#jesse munsat

[onestowatch]

Multi-Talented Jesse Munsat Debuts as a Solo Artist with “Where He Slept When He Slept Here”

After spending the past couple of years working behind the scenes as a producer and/or a touring musician alongside The Marías, Claud, Maude Latour, and Brandt Orange, 20-year-old industry multi-talented Jesse Munsat finally steps into the spotlight with his debut single, "Where He Slept When He Stayed Here."

Written after a trip to visit a long-distance love interest went wrong, Munsat expertly juxtaposes a smooth, dreamy synth with a raw vocal. The dissonance between the two forces reveal his struggle to move with candor.

Under the mentorship of pop hitmakers John Ryan and Julian Bunetta (One Direction, John Legend, Maroon 5, Charlie Puth), Munsat completed "Where He Slept When He Stayed Here," as well as the rest of his forthcoming album, All Our Talks Are Silent, set to release later this fall.

We sat down to chat with the new artist to ask him about his influences, the story behind his first single, and his work behind the scenes.

OTW: This is your first single, but you've been working in music much longer than this, in various other roles... Can you tell me a little about your background and why you decided to start releasing your own music independently?

JM: Yeah most of what I've been doing recently has either been as a producer/keys player for other artists or in studios working for other producers. My background is really as a songwriter and pianist though, and all of my production stuff started with me doing my own music. Working for other people has kept me really busy for the past couple years, and I’ve been able to get pretty far just through the technical skills I have, but the core of it all for me has always making my own music. It’s honestly just hard to make time to focus on it when there’s always people hitting you up for gigs and sessions, which I guess feels like a more definite route to a stable career? It’s a lot to take on for other people though, and I was just starting to get a bit run down from it. Everything fell into place with this release around the same time I became ready on a personal level to take some time for myself and say all of these things which I’ve been sitting on for so long. Releasing my own stuff now feels like a really natural next step in the multi-faceted career I’m hoping to have.

OTW: How did your work with other artists impact your own songs?

JM: I definitely got way better as a producer just through constantly having music to work on, and in some ways I’m able to put less pressure on myself when it’s not my name going on the release. The artists I’ve worked with have been really different from one another, too, so that’s helped me get comfortable with lots of different sounds and styles. When I sit down to make something for myself, what comes out is usually a combination of everything I’ve been working on and listening to, so as much exposure as I can have to other people and ideas just gives me that much more to work with.

OTW: Who are some of your all-time greatest influences as a musician?

JM: Ooh I loved Gavin DeGraw as a kid, he’s such an amazing writer. That was the music that I really developed my sense of how to craft a song from. James Vincent McMorrow is a favorite - specifically the way he writes slow, kind of folky songs but then produces them to be these banging synthy-pop tracks. I look up to Mac Miller so much, as a writer and producer, but also just as an artist how thoughtful he was about himself and the world, and the way he was able to put that into his music. Had a huge Chance the Rapper phase in high school, too - the way he writes for his voice and the lines he was able to break down between genres was a huge influence on me.

OTW: What's the story behind this song?

JM: It’s about a girl I went to high school with, we had both moved away but were still talking all the time, it got kind of deep, and I thought we both had developed feelings for each other. I decided it would be a good idea to go visit her, which obviously turned out being really bad. I got to her place, and spent the first night just listening to her talk about all the other people she had been with so far. We were sharing her bed, and even when we were lying down she was telling me about someone else she had been sleeping with right where I was. I ended up being awake the whole night, just like by myself pushed up against the wall, and I wrote this in bed the next morning.

OTW: Why did you select “Where He Slept When He Stayed Here” as your first single?

JM: It kind of just happened that way. The album is pretty musically diverse I think, but it‘s also directly supposed to tell the story of my last three-ish years. It was hard to choose one song whose sound represented all the others, but this felt like the best place to start trying to explain the whole story of the record.

OTW: I know this is the first of many songs you will be releasing... Which of your unreleased songs off your debut album are you most excited about?

JM: There’s one called “Do You Love Me or Not” which I think is my favorite... can’t decide whether to make it a third single or just put it on the album though.

OTW: Who are some of your Ones to Watch?

JM: Ah there’s so many!! Mato Wayuhi, Maude Latour, Michael Casper, and Brandt Orange are all friends who are making really amazing music. I found this dude Nyan on someone’s Instagram; he only has one song out but it’s dope. There’s also a girl named Remi Wolf who I don’t know at all, but everything I’ve heard has been so sick.

