Into The Water with Megan Lara Mae
One of the most interesting things about doing this job is when an artist seemingly comes out of nowhere, but of course they never really come out of nowhere. There can be years of honing a craft and even numerous releases before somebody stumbles upon an artist. That's exactly what has happened with Megan Lara Mae, who's new single 'Headfirst' is just one in a great line of singles.
Though the 2018 single 'Caribou' is officially billed as Megan Lara Mae's debut, her youtube channel features another track called 'Mask' which dates from 2017. In fact, Mae's career goes back many years as she performed gigs as a teenager in and around Birmingham and even began self-producing her own material to upload to her soundcloud channel. 'Only Your Love' is the oldest track that can be found there. Further back than that, she released singles entitled 'Signs' and 'Father Father'. Even Megan Lara Mae's EP 'Into Daylight', of which Caribou was spawned from is difficult to find.
But we'll begin at Caribou. The electronic backing for Megan Lara Mae's voice has throbbing bass, programmed drums and a myriad of synths that lightly carry the melody in places and also pulse like it's under club lighting. This is all in contrast to Mae's voice, which I feel could work in a more gentle acoustic setting, but that isn't to say it doesn't work here. Interestingly, Megan Lara Mae did film a piano/vocal version of the song, also available on her youtube channel. Perhaps the only other non-electronic instruments in the single version are the thudding drums that occasionally accent. This is illustrated brilliantly in the music video, as sticks strike paint-splattered drum heads, throwing droplets of colour upwards. Paint is a huge feature in the visual counterpart, lifting the mood of the piece from the more troubling outdoor chase scenes where Mae is seemingly in pursuit of herself.
'Jungle', Megan Lara Mae's first single of 2020, took her style forward another step. In addition to the throbbing bass, Mae's voice is further produced in many layers, especially in the chorus, 'And when you’re called to the jungle, you’re not to follow the rules, and when you’re called to the jungle, you gotta know what to do...' The verse vocals have a tone I can't quite describe, almost like it's paired with a vocal that's pitched lower, giving it a less pure sound. The background textures are unclear, but fill the space with reverb and backing vocals, working best as the piece lifts in the chorus. The video features fluorescent colours on choreographed dancers in the dark. Mae oozes confidence as she performs to the camera, though a behind-the-scenes video demonstrates how difficult this can be at times.
Released at the end of August, 'Alright' is co-written with Jotham Oakley and produced by Luke Fellingham. The disorientating vocal Alright opens with takes Jungle's voice manipulation even further. The track is hugely effective when the instruments drop out and showcase Mae's voice alone as she sings the title of the track. Production wise, this is the best of Mae's work so far, with excellent instrumentation, pulling back when needed, but also chock full of drums with vocal and synth layers. Megan Lara Mae would need a whole backing singer ensemble to perform this faithfully! In terms of the music video (which is still Mae's latest), it's self-produced, though not the living room style videos we've all seen this year. Alright is filmed outside in Brighton and rendered to look vintage - I wouldn't have immediately known it was produced in-house as the quality and style are genuinely inspired.
Megan Lara Mae's latest track, 'Headfirst', begins much lighter than her other 2020 releases with finger snaps and soaring backing vocals. The uplifting tone is no more apparent than in the lyrics, with the first verse reading; 'Great ambition, the lights are seeming out of reach. I’ll keep pushing, don’t stop pushing. So appealing to quit, and throw it all away, leave my troubles, back to normal.' Mae's voice is clear and her delivery is precise, in this single there is more focus on the vocal components of the track rather than the instruments. The more clubby elements in Mae's previous singles are dialed down which do well to serve the song, though the track as a whole could've benefitted from more acoustic instruments to drive the point home. The out of tune piano used to conclude the song is an interesting decision, leaving the upbeat Headfirst on a more unsettling tone. Read on to find out more about Headfirst, Megan Lara Mae's other songs written about here and her plans for the future!
1. 'Headfirst' is your latest single, where did the lyrical idea for that come from?
I started writing this song with a few of my music friends (Lewis Morgan and Johnny Pastos) about 2 years ago in Brighton. The theme and lyrical idea came from a place of wanting to write a song that was like my massive fist pump in the air saying - I won’t let different knock-backs get me down, I’m going to keep going and I’m going to go all-in with this music thing. I mainly wanted to say that what I do genuinely brings joy and happiness to me and that is what gets me up every morning - it’s so important! More recently I have realised the significance of the lyrics, in line with what people in the arts have been told to do with re-training and then that infographic that spread across the web… It’s actually been a huge blessing and reminder to myself when singing this over the last few weeks (and months with all that Covid has thrown at us).
2. In terms of writing, is your work a collaborative effort or are you generally a sole writer?
I love collaborating! I love going into a session and experiencing everyone’s best shine through in order to make a great song. I definitely lean towards the melody and theme, and love finding people to work with that understand exactly what I want to write about lyrically and get my sound and vibe straight away. Over lockdown I’ve been writing more and more with people from across the globe and have honestly loved it. I went into these sessions questioning whether they’d be fruitful, especially as zoom can provide an interesting experience… but every single one has been so much fun and there’s been so much energy! Can’t wait for people to hear more of what’s come through in this season.
