Life & Work with Tess Bergin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tess Bergin. 

Hi Tess, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Thank you for having me! I started writing lyrics at a young age, it was the only healthy coping skill I had to deal with what I was going through in early life. However, other unhealthy coping mechanisms eventually took over, and I spent the rest of my youth consumed in drug addiction. By the time I was 20 I was strung out on heroin and barely alive. When I got clean in late 2009, writing came back to me immediately. I was writing songs every single day- lyrics would flood my head and I’d have to catch them and write them down before I’d forget, or I’d find myself going to a notebook just trying to vent, and everything wound up coming out in rhyme form. It was my main companion again.

I never tried singing until I had almost a year sober- truth be told I just never thought I’d be good at anything in life, so I never tried, but I made myself a promise when I got clean. I told myself if I could do it for a certain length of time and not relapse and die, then I had to try. So once I crossed that landmark I set for myself, I sang for the first time. Turns out I had an ability. From that point forward, I used some leftover money from student loans at the community college I was going to and bought some cheap gear for a small recording setup in my room/closet. I learned how to use a DAW, how to mix my own music, and went wild with it.

I’ve spent years honing my singing, writing, performance, and mixing skills, but there have been many ups and downs on my path, and periods of time where I strayed from my craft. In 2017 I went through one of the hardest life chapters I’ve yet to experience, and that’s when I recommitted myself to music 100% – no plan B.

So, the short version, is that I was brought to music after I spent my youth as a junkie, and listened to my inner voice in early sobriety urging me to try something I was terrified of. I started out in Hip Hop and branched out to some Trap sub-genres, Dark R&B/Soul, LoFi Hip Hop, and Blues. My most recent track, “The Lie We Live” is an alternative hip-hop/blues fusion, and that same gritty, seductive and raw sound in the instrumentation is what my upcoming EP will have.

The ultimate mission with my music is to use it as a tool to serve others by using my experience- even if that means I gotta put myself on the line and face tons of criticism or judgment- it’s worth it if just one person is able to feel relief or that they aren’t alone.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. The struggles along the way, I’ll be honest, were mostly of my own making. When I got clean is right when I started making music, so I had no idea how to live without breaking the law, I had no idea how to have harmonious/non-toxic relationships, I had tons of issues that needed to be worked out, so that caused some problems.

Sometimes I’d get lost in long-term abusive relationships that consumed me, which drew me away from music, and I had to learn over and over again until I finally realized my worth and started valuing my time and taking my life more seriously.

I also had some significant struggles with mental health/PTSD that you’d think would make one dive further into music, but if it becomes too extreme it can paralyze you, and I dealt with that for a few years.

Then there’s the typical stuff that most people go through- obviously we all experienced a global pandemic which has been interesting to say the least, a lot of us (myself included) lost income, housing, possibly got into some trouble, things got a little messy is all I’ll say. So, it’s just been a game of navigating a life where a lot of healing work is required, a lot of chaos and curveballs thrown my way, a lot of dumpster fires set by yours truly until I learned to put the matchbox down, and learn how to stay grounded, bounce back, and keep the music going.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I go by the artist name of Tesstamona- I am a singer and songwriter in the hip hop, dark soul, blues, trap, and lo-fi genres. That sounds like a lot of different sounds, but I like to make what I feel when I feel it. At the moment, I’m currently working on an EP that’s a complete Dark Soul/Blues fusion, with a few elements of hip hop thrown in there, and that’s going to be by far my deepest work yet. All I’ll say for now, is it’s a dedication, and the telling of the story, of the legacy and lessons learned from my first love in this life who died recently.

What I’m known for is an intense stage presence and really raw, emotional, sometimes (a lot of times) aggressive lyrics. Regardless of what genre the sound fits, the one thing you can always count on is whatever I release has a message to it- I’m either telling a story or I’m driving a point home- usually one of those points that everyone knows but doesn’t want to look at type thing. I find that that’s what’s most useful, and it’s also what’s typically on my mind. I get annoyed with society and people causing each other pain for stupid self-serving reasons, so I have no problem calling that out, including those tendencies within myself.

I’m also known for getting my music videos banned on various social media platforms for bullsh*t reasons. It’s something we can all laugh about now- until it happens again- but at this point, I half expect it with each new release. If you visit my YouTube channel or check out a few videos on my homepage at www.tesstamona.com you’ll know why- in particular the video for my song “Bondage”. YouTube and the Metaverse did NOT like that! It was a blast making it though I’ll tell you that much. I looked like I walked off the set of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre after that deal was done!

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The willingness to be vulnerable, and a general relentless obsession with the whole process. Solid intuition too- whether I like it or not, I see through people pretty easily, and when you’re doing this as an independent artist, especially being female, you need that- or you will be taken advantage of left and right.

Thank you for the interview!

-Tesstamona

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.tesstamona.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tesstamona
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tesstamona
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tesstamona
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tesstamona
• SoundCloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/tesstamona
• Other: https://www.tesstamona.com/blog

Image Credits
Lance Allen Reis
Meagan Alyse
Jose Benavides