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[0:01] Robert Bannon: This is Robert Bannon, and before I hit the theme song and introduce the show, I want to tell you about some exciting Roundtable news.

[0:06] Robert Bannon: The Roundtable has a brand new website. You can go to robertbannon.com, find out all about me, find out all about the show. Brand new and now up and running with brand new Roundtable merchandise.

[0:16] Robert Bannon: Go to robertbannon.com, follow me on Instagram, and make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube. Now let's do a show.

[0:30] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:35] Robert Bannon: Well welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World, the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, wherever artists are talking about art.

[0:43] Robert Bannon: Our next voice, I listen to her. Oh my. Do we have a singer-songwriter extraordinaire? And when I tell you that this new single that you need to hear, called My Guy, is something so incredible with a collaboration of incredible people behind the scenes, that I am telling you is going to blow your mind.

[1:05] Robert Bannon: This debut album called Alive, her solo album, and then the work of the jazz band, I'm like, what you've done? Oh my goodness. Wait till you hear and see this incredible journey. It is out. It is out. And Merce is here. Welcome to the show.

[1:19] Merce: Thank you so much for having me. Hello.

[1:23] Robert Bannon: You are a singer-singer.

[1:24] Merce: Well, you know, I've certainly sung for quite some time.

[1:32] Robert Bannon: When you say a debut album, this is your debut album in what, you've never put out an album? Just you? This is it?

[1:39] Merce: This is my debut solo album. Yes. Yes.

[1:44] Robert Bannon: How does it feel?

[1:45] Merce: For quite some time. But yeah, this is a first for me. So it's very exciting.

[1:50] Robert Bannon: Is it nervous to step away from a group or from doing other gigs to now it's you, it's your name, this is your baby, it's your personality?

[1:58] Merce: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's nervous, but it's mostly excitement and just, you know, there's a lot of freedom in it. And, you know, I've enjoyed singing harmonies all my life since, you know, singing up, growing up singing with my brothers and, you know, so it's always been something that I'd love to do, but it was definitely like taking it to the next level, just like being able to kind of take an idea from start to finish and, you know, do it.

[2:28] Robert Bannon: So tell us a little bit about the sound. What do you think the sound, what is the sound, how, what, what do you, what have you got up your sleeve for people who may not be familiar with what you're doing here?

[2:38] Merce: Well, I think the sound is like a combination of all the different musical influences that I've had over my time growing up and being in music and listening to, you know, lots of 80s, 90s. I studied classical piano for many years and that kind of tuned my ear, particularly in terms of harmonies. And so it's an eclectic album, but I think the through line is the vocals and definitely the harmony, the layering of vocals. I've always enjoyed like being behind a mic and just playing with different sounds and textures. So I think that brings it all together.

[3:22] Robert Bannon: Yes. So when it came out in August, how does it feel like you must have worked on this for a moment? Tell us. And then you release it's like sending your baby off to college. It's out of your hands and into the world. What's it feel like?

[3:35] Merce: Absolutely. You know, it's mostly exciting and it's just kind of like after all this time, kind of surreal in a way. And, you know, you're an artist, so you're sensitive, as Erykah Badu once said, you're sensitive about your music.

[3:50] Merce: But, you know, you can't control.

[3:55] Robert Bannon: You use a nicer word than she used.

[3:57] Merce: Yeah, exactly. But, you know, it's like you can't control how people respond to it. But, you know, I kind of hope that I'm just putting my own form of beauty out in the world and that it will reach whoever is meant to resonate with it. You know, so I'm just excited to kind of be back out there. There was a time that I just wondered if kind of that was it and for me and music. And so to be able to after all this time, you know, just keep working and people asking me like, what are you doing? Oh, I'm still working on the album. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So for it to finally kind of, you know, have a song out there and the response that it's been getting, it's just, you know, there's nothing like it. And so, you know, mostly excitement, a little bit of trepidation. But hey, I'm here. I'm back out here.

[4:48] Robert Bannon: Yes, you're back out here and doing it. Let's go. So talk about your career and your history. When did you first discover you could sing? When did you fall in love with music?

