In November I had the chance to sit down with Maggie McClure and discuss her inspirations, musical styles, and her latest album Time Moves On. Check out the interview below and get Time Moves On now.
E: When did you first become interested in writing and
making music?
Maggie McClure: Well, I started piano lessons when I was
five years old and so I've been involved in music pretty much my entire life. I
actually wrote my first song when I was eight years old and it just came really
naturally and was something that I did for fun. I started singing and playing
piano at the same time when I was in middle school and started writing songs at
the piano when I was about twelve or thirteen and so, honestly, it was just really
fun, to me, and that's how I got interested in doing it. [I was] just so
inspired by listening to other artists and wanted to do it myself.
E: Which artists inspired you?
MM: When I was younger, my first few inspirations were
Amy Grant and Bonnie Raitt. I remember just being so impressed with them, so
they've had a big impact on my musical influences and then, later on, Carole
King; I started listening to her [Carole King] and got to see her live in
concert and Sarah McLachlan, I'm a huge fan of hers, and Norah Jones. So,
just, a lot of these piano driven pop artists, females in particular, really
inspired me, and especially when I got to see them live, you know, there's
nothing like a live concert experience and seeing someone do, ultimately, what
you want to do when you're older. So, they've all had an impact on my music, in
some way, over the years.
E: Speaking of live concerts, do you have a favorite song
that you like to perform live?
MM: Oh, man, I mean, it's hard to pick one song that I like
to perform more than others because I write all my own music and so they all,
all the songs have a special meaning to me and they're all, you know, basically
excerpts from my journal put to song so they all mean so much to me. I think,
now that I'm releasing this new record, it is really fun to perform the brand
new songs and, in particular, I really like playing "Reset", which is
actually the first song on the album.
E: Personally, that's my favorite track, both the lyrics and
composition are so great; what's the inspiration behind the song?
MM: Thank you, I appreciate that. Basically, that song came
about after I had run into an old friend from high school that I hadn't seen in
a couple years and we ran into each other at a CVS and we were just talking. We
had a heart to heart conversation in the middle of the pharmacy section and he
was going through some personal stuff and I was trying to figure out what I was
going to do, us being the age we are, trying to figure out what we're going to
do with our careers and lives; I think we all feel like that throughout our
lives, no matter what our ages.
We were having this conversation and he
said something to me that just really spoke to me and he said "sometimes
in life we just need to hit the reset button" and I was just so inspired
by that and immediately went home and wrote this song in, like, thirty minutes
and basically just took that conversation and wrote this song based upon taking
the time to really regroup and reset and gain perspective on what to do next.
That's what the song is about and it really does mean a lot to me and I even
emailed him and told him about it and he was just so excited. Our short little
ten minute conversation inspired the song: it's pretty cool how everyday life
experiences can turn into these songs.
E: Generally, what is your inspiration when you're coming up
with a new song? Do they [the songs] mostly stem from those everyday
experiences?
MM: Honestly, I just try to be aware of what's going
on around me and what people are going through and a lot of these songs are
straight from my heart about stuff that I'm going through. I just moved a year
and a half ago from Oklahoma to Los Angeles and so this whole record is about
dealing with change and trying to make the most of the time that we've been
given and adapting to new environments and, just, staying on the path. A lot of
things have inspired this album but the whole theme of it all is adapting to
change and making the most of every day. A lot of these songs are literally
taken from my journal and then I just sit at the piano and turn them into
songs.
E: You did a lot of experimenting with this album; which parts did you most experiment with and how has your style changed from your last
album to this new one?
MM: I was just more open to doing things a little bit
differently than I have before. Maybe not so much in the song-writing as in the
production of the record, just trying new sounds and being completely open to
what the producer and musicians brought to the table and letting the songs
develop like they needed to instead of putting them in a box and saying 'this is
what it needs to sound like': just letting it come to life, whatever that
specific song needed, and letting that happen instead of trying to make it a
certain way. That's where we really experimented, was in the production.
In the song-writing, like I said, being more open to maybe
not doing such a cookie cutter pop song. Like, in "Uncertainty", the
chorus is just "ooh", like a bunch of "ooh"'s which is
just, you know, normally there are words in a chorus. So, some things like that
where I was just like 'you know, this is what the song needs, this is how I
want it to be, and this is what feels right so let's do it'. Definitely, now
that I think about it, there was experimenting in all areas.
