We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Madeleine Mayi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Madeleine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Yes, absolutely. I made a decision when I started my artist career that I wouldn’t put pressure on my art to pay all my bills. For me, money is money and art is art. As a musician, I definitely have tunnel vision. I have the skills to do other things in the music world (and love to do so with my trusted collaborators) but I’ve never wanted to put my artist project in the position where I expected that route to be my main source of income. It can be seen as a failure to have “side jobs” but I disagree completely if you know where your priorities lie.

Madeleine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m an artist with a relatively cardboard origin story. Great family, good childhood, wonderful hometown, but always felt like there was something deep and necessary to uncover about the world. And one of the only ways that I have been able to find greater meaning/explanations for why things are the way they are is in art. Being an artist has always been my path, but I explored many mediums before I settled on music. I think that decision was made because it’s what comes most naturally to me. At my core I am a performer, and I have the deep need to connect with other humans, and music is one of the most powerful ways to do that. What I bring to my industry is a reminder that artists still exist with no motive other than needing to create. Life would be bland for me otherwise, and therefore the quality of my art is always my priority. I will never release something that I am not sure about at the moment. My brand is a beautiful mess, because that’s how life feels to me.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This is a very technical breath-work answer, for all my vocalists out there. I never took vocal lessons until I was in music school (USC). I grew up in choir, and apparently never learned proper breath technique. My instructor told me to think about how we breathe when we are asleep, and that that’s how relaxed a singers breath should be. He also explained to me that taking a huge gulp of air is not always in your best interest. When we speak, we naturally take the correct amount of breath for our short or long sentences without thinking about it. This is how we should breathe as singers. Those two tips have been extremely helpful for me.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

At some point we will all be gone, and I like knowing that something I am making now that is so very me will outlive me. And I hope to learn more about myself and the world around me by creating. Simple as that.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeleine.mayi/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX_IQA8um_kaKnvG4IL-39Q

Image Credits
special thanks to dylan, jane and jessi <3