‘In Transit’ Release, Tessa Medina’s Debut EP
Tessa Medina is multifaceted artist from New York City.
In Transit is a collection of songs Medina wrote from her college years to now, emphasizing young adulthood being a very transitional period within her life. The project is set to release on all music streaming services on May 19, 2023. The EP contains a song for anyone in any stage of dating to relate to. Whether you’re dealing with a player (F-Boy), facing the unfortunately common feeling of never being good enough (Detour), finally getting over a relationship you really thought could have been something great (No Hate) or accidentally finding the fairy tail ending you almost gave up on (John.).
‘In Transit’ is a mix between a love letter to Medina’s former self and a page from her present day diary entry. It contains wistfulness, worries and whimsical warning to those still moving through their early years of adulthood. Even as Medina grows, some part of her will always be in transit. This EP is an encapsulation of this emotion.
Medina was raised between the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington DC. With her parents divorcing when she was just 4 years old, Medina became accustomed to being in transit. She spent a majority of childhood summers with her Lolo & Lola (Filipino grandparents) and moved weekly from her mother’s household to her father’s for 14 years. Medina’s scenery was in a constant state of flux. At the age of 18, she shipped off to NYC, to study acting & journalism at New York University. Her freshman dorm was the first time in her life that Medina went home to the same place every single night. It wasn’t until then that Medina realized how normal it was for her to be in one place one night, then a completely different one the next. Moving was easy for her, staying put became the hard part.
Regardless of where she landed, Medina never stopped singing. She grew up participating in multiple choirs simultaneously while being the lead vocalist of local punk-rock band ‘Vices and Visions’. She also took private vocal lessons and led her old high school musicals (one of them being Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella). Though she sang other artists’ music, she didn’t find her personal sound until much later.
She’s been in love with New York City since her first visit as a toddler. She refused to stay put in her stroller, wanting to be planted firmly on the city streets with everyone else. Even with New York being her first love, Medina frequently took trips to visit her family in Maryland while in college, keeping her in transit yet again. Music was the one thing that grounded Medina during the rigorous course of her college years. It was only through the push and pull of attempting to survive in the city that the sound she was searching for cozily crept its way into her unique style of songwriting.
All tracks written by Tessa Medina (Dobrow)
The record would not have been possible with out the amazing mixing, mastering and production work by J.Chris Griffith (No Hate) and Todd Thanh Trung Tran (Detour, F-Boy, John.)
EP Teaser Video videography by Andrew Masangkay & Rebecca Benny
EP artwork created by Stephanie Le’Strange, drawing inspiration from Kehlani You Should Be Here album art work
Press photos shot by Ant Riggio
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