E: Reflecting on your move from the Midwest to the West
Coast, would you say that this album more personally reflects your current
lifestyle than that of your previous albums?
MM: All the songs talk about specific issues, I guess you
would say, with moving, but a lot of the songs have just been about dealing
with all of the changes because, obviously, life in general is just so much
more different in L.A. than it is in Norman, Oklahoma. Time Moves On is just about pursuing the dream even though it's not
exactly easy: making my own path and creating opportunities for myself. A lot
of people will not come out here because they don't have anything going on:
they need a reason. You just have to take that leap of faith and start creating
opportunities for yourself and so that's what I've been doing and it has been
completely unpredictable and crazy and scary, all at the same time, but so
exciting; all these songs reflect that in one way or another.
"Uncertainty" [is about] not knowing what to do or
where to go and just feeling helpless when you think you have an idea of what
to do next, then the next day something happens and that gets completely
changed and doesn't happen; just having faith and not being so vulnerable that
you get knocked down and can't keep going.
"Closer Than Before" is a song about moving here
[to Los Angeles] and it's a love song. My husband and I both are musicians and
he's from Oklahoma, as well, so we made that move together. It's really cool
that we have each other to lean on because there are so many things in our
lives that are unpredictable and inconsistent in every way, so it's really nice
to have each other to remind ourselves that we are getting closer to what our
goals are even though, on a daily basis, it's hard to see that. But, when you
take a step back and look at it all it's like 'oh, okay, we're doing something.
Coming here was a good idea'.
E: You are your own booking agent and manager. How do you
blend the creative talents with business management and balance those two
diverse roles?
MM: Thankfully, I went to college and got a music business
degree and so I was a music major with a business minor and I am so thankful
that I did that [because] now it's, unfortunately, almost seventy-five percent
business. I always want to be doing more of the creative but, right now, I
don't have management or booking so I'm doing all of that as well as creating
the music and everything else that comes with being an artist so it's pretty
crazy. I try to find a good balance but my husband, Shane, can tell you I spend
way too much time on the computer trying to make stuff happen and create
opportunities: booking shows and making calls and interviewing publicists and
all kinds of stuff. I've had management before and I would definitely be open
to having it again; things are starting to get kind of crazy and I would like
to have more time to focus on just the art itself but, right now, I'm just
doing as much as I can and working as hard as I can and trying to not go crazy
at the same time.
E: Which song from the new album are you most excited for
your fans to hear?
MM: I honestly think every single song on [Times Moves On] has a purpose. I had
about forty, fifty songs to choose from so when I chose these nine songs I
chose them because they were the strongest, in my opinion, and in the producers
opinion. I don't think any of them are just what you would call 'filler songs',
but each one of them really has a purpose, so I'm excited for my fans to hear
the entire record and I hope that they listen to it all, because every song is
so different and people will connect to different songs. I definitely think
"Reset" is one of my favorites and "Time Moves On" also; "Daydream at Midnight" I really like and I'm really into "Liar, Liar", as
well. All of them are pretty different but they're still all covering the same
theme; I'm excited.
E: Do you plan on bringing any of the cut songs back on a
later album?
MM: I don't know.. Right now I would definitely be open to
that, it just depends on what happens later down the road but, yeah,
definitely. There are so many [songs] that I really like and I think would be
great but I can't record fifty songs right now. Even on this batch of songs, I
wrote "Troubled Heart" back when I was writing for my last record and
it actually ended up on this record, even though it didn't make it for my last
album, so there's definitely a chance that some of the songs I wrote for this
one that didn't make it will make it onto future projects.
E: Is there anything else you want to add or say to your
fans that I haven't asked yet?
MM: Just that my whole philosophy behind what I do is to
encourage people and bring substance to my music, and music in general. I hope
that my songs and music speak to people and bring encouragement to them and I
really feel like that's what I meant to do [with this album] and so I hope that
these songs reflect that. They have a lot of meaning and I hope people will
think the same.
Get your copy of Time Moves On now for a refreshing take on female pop songs which is sure to be your newest addiction.
- E
No comments:
Post a Comment