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13.07.12MusicWeek 19
MAYNIACS...AND COUNTING
now I listen to a lot of rap. I like the R&B soulfulness with the vocals and the hard rap-like beat underneath it. I had a massive say in what I want from the album and the musical creation – I’m definitely happy with the sound that came out of it.
You’ve got a dreamteamof producers from across theworld.Howdid you come to teamup with them? Every single big collaboration on the album was through their own interest. I’m really happy that Pharrell reached out out of nowhere and contacted the
label.They just let me come to them and believed in me and my talent. If people notice it, it will come and sure enough Ne-Yo was one of the first people that tried to sign me before [EMI].Then Pharrell came out of nowhere.When I met him he told me he’d been watching my covers for years - I definitely feel very blessed having been able to work with him, it was
amazing.And Rita Ora,we know each other very well, so it was nice to work with her.
Do you have any particular ambitions for the album? It was very apparent early on when I did my covers that people had been watching from all over the
world.The main countries were the UK,US, Germany and Australia, pretty much each corner of the globe.We always wanted to make it into an international project. I have the highest possible ambitions for it as I can because I’ve been working on this album for the past two years and I’m very proud about the piece of work I’ve come out with. I want people to enjoy it and as many people to hear it as possible.
Why did you chooseVegasGirl (out on July 23) as the next single? It’s the earliest recorded song on the entire album. I remember when I recorded it in LA withThe InvisibleMen and there was a moment where we listened to it and it was like, ‘Wow, this is a different sound to what we’ve heard before’ and we really liked
it.There was something about this song that we loved – it was very catchy and I just want to sing along and it just feels really big. That’s why I wanted to go with it as the main
single, but at the same time I knew that had to step back and listen to people that have been in the music industry a lot longer than I have. I’ve been extremely fortunate in that we have the same views on the album.
Ne-Yo andPharrellwere interested in signing you early on. It’s a very brave thing to turn people like that down –why did you? It’s weird when I look back at it…I always wondered why I didn’t get in over my head, get too excited about it, I didn’t let it get to me and control me. I was lucky to be surrounded by people who were always concerned about my best interests.
LEFT Baring it all: Maynard’s album includes what might be termed ‘grown-up’ songs as the artist looks to appeal to a mature and young audience alike
I think it’s an amazing platform for the artist…The difficulty is that a lot of people out there are doing it now, it’s hard to stand out and get noticed. If I was to give advice, the way I got myself noticed, I’d always switch up songs to make them my own so people respect me as my own artist and not a cover artist. I wanted them to be a fan of me and not of the
song.And that’s how I really captured my audience and drew them in. People became a fan of me.
There were other people and labels putting better offers in.With Ne-Yo, I was only 17, I would have had to move away, leave my family, younger brothers and
sister.For me, signing to a UK label was great. There were no grudges kept [with Ne-Yo] as obviously I worked with him on the album and we kept it very professional.He’d been really cool. It really completed the story, him featuring on the song [Turn Around].
What aboutPharrell? When I was working with him I did five tracks and they were for my album, obviously two made it on there but I haven’t worked with him since then. He’s producing for other artists at the moment.
Some of your songs are a little bit on the grown- up side…where do you pinpoint your fanbase? I wanted to create an album that has songs for everyone. Songs for the younger fanbase and songs for a much older fanbase. I want my nan and little sister to be able to enjoy
it.As an artist you want as many people as possible to listen to it so that was the plan behind having more mature tracks and also having those young, pop kind of tracks.
Going back to the beginning -when youwere putting covers onYouTube,did youmake any money fromit at all? No, I had the chance to but it’s still yet to be figured out how it can work so I don’t know how much I have waiting for me if I have made any money! I haven’t seen any of it as of yet.
Howdo you rateYouTube as amethod of getting recognised by record labels for aspiring artists?
Howdid you come to signwithTurn First for yourmanagement deal? It was a whirlwind for me, being
signed.The whole Ne-Yo thing happened, then it started this massive buzz like ‘Who is this kid that Ne-Yo wants to sign?’ in America. I met a lot of labels and a lot of management and when I metTurn First it just felt right. I was only 17 when I met them – Sarah,who’s the head, and Aaron. Sometimes there are certain things young artists would be heartbroken by, things they take personally and would get upset by - theTurn First crew wouldn’t let that
happen.They wouldn’t let an artist treat a kid in that way - it’s different, they are young and take things differently. I felt like I was in safe and caring hands with them.
Andwhy did you choose to sign your record dealwithParlophone? They were ready to go, they were really enthusiastic from the day I met them to right now. I felt like I was going to be made a huge priority because their roster isn’t ridiculous, they haven’t got a lot of artists signed to them and I really got on with them. It felt right. Sometimes you’ve got to go with your gut and I feel like I’ve made a very good choice.
What canwe expect fromyour upcoming UKtour? I’m yet to figure that out yet!There will definitely be some new tracks in there that I haven’t performed live
yet.And the venues are slightly bigger so it will be a bit more of a challenge but I feel like I’m ready, I’m really excited about it. It’ll be a lot of fun, it’ll be a party, definitely.
If you could change one thing about the music industrywhatwould it be andwhy? That people focus more on music as opposed to business,money and politics. It should be about the key element, the music, and sometimes that’s forgotten. Sometimes an amazing song is lost just because someone won’t work with someone or something like
that.For me, I think the main thing is that politics should be put to the side and just listen to the music and respect it just for that.
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