Just trying new techniques and new things [is] how I kind of blew up in the first place. I made a new TikTok account to post a new style of video that I had never made before and then the first video I posted on that account just blew up. Since then, it’s been like a year, almost exactly. I’ve just been grinding on that same style of video and honestly, it’s gotten to the point where I do need to switch it up, so I’m struggling with that, but [I’m] putting in the work and trying to figure it out. I think it’s all about balance. I mean, the root of it is just the art. If the art is good, I trust that the people who need to see it, will see it.
Before we end, I just want to say congratulations on opening for the Indigo Girls on tour this May! Is there something you’re most looking forward to on this tour?
Jessie Mazin: I’m so excited to travel with, and spend time with, The Indigo Girls. They are absolute legends, not only in the folk space, but just as queer women and advocates for social change, so I’m really excited to get to know them and be in their orbit. It’s such an honor. Then also, one of my favorite things about music is experiencing it together with people, so I’m just really excited to play my songs in a room full of people and all have that shared experience of listening, being in the room, and connecting. I’m really looking forward to that connection.
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:: stream/purchase untitled.jpeg here ::
:: connect with Jessie Mazin here ::
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:: Tour Dates ::
May 12th, 2026 – The Castro Theatre – San Francisco, CA*
May 13th, 2026 – The Castro Theatre – San Francisco, CA*
May 14th, 2026 – The Bellwether – Los Angeles, CA*
May 16th, 2026 – Fox Tucson Theatre – Tucson, AZ*
May 18th, 2026 – Eccles Theater – Salt Lake City, UT
May 19th, 2026 – Boulder Theater – Boulder, CO*
May 20th, 2026 – Mission Ballroom Denver – Denver, CO*
May 26th, 2026 – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR*
May 27th, 2026 – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR*
*supporting The Indigo Girls
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