[blackkudos]

Alvin F. Poussaint

Alvin Francis Poussaint, M. D. (born May 15, 1934) is an American psychiatrist well known for his research on racisms' effect in the black community. He is a noted author, public- speaker, and television consultant, and Dean of Students at Harvard Medical School. His work in psychiatry is influenced greatly by the civil rights movement in the South, which he joined in 1965. While living in the south, Pouissant learned much about the racial dynamics. He soon delved into his first book, Why Blacks Kill Blacks, which looks at the effects of racism on the psychological development of blacks. Most of Pouissant’s work focuses on the mental health of African Americans.

Biography

Alvin Francis Poussaint was born on May 15, 1934 in East Harlem, New York to immigrants from Haiti. He is the seventh child of eight children born to the parents of Harriet and Christopher Poussaint. At the young age of nine, he became ill with rheumatic fever. While being hospitalized, he became very interested in reading and it soon became a passion of his. He carried this passion with him when he attended the science based high school in New York called Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant was a predominately white institution. Pouissant was one of the few blacks and he encountered racism often. In addition to racist acts against him, he had to deal with losing his mother during high school.

After high school, Poussaint attended Columbia University, where he continued to experience racism. At Columbia, the social scene was particularly disappointing for Poussaint, with him saying, “Social situations were awkward, there being a prevalent feeling among whites that blacks shouldn't come to social events.” In 1956, he graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology. He immediately enrolled in medical school at Cornell Medical School, and he was the only African American admitted during that year. Experiences with racism fueled his career areas of work which focused on the mental health of African Americans and their encounters with racial bias. He became chief resident at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute. However, in 1965 he left UCLA to become the Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi. Poussant believed that racism was the major mental health problem of the black community. He believed helping desegregate the South, especially with medical facilities would be more helpful than doing research at the time.

He stayed in Mississippi for 2 years before going to Tufts University Medical program where he was the faculty director of psychiatry. In 1969, he left Tufts and began his long time journey at Harvard Medical School. He was the associate dean of student affairs. At Harvard he felt a great passion for the affirmative action program and through that he helped 16 African- American student succeed at Harvard. All while working at Harvard, Poussaint never let his passion for the Civil Rights Movement fade. He became close friends with Jesse Jackson. He was even the co-chairman for Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign. At this time, in 1973 Poussaint got married to his first wife, Ann Ashmore. They had one son together. Unfortunately their marriage lasted until 1988.

In the 1980s, Poussaint became very well known. He began to work as a media consultant on scripts and storylines for many black sitcoms, such as The Cosby Show and A Different World. He became close friends with Bill Cosby to ensure that the show promoted a positive healthy and realistic image of black families. In this role he had, Poussaint addressed negative racial stereotypes thought the media. The entertainment industrial complex was not the only sector that called for Poussaint and his skills. The FBI, the White House and the Department of Health all summoned him for counsel. He continued his interest in media and founded the Media Center of the Judge Baker’s Children’s Center in 1994. In addition, he was the co- executive producer of Willoughby’s Wonders. The children's show won a New England Emmy Award in 1997 and was praised for showing an urban soccer team that showed skills that children should exhibit like teamwork and inclusion. During this highlight of his career, Poussaint married Tina Young. The two had a daughter in 1999. Poussaint, currently, continues to work at Harvard Medical School and continue his research. On multiple occasions he is heavily awarded for his contributions to psychology and a multitude of disciplines.

Work interest

Alvin F. Poussaint is well known in psychology regarding race relations. Much of his work deconstructs theories of race models by white psychologist previously in the field. Through his research he addresses blatant and subtle forms of racism. This is why Poussaint insist that blacks instill self esteem and black pride into children growing up in this society. In his controversial book, Why Blacks Kill Blacks, he turns the theory or racial self-hatred on its head. He developed his "aggression-rage" theory to show the psychological issues that may plague African Americans. In his book he states, " [The theory of racial self-hatred] allows whites to feel that [blacks] are psychologically deranged while [whites are] posing as models of mental health. In fact, it must be whites who are insecure and filled with self-hatred, since they are the ones who need to oppress blacks in order to cope with life." Another interest of Poussaint is media consulting. He wants to use media to construct positive role models for children.

