He Makes Plans

The pandemic has put many lives on hold, but that has not stopped singer-songwriter Marc E. Bassy (born Marc Griffin). He was on tour when the lockdown began in March; the transition was a shock. “That was an extreme change to go from being on a hundred all the time to just being stuck in the house,” he says. “When my new music comes out, my first instinct is, ‘I can’t wait till they play this in the club, or at a bar, or a party or a gathering,’ and that’s not really happening and it’s an interesting change, because now it’s like someone’s going to listen to this in their room by themselves. So that changes music for me a lot.” However, he says that he “will have an album out” soon, describing it as a joyful one (“We just wanted to be happy”), while his last one, PMD, was about the modern culture of depression and anxiety. The upbeat album is going to feature a large selection of musical talent, such as Cory Henry, Omar Edwards, and Kyla Moscovich, just to name a few.

Bassy doesn’t just stop at making music. He started his own independent label, New Gold Medal, last year after breaking away from his major-label deal with Republic Records. While making way for his own creative endeavor, he still wants to stay true to himself. “I’m trying not to be too much of a businessman, I’m trying to remain as Marc E. Bassy the artist, but I’m also very excited at the prospect of helping other people accomplish their dreams, too,” he shares. “We need to redistribute this wealth somehow, so that’s gonna be a part of New Gold Medal’s platform, no matter what. Let’s be honest, all this music that I’ve made, a lot of stuff that inspired me when growing up, came from people that were not as fortunate as I am, so if I don’t give anything back to them, what am I doing?”

Not only does the label have a goal of signing more artists, but it also aims to help out the community. “I want to be the first music company to do that. A portion of our revenue, whatever it is, will go into helping feed families in Los Angeles and maybe outside of that,” says Bassy, who has already started doing this by hosting a pop-up food pantry. Back in August, together with his friends, he began “raising money to go to Costco to buy a few thousand dollars’ worth of food, and bring it directly to homeless people and to this place called the Downtown Women’s Center that is for abused women and children.”

This year has thrown a lot at Bassy, but he’s got an idea for what the future holds: “I think that people are beautiful and adaptable, and I think people dealt with this and people will deal with it when it opens up, but I think the system is going to change a lot. That’s my prediction, that would be the best,” he affirms.

Writer: Savannah Dial

Photographer & Videographer: Haldane Morris

Editor: Eiko Watanabe

Special thanks to EPK Media (@myepk & @epkmedia - epkmedia.com)