Interview with Maria Meyers

1. What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

• The love for songwriting. I always enjoyed singing, too. I was in a youth choir and cover band back in Germany. It was during my time at university, when I came up with my first original songs. Though at the time I did not think of music as a career option for me. It took some more years and a move from Munich to London in a busy role as an event manager to realize that the creative process of making music is what suits me best. 

2. What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

• I enjoy walking in nature and taking photographs of it. There are a lot of references to nature in my music. I like to draw pictures through nature and use metaphors to describe the human experience, situations and stages in life. After all, life is like a river. If we let it flow, we do get challenged, yes, but only to learn and grow so amazing things can happen from it down the line.

3. How long have you been making music?

•  I would say probably 10 years.

4. Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

•  I live in the North of Birmingham. I enjoy living in a city and at the same time not being far from nature and beautiful sites. Inspired by both, urban life and countryside.

5. Tell me about your most memorable shows, if you haven’t played live what is your vision for a live show?

• I have done acoustic sessions I enjoyed in the past. Though I have never performed an entire live show with my original music, which definitely is what I am most looking forward to. 

6. What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

•  There are certainly a few places I would like to play. But for now, I keep my focus on the creation of my new record called 'Blue Birds'. It is the music I really want to bring to life with a band.

7. If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

•  Paolo Nutini. I really like his musical style that is transcending genres and soulfulness. 

8. What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into making music and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

• Never stop writing, even if no one hears the songs. It is the only way for the writing to evolve. Oh yes, and find a way to record some, even if you are not ready to play them live yet. It's the creative process that is so valuable for all future work. 

9. Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

• I guess the song 'Don't ever wait for me' from my record EPIC LOVE. I only now really understand what the song means. Something I wasn't ready to accept when I wrote the song: that sometimes we have to let someone we deeply love go. When love is selfish it is not true love. To love someone, without being with that person, is the hardest thing to do. But it is possible. 

10. Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

•  It is actually a song called 'Hollywood' I used to sing at open mics many years back. It is one of the first songs I have ever written, but for some reason never recorded. In the creative song-writing process for my upcoming record 'Blue Birds' the melody popped up again in my head out of the blue. I got the feeling somehow this song was meant to be on 'Blue Birds'. And it will be!

11. What is your creative process, and what inspires you to write your music?

• I used to write all of my songs with my guitar. Since I have my Bentley piano at home, It's become my main instrument for songwriting. I am not great at it, but the feel when I play it has a really cool impact on my songs. On my upcoming record 'Blue Birds' there are 12 songs of which I wrote 6 with my green PRS electric guitar and 6 on the piano. I usually come up first with a chorus and then try to find a verse leading into a pre-chorus. Later I think of adding a bridge part. I have realized with the new record, that magical things happen in the studio when I don't have everything figured out. So I try to not overthink the songs too much when I write them.

12. Do you have messages that you like to get across in your music, if so please tell me about them?

•  My last record EPIC LOVE is about a turbulent time in my life when I had to learn many lessons. The most important one I'd say: The more we do things that make us happy in life, the less we need someone to make it better. And that is a place when love might just come easy. The upcoming record 'Blue Birds' is rooted in the lessons learned from EPIC LOVE. It is reflective, upbeat, and playful. It is about breakups, breakthroughs, breaking free, and waking up in Hollywood as a metaphor for happiness in reach. 

13. What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

• The release of my record 'Bluebirds' in spring/summer next year and going on tour with it. 

14. How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

• It is probably best to follow my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariameyers_/ 

  and Spotify for old and new music.