Part 1

Name: Maddy Maia
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, DJ, A&R at Ninja Tune, label co-founder at SOS Music
Recent release: Maddy Maia's With U / Fembot Fashion EP is out via all my thoughts.
Recommendations: As an ode to nostalgia, I’m sharing one of the greatest pieces of music of all time, played by one of the greatest contemporary cellists of all time.

If you enjoyed this interview with Maddy Maia and would like to find out more about her, visit her on Instagram, Soundcloud, and Facebook.

To keep reading, we recomend our interviews with other SOS Music artists:

[Read our Hinako Omori interview]
[Read our Nightwave interview]
[Read our Masha Mar interview]



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I had a lot of stop-starts throughout my journey towards making music and DJing; very much a late bloomer.

I first bought a pair of belt drive decks and a bunch of Drum n Bass records when I was 17 or so and living in Brighton, UK - drum and bass and breaks nights were everywhere, and I remember they were the first genres of music that really made me want to dance.

Plagued by insecurities which were exacerbated by the incels working at my local record shops at the time, I gave that up quickly and taught myself Garageband, then Logic, with intention of making leftfield pop. I actually learnt classical cello to a fairly serious level in school, and took part in harcore madrigal choirs when I was younger, too, so singing was always high on the agenda. I did this for years alone, in my room after work, not sharing much with anyone.

During this time I was still surrounding myself in club culture, and started interning and working for record labels which quickly became my priority as I was living month to month as a 22 year old with no family money in London.

Moving to LA was a huge cultural shift for my creativity - I left behind early difficulties and really found more of a voice when I had a fresh start. I wasn’t known as Maddy from Ninja Tune here, and finally found my voice and confidence to just get on with it. LA is an odd place culturally, but it’s shaped my abilities to be creative in ways I never thought possible.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you’re listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

Growing up with the cello, it’s just one of the most emotive, raw instruments in some ways. It’s such an emotional instrument evoking deep visceral reactions to the pieces I played. This really has spilled into my music consumption over the years.

[Read our feature on the cello by Clarice Jensen]
[Read our feature on the cello by Theresa Wong]
[Read our Redi Hasa interview about Arranging Nirvana for the Cello]

I’m incredibly sensitive to external influences physically - so my body quite literally compulsively reacts to harmonies or lyrics that move me - I feel it deeply in my gut.

As a stark contrast, my day job as an A&R has meant that I've had to train my brain to react in a certain way to music consumption throughout my working days  - when I hear new music I immediately have an A&R script in my brain asking a lot of questions. I try to switch this off, but sometimes when I'm listening to music leisurely, or digging for my sets, I'll find those analytical reactions seeping in and find it difficult to remove one from another.

But I chose this profession because I'm so deeply, physically moved by melodies and songs at the end of the day.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

A long slog, riddled with insecurities, ha! That might sound a little dramatic, but with hindsight, creativity was something I believed I wasn't entitled to for a long time - in my mind I wasn’t smart enough to compose, tech savvy enough to produce, or interesting enough to create my own artistic identity.

My day job is incredible, but there’s no question that it’s influence stifled my ability to create for myself for years. There is a reason why there are still so many voices shouting about diversity in music. Although I've had a lot of support in my career, there were long periods where I felt that I just wasn’t taken particularly seriously by colleagues, that if I explored my own career DJing or making music, I couldn't possibly be taken seriously in my day job.

One of the changes I celebrate most now in our industry is the growing sense of acceptance towards artists from all walks of life. And when I say that I don't just mean race or gender, I mean age, class and wider cultural context. I have a ‘day job’, I need it to survive, but I truly now believe being an artist and a professional can align in a harmonious way without one undermining the other. Making music compliments my work in a beautiful way - I believe it gives me a deeper understanding of my artists and their vision.

I think there may be some people out there that question the legitimacy of ‘ industry people’ and their creative careers - that we instantly have a leg up or something. I contest this passionately. In some senses it’s actually more work to be taken seriously as an artist if you’re already working in these communities as something else.

Years of work have gone into elevating others - which is my die hard passion, gives me true happiness and pays my rent, but that isn’t a reason I can't simultaneously express myself through my own art and be taken seriously doing it.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please. What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

At the end of the day I'm a British raver. I grew up going to clubs - my cousin gave me her old ID so by 16 I was out every weekend. DnB, breaks, house music, techno, electro, ambient sounds, disco - it all started in club culture, so my artist project is very much a nod to the dance floor. I enjoy an eclectic range of genres spanning from classical to pop and everything in between, but when I started making dance music everything finally fit into place.

Our creation of SOS Music (the record label I co-founded with DJ Tottie in 2020) also played a huge influence. We started it to elevate women and gender minorities in dance music and give them a platform during the pandemic. Before we started it, I hadn't made music in years - but it felt disingenuous spending all this time and energy shouting about the creativity of women, and not to be doing anything myself.

Contributions to the first SOS Music compilations has then turned into solo releases, and now I have so much new music planned - after putting all our spare time into this label, I can finally trust my own ability to curate, and create.



How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” etc. I’m a true believer of just getting on with it - you don’t have to change the world with your art, though of course it’s nice if you do. Carve your own path - even if that’s just using Garageband and a shitty midi keyboard which is where I started. We should be celebrating imperfection to its highest degree - I’ve written articles on this as an A&R.

It’s difficult not comparing yourself to the best artists in your field in any creative enterprise, but a common stumbling block for any new artist in their pursuit of success isn’t how little they know about Ableton or how few plug-ins they use, it’s the inability to finish a song and share it with the world. I lost years to fear of rejection and imperfection, and I’ve seen talented artists severely damage their career this way.

These barriers to entry need to be broken down - creativity should be accessible to all.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Learning music theory when I was young was undeniably useful just in giving me a sense of melody - I think naturally it brings more soul to my compositions, even for the harder, faster tracks.

But I'm honestly most thankful to Garageband, and cheap music software - not for the creations I made from it which were questionable at best, but what it did psychologically by opening up production to me and making it accessible. It was a path in which I never thought possible for years.