[4:59] Merce: Well, my dad was a musician. He's Cuban. And so he was a salsa musician, but he was a singer. He played the bass. He played the flute. And so I have two brothers and a sister, and he taught us all to read music when we were very young. Music took him around the world and eventually to the States. And so he was a big believer in a musical education to be a great foundation for whatever we were going to do. And so, you know, like I said, my brothers and I, we always harmonized together. And, you know, we came here and English was our second language. So, of course, it was like whatever was on the radio was what we were kind of listening to. And so, yeah, I kind of I think the very first performance I ever did was when I was 12.

And I was it's interesting. I've always kind of been a shy kind of person other than I could get on stage, though. So it's very strange. And I think, you know, a lot of artists are kind of like that. But I remember doing this talent show and I think I sang something from fame out here on my own. And I just remember sitting there and singing and somebody going, speak up. I was just like, very low, but that kind of like fueled my love for doing it in front of an audience. But then at 16 is when I first joined my first girls group. And, you know, they were actually in the process of trying to get a record deal and they actually had a real deal manager. And I was kind of overwhelmed that first day and was like, I don't know if I sign up for all of this. And so I actually tried to quit, but thankfully they convinced me otherwise.

[7:03] Merce: And so our manager was actually this wonderful mentor, teacher, musician named Reggie Andrews, who was behind this really big hit from the 70s and 80s called Let It Whip. And he was just he really changed my life. Eventually, my brother began to work with him as well. And he is a music producer as well. And he wound up producing this album for The Far Side, which is a seminal West Coast hip hop album, Bizarre Ride to the Far Side. So that changed his life. And so it just wound up really being something that was life changing and life enhancing. And it's led me to where I am today.

[7:43] Robert Bannon: It's led you to where you are today. What a beautiful journey growing up with and being mentored. And then you are at some point you relocate, you end up in Philadelphia.

[7:56] Merce: Yes, yes. How did that happen?

[7:58] Merce: Well, we signed, my brother actually had a label deal through Tommy Boy Records. And the first version of the Jazzy Fat Nasties, which was originally a quartet, we signed with Fat House Tommy Boy Records and we did an album, which once we turned it in, they weren't quite sure of what we were doing. And so we wound up not actually releasing the album and we wound up leaving the label. However, Questlove from The Roots, Amir, had heard of The Far Side of my brother and was a fan of my brother's work. And one time they were out here in L.A. doing Lollapalooza and met a couple of the girls from the Jazzy's. And he was like, oh, my God, the Jazzy Fat Nasties, Jay Swift, love it. And so basically he asked us, if you come out and do some work on our album, they were working on Illidolph Half Life at the time, we'll in exchange do some work with you all.

And that's how we wind up going to Philly. And, you know, I came back for a short stint, maybe a year, because I said, wait a minute, I wasn't planning on moving into Philly, you know. But about a year later, one of the girls, they were still there and they called me and said, hey, do you want to come back? And I was like, yes, sign me up. And so I went and then I was there for like 20 years. It was an amazing experience.

[9:29] Robert Bannon: If you know about, you know, Jazzy Fat Nasties and you know about the work that you've done or if you've heard the songs in, you know, movies and on other things that has become a part, what's it feel like for something to become a part of the culture, like pop culture, like, you know, when you go to a movie theater and your music is there or people are listening to you or, you know, singing the songs back to you.

[10:26] Merce: I'm really excited to be here and talk about my new single "My Guy" and my project ALIVE. It's a new chapter for me, and I feel like I’m finally bringing my own voice to the forefront.

[11:19] Robert Bannon: That's amazing! Can you tell us what inspired "My Guy"?

[12:24] Merce: Absolutely! "My Guy" is a song that reflects my journey and the experiences I've had. It’s about love, trust, and finding that special connection with someone who truly understands you.

[13:04] Robert Bannon: I love that! It sounds like it has a lot of personal significance for you.

[14:04] Merce: It really does. This song is a culmination of everything I've been through, and it feels empowering to share it with the world.

[15:04] Robert Bannon: And how does ALIVE tie into that?

[16:04] Merce: ALIVE is about resilience and rediscovering yourself through creativity. Each song on the project tells a part of my story, and I hope it resonates with others who are on their own journeys.

[17:04] Robert Bannon: That’s beautiful. It sounds like you’re really embracing your artistic voice.

[18:04] Merce: Yes! It’s been a process, but I’m finally at a place where I feel confident in my music and my message.

[19:04] Robert Bannon: I can't wait to hear more about it and see where this journey takes you!