3. Tell me about the recording of 'Headfirst', where was it laid down? Is it self-produced?
I actually began the recording and producing process for Headfirst back in January 2019. I went into the studio with a guy called Jack Wintermeyer (an absolute genius), and we recorded this song, alongside a couple others. The studio is called Luna Sound Studio and is found near Preston Park in Brighton. The studio is beautiful and has a really special place in my heart! I actually used to live downstairs from the studio so every time I go back there, it always feels like home. Fun story: I actually remember the morning of vocal recording for this and I had such a bad migraine; I turned up at the studio and just threw up (gross, I’m sorry), and then had a 3 hour nap while my producer and bassist did more production on the track; I woke up for lunch and then decided I was totally fine, so decided I was all good to record and I’d say it turned out pretty alright :) I then re-visited the track over lockdown, which was basically almost done and added in a few golden elements with a guy called Luke Fellingham and that takes us to today.
4. Your last single 'Alright' is an uplifting one - is it directed to someone specific in your life?
Hmmmm maybe… On the day this single came out, a loved one sent me a text saying “Love the new song Meggie. I get the message. Xxx”
5. The music video for 'Jungle' really matches the song well, who came up with the idea for that?
Ah thank you! My wonderful husband (Joel Nicholas) is the creative brains behind a lot of my visuals, including the music video for Jungle. We had a brainstorm session together before filming and came up with a utopia concept for this one. He pulled together an amazing mood-board and storyboard, which featured war paint, dancers and a few references to the ‘Hunger Games’. I agree, I think he did really well on this one!
6. What happened to the huge floor painting that was made in the 'Caribou' video?
Good question - so the painter in the video is also Joel. I asked him what happened to the huge floor painting and apparently it got rather mouldy as it was left in a bag. However, the fabric that was used behind me in the video to drop paint down was salvaged and Joel managed to turn it into a tribal themed painting which now hangs in the corridor of our house. I love it and love the vibrancy it brings to our home.
7. Is there a music video coming for 'Headfirst'?
Oh yes. Right at the start of lockdown, I got really into making my own videos and videos for others. I’ve had the pleasure of doing video editing for a Brighton-based company since and it challenged me to consider being more in-house for this type of content going forward. So ‘Alright’ was the first music video I ever put together; again, with my husband having the majority of the creative ideas. We were a bit limited in terms of resource so it ended up being him following me around the streets of Brighton with our (not massively brilliant) camera - but It seemed to work! So for ‘Headfirst’ I wanted to do the video for this one in-house again. I’d found a photo of an art piece on Pinterest and had got a little obsessed… it was basically a bunch of fabric streamers - the mix of colour just really excited me. So I asked Joel if he would be up for making something similar, and he rose to the challenge. He likes to call it ‘the wonderland’, featuring brightly coloured pieces of fabric and bits of gold. We managed to get a better camera for this one and filmed it a few weeks ago. I just finished editing the video together and I’m excited to share it with the world.
8. Of course playing live is mostly on pause at the moment. Hypothetically, if money and time were no option, what would your live set-up look like? What would be the ultimate Megan Lara Mae live experience? Go crazy!
Oh my, imagine big projections synced up with the tracks - like lyric videos, moving images etc.. There would 100% be colour everywhere and the stage would have to be big enough for me to dance and jump around, and maybe even space for a whole cohort of backing dancers. I was very blessed to go to Glastonbury last year and in 2017 - I got to see some of my inspirations play live, including Maggie Rogers, Sigrid, Aurora, Lorde and Christine and The Queens. Every single one did not disappoint, they were brilliant and their live shows were incredible. On a separate note, I would also love to be able to play more instruments than I currently do and have some tracks woven into the set where it’s just me playing everything, a bit like Jacob Collier - not sure whether it’s a bit late to start learning some now, but we shall see…
9. I know you're inspired by Kate Bush, as a lover of her music I'd love to know what era of Kate's is your favourite? It's always so difficult to choose!
Ooh that’s tough… I don’t know if there is a specific era, but I am a big fan of the ‘Hounds of Love’ work, especially ‘Running Up That Hill’. To be honest, anything and everything she did was an inspiration! I have loved watching her music videos and see her being so free in herself, it’s definitely inspired me to let go as a performer. And her voice - yes her voice is stunning.
10. With the arts suffering immensely this year, have you used some of this time to create new music for the future?
Absolutely! At the start and height of lockdown I began a little series on my IGTV called ‘I’m Not A Producer… YET”, basically because I couldn’t get into the studio. This was very fun, but I think I would still not call myself a producer (yet). But as I mentioned earlier, I’ve had a number of collaborative writing sessions over zoom, and even some in person. I really have loved everything that has come through and have been using this time to focus on the lyrics and melody of each song, crafting and crafting to make them the best they can possibly be. Headfirst is my last 2020 single release, and I’ve got something ready for the new year. But until then, I’m excited to be doing more and more sessions and hopefully go into the studio sometime soon and start putting some fun vibey production on the next lot of songs.
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You can find Megan Lara Mae on twitter, facebook and instagram @meganlaramae.
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