MESMA

Since 2012, Mesma has been working across music releases, live performance and event production. Its programming gravitates toward ambient, experimental and less conventional forms of electronic music, with an emphasis on immersive listening and the intersection of sound and visual art. Here is a little visual recap of the event and a short interview with one of Mesma’s founders, Gabriel Mester, shedding some light on their history and vision.

The interview is accompanied by an introspective, slow-paced mix by Parisian DJ and producer Roman Delore, recorded live during her show for the Mesma event in early June.

Q. What was your impetus when you launched Mesma?

A. Mesma was born in Paris in the early 2010s, at the height of the minimal and microhouse wave of electronic dance music. We were super young and wanted to join the scene, investing our creativity into releasing records and throwing parties. But we also wanted our project to feel more experimental, intimate and transportive. More than ten years after - after having evolved between Paris and New York and completely shifted into more experimental music territories - that ambition is still crucial to the Mesma ethos.

Q. How would you describe Mesma today, beyond the definition of a music label?

A. We are at a really exciting point right now, as the label is evolving from a strict label form into a more multidisciplinary creative entity, encompassing publishing, as well as art direction, design and production. We are basically transitioning from a label to a sort of creative studio.

Q. What was missing in Paris when you started Mesma, and what did you want to create in response to that?

A. Since its beginnings in the early 10’s in Paris, Mesma has always wanted to showcase a strong universe and identity for itself. At the heart of that ambition was the interest in creating spaces for a more focused and experimental approach to electronic music. Back in 2012, we were throwing parties in Paris where we made it an imperative to have live musicians and live electronics alongside DJ sets, as well as reconfiguring spaces and vibes into something that would feel “Mesma”. Now, in 2026, we’re doing that more than ever, at a bigger and crazier scale, with exceptional spaces, artists, and ideas for each project.

Q. How do the different sides of Mesma, releasing music, organising events, building a community, feed into one another?

A. At the heart of our practice is a desire to create moments and spaces that not only feel unique, but are also an invitation to focus, to contemplate and to be transported. That angle is something that we believe can be felt in almost all our outputs: music, events, visuals, objects, experiences…

Q. There is so much music, content and cultural output being produced today. What do you think makes creative work still feel meaningful or necessary?

A.  Throwing events is magical in its ability to create moments that exist outside of digital media. We really cherish inviting people to a space they’ve never been to, having them sit on the floor for four hours and just listen, get lost in the sound, the visuals, the light and the architecture, with no distractions.  

Q. When you organise an event, what do you want people to take away from it beyond simply having experienced a good night?

A.  Re-think their way of experiencing Art. That might sound a bit pretentious, but I do think a lot of the effort we put into our events aims at getting people to lose themselves in the moment. The sitting down, the focus, the sort of journey and progression in the space that we always imagine for an event. If people can come and focus for three hours without looking at their phone, chatting during the performances or drinking too much, that already feels like something special. In some cities, that’s quite common already, but I think it’s still a work in progress in Paris.  

Q. How do the different sides of Mesma, releasing music, organising events, building a community, feed into one another?

A. At the heart of our practice is a desire to create moments and spaces that not only feel unique, but are also an invitation to focus, to contemplate and to be transported. That angle is something that we believe can be felt in almost all our outputs: music, events, visuals, objects, experiences…

Q. There is so much music, content and cultural output being produced today. What do you think makes creative work still feel meaningful or necessary?

A.  Throwing events is magical in its ability to create moments that exist outside of digital media. We really cherish inviting people to a space they’ve never been to, having them sit on the floor for four hours and just listen, get lost in the sound, the visuals, the light and the architecture, with no distractions.  

Q. When you organise an event, what do you want people to take away from it beyond simply having experienced a good night?

A.  Re-think their way of experiencing Art. That might sound a bit pretentious, but I do think a lot of the effort we put into our events aims at getting people to lose themselves in the moment. The sitting down, the focus, the sort of journey and progression in the space that we always imagine for an event. If people can come and focus for three hours without looking at their phone, chatting during the performances or drinking too much, that already feels like something special. In some cities, that’s quite common already, but I think it’s still a work in progress in Paris.  

Q. What would you like Mesma to bring to Paris that you don’t see enough of in the city right now?

A. Since moving back to Paris in 2023, we have been trying to make Mesma a platform for local and international artists, in a vibe that would feel somewhere between the institutional programs and the more alternative spaces that we love. Besides that positioning, we keep pushing our obsession with finding really special spaces, in order to have every instalment in a new one; and obviously pushing curation, stage design and scenography as far as we can.

Q. Do you see Mesma primarily as a platform for other artists, or is Mesma itself becoming a creative project with its own identity and language?

A. Mesma’s always relied on a strong and distinctive identity that’s translated in the music we release; our events; our designs. It’s been one of our strengths, and one that allows us to collaborate with a wide range of entities, like a studio of its own. But as we’re growing and expanding our practice, it’s been great to see that the ship can also welcome artists and projects in order to support them and not necessarily have so much input.

Q. What are your favourite people to follow on social media?

A. We love happytostino; they post photos of insanely good-looking ham and cheese toasties around the world. Also always love a new crisisacting post, for the existential contemplation in the middle of a doom-scrolling session.

Q. Name us one artist you would love to collaborate with next?

A. Bjork?

Q. What is a non-musical influence that is inspiring you right now?

A. Saw some documentation of Gordon Matta-Clark’s 70s work at an exhibition recently; his building carvings resonated in a beautiful way with all the events work we are doing at the moment. We are always looking for massive vacant spaces, which are rare or hard to access, and ways to reconfigure them in order to create a mesmerising experience. Suddenly, the thought of cutting out the entire corner of a building and throwing a performance in what’s left of it sounds insanely cool.