DJ Interviews: The MAW Experience

 Heres my interview with the MAW Experience

How'd you get started in music?

I started late in terms of making music but I had always sung and been involved with music in some way growing up and had DJ'd and run night clubs and live music events. I didn’t pick up my first guitar until I was 29 and undergoing chemotherapy. 

At that time I was writing lots of lyrics and poems, because you know, I thought I was going to die (ha) and I asked a friend of mine to listen to these melodies and i hoped he's put some music to these 'songs' that I had recorded on a Dictaphone and although he liked them and he agreed to help me turn them into songs he did so with the one condition that I had to learn guitar and we would do it together. 

So without Pete from Cross Wires I’m not sure I’d have pushed myself as hard as I did and probably wouldn’t be making music today. I found myself writing my own songs because he pushed me to do things and to find my own sound and way of playing. He and I played together and wrote songs and we played lots of gigs for about 18 months and it was a lot of fun, but he had his main band to focus on and so I ended up on my own and over time I just wrote less and less and it just became a little hobby I did.

And then a few years later, during the pandemic and in the early lock down days, I started experimenting with electronic music and I did a few random remixes for friends and suddenly I felt inspired and I was able to find a joy in writing and creating again - which has led me to where I am now. 

Who are your inspirations or influences?

From a band point of view - this list is pretty much endless - on any given day it could be Radiohead or Talk Talk or Silver Apples or Leftfield or whoever and on another day, it might be 3 or 4 other bands. 

But in terms of what inspires me to create? The people around me in my life and the experiences I’ve had or witnessed, both good and bad has to be where the songs come from. And an overall desire drive to get better and make, hopefully, music that is not only good but also interesting socially - that inspires and drives me.

What advice would you offer aspiring performers?

I think we’re all aspiring performers unless we have a deal to be honest. I am in no position to offer advice really! All I would say is don’t be afraid to push yourself and have fun.

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?

I just try and be myself. There are a million ‘electro’ acts out there these days, and it’s hard to sound unique or have your own voice and there are tons of people releasing lots of music and it all just feels like a version of a version of something that's already been. I may not be as skilled technically as some of those people but what I try to avoid is my comfort zone and I like to push myself sonically into soundscapes that may feel different and even challenging to the listener. I would say that I try to avoid making music that people might expect me to make - if I keep myself interested, then I’ve more chance of other people finding it interesting too. I hope.

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

My latest album ‘idiolect’ was released at the end of August. That’s a record of personal reflection about the loss of my parents and how we grieve and ultimately, find hope and move forwards towards recovery. It's a very different sound to anything I’ve released in the last few years and I am very proud of that record. Moving forward I have a back log of material I am working on, including 1 album which is virtually done and a couple of strange, instrumental EP’s that I might stick out randomly at some point. No gigs at this time, but I’m working on it :)