Hi Mara. Thanks for joining us today. What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
It was a lockdown hobby for me really. I had nothing to do so I turned to making things and I’ve never felt more myself than when I’m being creative.
Introduce us to you and your musical history.
I started learning guitar a couple of years ago and wrote some songs using the few chords I could play on there, but I love pop music and I knew I wanted to make pop music so I started giving that a go on my laptop. Eventually, I got producer JB Thomas involved to make it sound good and now here we are.
Name me your 3 favorite Albums?
How I’m Feeling Now – Charli XCX
Pang – Caroline Polachek
I Love You Honeybear – Father John Misty
What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?
It was Distance (blank) by Art School Girlfriend. At first I wanted to make mellow synth pop like her, I think her voice is so soothing and it’s a gorgeous song to listen to. But as I developed myself as an artist I realised that I preferred making more upbeat tunes.
The music industry is the hardest industry in the world to progress in, How do you feel you are doing?
A tricky one. I do find myself feeling quite stuck, because I want to be able to devote myself to it fully but that just isn’t an option. There’s so much pressure to get a viral video on TikTok and be constantly pumping out content too. The hardest thing for me being from a smaller city is that I feel as though I’ve exhausted all of my options locally, but as I’m not a well known artist (yet – touch wood) I’ve not been able to land any opportunities in bigger cities and expand my audience!
I’m seeing a lot of debate about women not feeling safe at music gigs, any thoughts on what we need to do to help?
It’s ridiculous. The problem lies in the people that are making them feel unsafe really, and while I do appreciate that the venue has some responsibility, we need to educate people better and just encourage them to be more respectful and compassionate. There’s been a lot of good systems put in place already though as far as I know – you can use code words at the bar etc and they’ll help you to get safely out and into a taxi.
As you develop as an artist and develop using socials what ways do you get new ears on your music? Any tips?
It is just a matter of pumping out content I think. The “algorithms” on social media are constantly changing and it is exhausting to keep up with, but I’ve had some lovely comments and it’s really encouraging. My last single had way more streams than I was expecting, so hopefully this next one will do even better!
Tell us Two truths and a lie about you.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is my favourite film.
I have a twin but we have different birthdays.
I’ve never been to ikea.
What’s your thought on Spotify’s monopoly on the music industry?
I think in a lot of ways it’s a good thing. People wouldn’t hear my music otherwise, and I’ve had a really good boost in streams from people listening through artist radio so that’s great. I think getting onto playlists is really beneficial to artists too!
Do you sign up for any conspiracy theories?
Funny you should say that I watched 3 documentaries back to back about Princess Diana last night. So many unanswered questions there. And how did she predict her own death?!?!
Did you buy anything you don’t need during the pandemic?
I started knitting and crocheting, which hasn’t stopped. So every ball of yarn I’ve bought since March 2020. I do love it though.
What was the worst experience on stage?
Not music related but I used to dance, and once when I was doing a show the fire alarm in the theatre went off while I was onstage. For a few seconds, we just kept performing and no one moved until security came out and were like “what are you doing?” We all had to evacuate, but when we came back onstage again we got a really loud cheer.
Tell us something about you that you think people would be surprised about.
I don’t know actually, I think I’m a pretty open book. I guess to strangers it would be weird that I collect clown merchandise. I have so many ceramic clowns. Just really love them.
What makes you stand out as an artist?
I definitely stand out visibly. I wear a lot of pink, I’m quite hard to miss. In terms of music, you’ll have to get down to a gig to find out…
I hear you have a new music, what can you tell us about it.
It’s a nice chilled out pop song that you can dance along to. It’s all about meeting new people and accidentally spilling your guts to them.
Talk me through the thought process of the new tune/s.
I wrote this song just after moving into uni accommodation. I had to have a year out due to illness, and between covid and being a year behind, I didn’t know anyone when I came back. I moved into halls accommodation, met my new flatmates, and realised that I have now concept of boundaries when it comes to talking to people. I just kept telling them really personal details about myself without even realising I was doing it. So I wrote this song to sort of berate myself for that.
What was the recording process like?
Pretty standard!! JB Thomas has a nice little home studio that we worked from, and he did some magic with the production.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
It’s been a completely different process to just making tunes on my laptop. Normally I have the whole finished song in my head before I get anything down, but JB Thomas will sometimes build an idea for a best and get me to write something over it on the spot.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
No, I’m so happy with it!! I only hope everyone else loves it as much as I do!!!
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
I hope you have a gorgeous day!!!