Check Out Merilee Caroline’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Merilee Caroline.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Every story is more of a jagged, winding forest path that only becomes clear once you beat down the bushes time, and time, again. To sum up anyone’s life in a story is romantic, whimsical, an impossible task. But if you asked me for an interview, it would go something like this:

*Grew up an only child in a broken dysfunctional family household
*Used art to cope + thrive -alone- : journaling (writing scripts, designing games, writing novels, songwriting, diary entries)
*Parents tried to do things ‘right’ but always succumbed to their own limitations… enrolled me at age 7 in piano lessons with the pastor’s wife who played organ for the church
*I performed well in school but struggled to ‘care’ about anything, perform for deadlines, or feel like I belonged anywhere – a very existentialist kid. no close relationships. never knew why until 2026 as it has now come to light that I have ADHD and am on the autism spectrum (undiagnosed) which helps me understand my life through a lens that can offer insight into why I struggled and felt like ‘missing’ and ’empty’ from my life
*Even though it seemed fine on the surface to me, my childhood experiences in music were traumatic and currently I have a seemingly immovable block much of the time towards pursuing it. Experiences: played piano in church, for school choir, concerts, + events, played brass instruments in concert + marching + jazz bands.
*I moved to Nashville for music, then found out I wasn’t ready to become a person who lets good things happen to them yet. After 5 years of back and forth, I moved to Los Angeles, a little bit more ready to embrace positive change and shed the old shell that was keeping me trapped. Made an album about it! Shoutout BLOODCALLING.
*Now I’m an artist who is finally learning to actually let life happen, the bad and most importantly the good, and enjoy whatever ride is along the way.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
From above:
*Grew up an only child in a broken dysfunctional family household: My mother has always been battling extreme mental health dysregulation and my father was a workaholic and not present in the home enough to be a part of my childhood.
*Even though it seemed fine on the surface to me, my childhood experiences in music were traumatic and currently I have a seemingly immovable block much of the time towards pursuing it. Experiences: played piano in church, for school choir, concerts, + events, played brass instruments in concert + marching + jazz bands. I think my sometimes crippling social anxiety (which I would later find out wasn’t mostly anxiety, just rumination attempting to “logic out” social relationships through the lens of autism) would taint my ability to approach situations from a better place mentally. I now am working to unblock these obstacles through my music. The album I am working on delves into everything I can think of that has been part of my current journey to ‘unlock the full, free creative self’ (I just came up with that…but that sounds great!!!)

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an artist!!!! I seek to bring awareness to the mental health world and battle that is inside every one of us. I believe that if we can just start with being honest and open with ourselves about how we feel, we can truly be part of the most beautiful generation of life the world has ever seen, and influence the future of the universe for the better. It all starts with awareness. So in the spirit of that positivity, I make music that treats the listener/narrator (me, or the listener) very negatively, with problematic levels of disrespect. I know that by voicing exactly how negatively I feel and all of my struggles through my art, that other people will relate and start to realize that they can work through these feelings and there is, indeed, a light at the other end of the tunnel.

I write and produce songs, compose arrangements, build worlds of adventure in and outside of music, and hope to work on others’ albums, soundtracks, and other projects!

I am also learning everything I can that goes into event planning. One of my goals is to throw concerts that are more than events – they’re all-encompassing. The theme will transcend just the music and the event will be immersive in a way that transforms lives. Since late 2024 (when my best friend inspired me to finally step out into the big wide world of social vitality and music that is LA!), I’ve been building a foundation for what it means to be a part of living and breathing music and live events. Some examples to date: solo shows, variety shows, kids’ jams + workshops, + hosting open mics!

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I’m just starting to get into the wonderful beautiful world of books and podcasts. Right now I have to be boring and say that I don’t feel I have any favorites, but if we conduct an interview, I’ll make it my goal to have some titles to give that I feel excited about! For now, I just want to say the overall genre vibes of what I am feeding myself:

Morning:
Journaling: Gratitude, Goals
Audiobooks: Positive Self-Talk practice (there’s many out there)
A Book to note from 2025: Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – Dr. Joe Dispenza
Meditation: self-recorded from above book, took a daily meditation practice ‘class’ from a pop-up booth at the gym, also youtube videos are great too, also paired w yoga
Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology Books all the way!!!!

Night:
Book: Fictional! Something fun. A recent read: Ultra 85 by Logic
Journaling: Day Recap/Highlights, Gratitude, Unload thoughts for tomorrow
Meditation: Manifestation for tomorrow, + future

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/merileee
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/im.merilee/