Singled Out: MNERVA's Quarter Life Crisis

Michael Angulia | 07-23-2021

MNERVA recently released his new single "Quarter Life Crisis" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the inspiration for the track. Here is the story:

I began writing what would eventually become "Quarter Life Crisis" in late 2018 right after my 22nd birthday. I was in my last year of college and didn't know what I was going to do with my life once I graduated. At the time, my friend group had also dissolved due to a friend's nasty break up and I remember feeling completely alone facing this period of angst and uncertainty. For months, I would just stare at my ceiling before bed feeling completely unprepared for the next phase of my life. During one of those 3 am nights, I wrote the song's first verse and knew I landed on something that perfectly captured the dread of being a "twenty-something." The only problem was I couldn't get the second verse right so I brought in my buddy, Kory Shore, to help me flesh out my thoughts and really dive deep into the subject. I should have realized I was depressed once I read the second verse out loud but denial is a powerful thing.

Soon after finishing the second verse, my life took a turn when I got accepted into a program that allowed me to live in New York City for my final semester of school. In the city, my mental health made a complete 180 and I was the happiest I've ever been in my life, so I didn't end up finishing writing "Quarter Life Crisis" until I was forced to move home right after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The day before I moved home on March 15 (beware the ides of March), I crashed my car, lost my day job, and got evicted all in one day, so I had A LOT to draw from when writing the chorus. "Quarter Life Crisis" was the first song I worked on during quarantine and, at the time, was, lyrically, the tightest chorus I had ever written. I just knew I had to record the song as soon as I moved back to Nashville.

Right before the world ended, I had met a producer named Andrew Gomez and discussed working on a single together. We talked about Star Wars for an hour the first time we met so one could say we hit it off. "Quarter Life Crisis" was the first song we worked on together and completely changed my music for the better. The whole production came together extremely quickly and Andrew really pushed me to return to my rock roots instead of being exclusively a hip-hop artist. Once the song was finished, I knew I had to do an EP with him and it was the beginning of an incredible musical partnership. Now, I feel as though my music perfectly represents who I am as a person and I wouldn't have been able to get to this point without "Quarter Life Crisis." As I approach 25, "Quarter Life Crisis" only becomes more and more relevant to me so I hope that anybody who is struggling to find their path in life can relate to the lyric. No matter what happens, "Quarter Life Crisis" will always be the moment where I discovered who I wanted to be as an artist and it will always be one of my favorite MNERVA songs.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself here