mxmtoon has a way with words.

When she started sharing music at the age of 17, mxmtoon (a.k.a Maia) immediately captured an audience from her family's guest bedroom. But this was no ordinary room. Within those four walls, magic came to life. And while the pandemic might've put a hold on that magic, it continued to brew inside Maia's heart.

Now at 21-years-old, the Chinese-American singer-songwriter has written the songs she wished existed when she was a teenager. Finally, she's ready to cast them out into the world. Her forthcoming sophomore album, rising, reveals a more vulnerable side of Maia as she tells stories of growth, loss, and everything in between.

Bandwagon caught up with mxmtoon to talk about rising, her creative growth over the past five years, how the pandemic affected her, and what music she's been listening to lately.

Hi, Maia! We're so excited for the release of rising! Tell us, how have you been these days, leading up to release of your new album?

I’ve been good! Right now I’m in the middle of my US/Canada leg of my world tour this year. It’s been so exciting to be back out on the road and singing songs live for people, I didn’t realize how much I missed all of it. 

 

 

 

 

 

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We are loving your vibe with 'sad disco'. Would you say this is the overall feel—packed with lots of ABBA love—that fans can expect from rising?

A little bit! There’s definitely a few songs with direct disco influence that people will 100% pick up on when they listen, but a lot of the other songs have different vibes as well. I’d say my goal with my music is to always hone in on things that feel nostalgic and encapsulate the music that I grew up listening to and loving. I go through eras on this album in a way, between 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s music! So it’s a bit all over the place in terms of inspiration but I think everything ties nicely into each other.

How much do you feel you've grown creatively and musically since you began blessing the world with your music over the past five years?

So much! I remember starting to make music when I was 17 and I can barely listen back to it because my voice itself has also gotten so much better. I have a much clearer sense of the music I enjoy making and how to make it happen. It’s been such an incredible learning experience to understand the world of music production and writing these past five years, and there is still so much for me to learn as well!

 

 

 

 

 

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Out of all the songs from rising, which one would you say was the most challenging to write and the easiest and breeziest to write?

The hardest was definitely 'haze'. It went through a couple rewrites just trying to figure out how to best get the lyrics to feel meaningful and fluid. It ended up getting to a really beautiful place, but it was definitely a song I wasn’t entirely sure I could write into something I could love when I first made it.

The easiest song to write was probably 'florida'. It’s the hardest to listen back to because of the story it tells, but it was one that felt like it wrote itself.

You're twenty-one and we love the fact that you've got a song called 'growing pains'. Could you walk us through that song and how it came to be?

I started mxmtoon when I was seventeen. I think I had this sense that growing up was something that would stop right when I reached my twenties, but I was so wrong. Now at twenty-one, I know less about myself than I’ve ever known, but the comfort I have in that uncertainty is more prevalent. 'Growing pains' is about the experience of understanding that growing up will never end, and the ups and downs you’ll experience in the process is par for the course. 

We all know how much the pandemic has affected the music scene. Tell us, is there anything about it, what with the being trapped indoors and all, that turned out to be good for you creatively?

Honestly, I didn’t create much during the first year of the pandemic. I wasn’t living life like I normally would, so there wasn’t much for me to write about.

If it provided anything positive, I think it just gave me a lot of time to reflect on what I wanted to accomplish with rising and my general relationship with music as well. It’s important to take moments of reflection to ground yourself and really understand how you feel about aspects of your life and art. I’m thankful that the pandemic has afforded me that even through the hardship.

Work From Home with mxmtoon

What have you been listening to lately? Any new releases from this year and from Asia that's caught your ear?

I’ve been loving Rina Sawayama. I think she’s incredible and so much fun to listen to. Honestly though I spend so much time listening to podcasts in my free time I don’t listen to much music!

With the reopening of the live music scene, are there plans to hit up Asia soon? 

I would love to play shows in Asia. No plans as of right now, but that can always change! 

You've done so much at such a young age. What else is on the horizon for mxmtoon in the near future?

No idea! There’s so many different avenues of creativity and that excites me so much as someone who hopes to try out an abundance of them. Music is what I’m focused on right now, but who knows what the future holds.

mxmtoon's second studio album rising is scheduled for release on 20 May.