“I need to go back home and throw my phone into the ocean,” June Freedom tells me.
He’s just gotten back in from a fitting at Paris Fashion Week, and he’s feeling the stress. But not just because he’s about to walk the runway; his latest album, Casa Mira Mar, is now just weeks away from its July 11 release. In the olden days — 20-something years ago — he would find refuge on the shore, where he’d surf in the ocean of his hometown in Cape Verde. Now, it’s a game of pickup at the gym.
“When you go there for two hours and you put in that work, you just have a different focus; a different energy force comes beyond you and you are living in the moment,” he tells Okayplayer. He doesn’t chuck his phone into the beautiful abyss, but he knows how to put it down. The gym — or the studio — are just two ways that make it easier for him to do so. Now, ahead of his new album, he’s ready to explain some others.
Speaking to Okayplayer for the latest edition of Pursuit of Happiness, June Freedom breaks down just how he maintains his mental and physical well-being, in an as-told-to below lightly edited for length and clarity.
June Freedom: When I’m feeling down, I like to listen to Cesária Évora or Mayra Andrade. Or I go to LA Fitness to play basketball. When you go there for two hours and you put in that work, you just have a different focus; a different energy force comes beyond you and you are living in the moment. You’re really being active with your time when you’re sitting there dealing with all kinds of stresses, whether it be from the internet, whether it be your career.
I think staying present is the most important thing. We’re always anxious thinking about the future — thinking about the past. What we did wrong, what we didn’t do, and we forget to stay present most these days. We forget to stay in the moment because we’re always thinking about what’s next; what can we do better.
If I’m doom scrolling, I smoke a joint. I’m like, ‘What the f—k am I doing?’ Then I get back to work. I’m a studio rat. Instead of watching what people say to you about you on the internet, I’d rather be in the studio making music. That’s my life. I’m up until six in the morning most of my days. I don’t like being stressed when I make music. But I think when that happens, the best things actually come out.
I tapped into some different emotions for my new song called “Balance.” That’s just me speaking on my journey. Even as you go higher and higher in your career, no matter what decisions you make, people are still going to judge you. You gotta figure out how to keep the balance in this crazy world. And I feel like this album is about finding balance in a world that’s a lot of chaos.
I used to be more fiery. More vocal. Now I’m more calm. Sometimes, even when you try to be on top of things, the outcome is going to be the same. You just gotta focus on what’s important. So I just learn to breathe. The things that I can control, I can. And the things that I can’t, I leave to God.
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