Black Power: A Failure for Integration within the Civil Rights Movement (1968)

In Alvin Poussaint's article, "Black Power: A Failure for Integration within the Civil Rights Movement" he discusses how the concept of BLACK POWER emerged. Poussaint discusses how Blacks had a complicated relationship with Whites regarding Whites trying to integrate themselves in the Civil Rights Movement. He argues that blacks had a distrust in whites and even had jealousy of them. He observed that Blacks believed Whites had a superiority complex even while being involved in the movement. Poussaint questioned whether this was because Blacks felt inadequate. During the civil rights movement sexual relations between Blacks and White began to form, and so he says from 1964 to 1965 many of the projects "disintegrated" because of these feelings each race had towards one another. Eventually, BLACK POWER came to be as a "psycho-socio-political" concept that removed whites from working in the black community.

The Stresses of the White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South (1966)

While working as the Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi Poussaint was very observant of those around him. In his article, "The Stresses of the White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South" he looks at the social and psychological stressors that white women could possibly encounter in their work and social life during the Civil Rights Movement. The stress that white women could encounter come from two fronts - the white community and the blacks whom they work around. Poussaint describes how white women helping in the civil rights movements appears like a rejection that they have of their own communities. So, white communities may label them as "white trash." The black community did not want white female workers to help in the first place because they believed them being there would cause inherent problems. Many white women were not greeted or welcomed by most blacks there because they did not want their help because of the feeling that whites were trying to take over their movement. Some white female workers coped with this, but a majority went back home because they couldn't handle the stress.

Editorial boards

The Black Scholar (1970)

Psychotherapy: Theory and Research and Practice (1972)

Journal of Afro-American Issues (1972-1980)

Harvard Medical School Mental Health Newsletter (1983-1988)

Journal of African American Male Studies (1991)

Nurture: The Magazine for Raising Positive Children of Color (1994)

Awards and Honors

Doctor of Humane Letters, Virginia State University, Petersburg, MA (2007)

Doctor of Humane Letters, Alfred University, Alfred, New York (2005)

New England Emmy award for Outstanding Children's Special as co-executive producer of Willoughby's Wonders (1997)

Medgar Evers Medal of Honor, Johnson Publishing Company (1988)

John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement (1987)

American Black Achievement Award in Business and the Professions (1986)

Honorary degree from Wilberforce University (1972)

Who’s Who in America (1969)

Michael Schwerner Award for contribution to Cause of Civil Rights, New York, NY (1968)

Publications

Books

Why Blacks kill Blacks (1972), (introduction by Rev. Jesse Jackson) Emerson Hall Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition

Raising Black Children, (originally titled Black Child Care (1975)) co-author with James P. Come, Plume: New York, 1992

Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the mental health crisis among African-Americans, by Alvin F. Poussaint, MD and Amy Alexander, Beacon: Boston, 2000.

Come On, People: On the path from victims to victors, by Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint, MD, Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 2007.

Articles

Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis of Amyloid Polyneuropathy by T. L. Munsat and A. F. Poussaint (Neurology, Minneapolis, 1962; 12(6):413-422)

A Controlled Study of Imipramine (Tofranil) in the Treatment of Childhood Enuresis by A. F. Poussaint and K. S. Ditman (J Pediatry, 1965; 67(6):283-290)

The Effect of the Physician's Smoking on the Treatment of Smokers by A. F. Poussaint, S. H. Bergman, and E. Lichtenstein (Diseases of the Nervous System, 1966; 27:539-543.)

The Stresses of the White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South (Am J Psychiatry, 1966; 123(4):401-407)

A Negro Psychiatrist Explains the Negro Psyche by The New York Times Sunday Magazine, August 20, 1967:52+

Black Power: A Failure for Integration within the Civil Rights Movement A. F. Poussaint and J. Ladner (Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1968; 18(4):385-391)

The Black Administrator in the White University (Black Scholar, September 1974:8-14)

Black Suicide (Textbook of Black-Related Diseases, ed. R. A. Williams, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975)

Interracial Relations and Prejudice (Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/III, third edition, eds. H. I. Kaplan, A. M. Freedman and B. J. Sadock, Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1980:3155-3161)

Black on Black Homicide: A Psychological-Political Perspective (International J Victimology, 1983; 8(3,4):161-169)

An Honest Look at Blacks Gays and Lesbians (Ebony, September 1990:124-131)

Black Children: Coping in a Racist Society (Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans, 1790-1995, ed. Deborah Gillan Straub, Detroit: Gale Research, 1996)

Psychology and Psychiatry (Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, vol. 4, eds. Deborah Gillan Straub, J. Salzman, D. L. Smith, C. West New York: MacMillan Library Reference USA, 1996)

Sexuality (eds. J. Salzman, D. L. Smith, C. West,Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, vol. 5, New York: MacMillan Library Reference USA, 1996)

Prostate Cancer: Male Killer Hits Famous & Not-So-Famous (Ebony, April 1997, 116-120+)

Racial Issues in Medicine: A Psychosocial Perspective (Humane Medicine: A New Paradigm in Medical Education and Health Care Delivery, vol. II, ed. R. A. Williams, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Healthcare, 2001; 33-40)

Is Extreme Racism a Mental Illness? Point-Counterpoint (Western Journal of Medicine, 2002; 176: 4)

Wikipedia

[keepwalkingmusic]

Jesse Munsat - Where He Slept When He Stayed Here

Jesse Munsat – Where He Slept When He Stayed Here

Jesse Munsat released a new song couple weeks back and we’ve had it on repeat ever since. Titled ‘Where He Slept When He Stayed Here’, it’s without a doubt some of his most honest work to date. Jesse’s writing style is touching and the instrumentation is truly inspiring. So give it a spin and fall in love with music all over again.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1t86XAn1gYEvj98blpkwBq

[stryke303]

One of my biggest @thenammshow highlights is being visited by some of my #GRAMMYcamp students from years past at the @avidtechnology booth! @tannergrandstaff @sentrikmusic @madimakesmusica @deathof9 @shanemsilver, Jesse Munsat, and even students who were from other tracks came by...it brings a huge smile to my face to watch you guys continue to grow and tell your stories through your art. Thank you for letting me play a small part in that. It's also pretty awesome watching you geek out over plug-ins and modular synths...I'm like a proud papa 😉 love you guys!!!! #Repost @tannergrandstaff with @repostapp ・・・ Words are never enough to express how grateful I am to have @stryke303 in my life. Love you, G! #NAMM2017 (at NAMM Show)

[onestowatch]

Kristiane's "Wish I Could Be Your Girl" Is a Quiet Quarantine Anthem

Growing up in Los Angeles, emerging singer-songwriter Kristiane spent her impressionable years in the audience of local jazz clubs, listening to her grandmother sing. A cabaret performer until her late seventies, she cites her grandmother as the first person who made Kristiane infatuated with the idea of being a singer.

Now in her early 20s, Kristiane is forging her own career in music. With her second single “Wish I Could Be Your Girl,” she channels a mix of Mazzy Star, Velvet Underground and Mitski. On its surface, “Wish I Could Be Your Girl” feels like a teenage fantasy, but ultimately, its intent is much more weighted. Written late at night on the floor of her bedroom, the track began as a journal entry with the lines: “should I call / don’t wanna bother / am I the deadbeat father never on the way.”

Self-admittedly, 2020 has not been an easy year for the songwriter. Though Kristiane says she is pretty used to “emotional distance from other people,” due to her introversion, the physical distance of quarantine has been much less bearable. But with Kristiane’s latest single “Wish I Could Be Your Girl,” she proves there has been some merit to this time alone and the self-reflection that comes with it. With fuzzy guitars and dreamy synth pads by producer and writing partner Jesse Munsat pairing perfectly with Kristiane’s melancholy vocals, “Wish I Could Be Your Girl” is a brilliant single that shows a girl on the verge of womanhood, trying to figure out how to accept herself when she would rather be anyone else.

As she puts it, “this song is not about me literally wanting to be somebody’s ‘girl,’ but rather wanting to fit the archetype of the kind of partner that’s easy to be with.” While many coming-of-age songs by greener artists tend to be rambling or vague, Kristiane already appears to know how to tell her own story succinctly with her second single, “Wish I Could Be Your Girl.” A lyrically driven songwriter, Kristiane often begins by jotting down a few lines in a notebook and molding the ideas into a plot as she continues.

For the young singer, her recent single is just the beginning of the career in music she has hoped to have since the late nights she spent in L.A. cabarets. With her quarantine-written debut EP on the way, Kristiane promises more songs a la “Wish I Could Be Your Girl” for early 2021, filled with nostalgia and self-awareness. “Quarantine pushed me to write music without fear or hesitation,” she notes, “I’m really proud of the EP I have coming up.”