We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maya Richardson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maya below.
Maya, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
Wow, I love this question! The first thing that comes to mind when I think of what my parents did right, is simply instill in me the belief that one day I could achieve my dreams. Pursuing a career in the arts, especially wanting to be a singer is usually met with very little support from loved ones accompanied by a “when are you gonna get a real job”, due to how hard it is to make it a successful source of income. My parents never once made me feel like they didn’t believe in me. I’ve been singing basically since I could talk and as a little girl they did nothing if not create a space for my dreams to flourish. Having that support at home makes all the difference growing up, truly. It taught me at a young age that the sky is the limit. That you can accomplish any and everything you put your mind to.
I always looked up to my parents in that regard because when I was younger they were actually in their own cover band that did shows locally in Youngstown, Ohio where I was born and raised. Shout out Area’s Finest! My mom has been a singer all her life as well and my dad has an amazing voice that he held near and dear almost like an unspoken hobby until the day my parents got married. That was the first time he sung in front of a crowd. They sang “Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This” by Rachelle Ferrell and Will Downing. Watching the VHS tape of that 1994 performance years later was magical. My older brother Deyne can attest to that. To watch my parents actively live so freely in their creative spirit was so inspiring.
When it came time for me to choose which colleges to apply too I knew I only wanted to go to college in New York. I applied to one school in PA, where I graduated high school, just to make my mom happy. But every other school I sent an application to was in the city of dreams. My mom and Dad never once tried to deter me from pursuing a path so daunting. And for that I am forever grateful. I’ll never forget my first time visiting New York. I was 16, and I called my mom on whatever slide up android phone I had at the time, and I yelled at her “I HAVE to go to school here!” I was obsessed. I knew that was where I needed to be, and my parents only motivated me to follow that feeling. Here I am now 10 years later from that phone call and I’ve had the privilege of spending 7, amazing, life changing years growing, learning, and thriving in my dream city, and becoming the artist I am today. Perette and Doug got a lot right, but teaching me to believe in myself and my dreams was probably the best thing they ever did.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Hey! So I go by Mayarich. I’m a singer, songwriter, vocal producer, and freelance audio engineer currently based in Atlanta. I was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio and eventually moved to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. After high school, I went to college in New York City, where I studied musical theatre followed by audio engineering! I’m so grateful for my experience in New York because my time there was like a networking bootcamp! In college I met so many talented people from all over the world that constantly inspired me to keep going and pursue my creative endeavors. A couple years after graduating I decided to steer my efforts towards being an independent artist and writing original music. During that time I started going to open mics heavy which gave me more experience singing with a live band and helped me get my footing as a performer.
As far as how I got into the industry, I credit my journey to relentlessly following my dreams without knowing the final destination. Moving to New York at 18 was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. I never thought I would leave and here I am 9 years later, now living in Atlanta. My journey taught me the importance of simply being in the room. Going to shows and rubbing elbows, being in the room with artists you look up too is where dreams eventually turn to reality. Since moving to Atlanta I’ve been able to continue to grow as an artist and most importantly as a writer. I started working with my amazing producer team, Justin and Mave, who are in house at Disturbing The Peace. Getting to work with them and watch how they work has really changed the game for me work ethic wise. I’m constantly inspired by them. Without them I don’t know where Mayarich would be as far as the timeline, the progression, the overall growth. I’m naturally optimistic and believe everything happens for a reason, but meeting my team was a true divine timing moment, at its finest. I give credit, where credit is due. I’m forever grateful and most importantly excited to share all that we’ve created together over the last 2 years.
Naturally, I’ve always been the type of girl who says what everyones thinking but is afraid to say. I like to believe that, that energy has carried over into my writing as I’ve been told my pen has an audacious approach. Vocally, what I’m most known for and my favorite compliment I receive would have to be my tone. I’m a true alto who loves to sing low soultry tenor notes whenever I get the chance. But my range spreads to allow me a little fun in my soprano and falsetto as well. When writing I make sure to leave room for a hand full of slick, agile runs that catch you by surprise and get stuck in your head. Aside from that I’d say I’m known for not being shy to emoting on a track. If you’ve heard my song “This Much”, which is dedicated to my beautiful Nana, you know that to be true.
Now here we are, fresh into the new year and I’m just really excited to release new music! My most recent single “Last Call” is available on all platforms currently and we just recently celebrated crossing over 15,000 streams on Spotify! I’m simply looking forward to reaching new heights this year and making younger me proud.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Honestly, what society can do to best support artists is continue to invest in the arts! Especially in schools. I’ll never forget growing up in chorus class, in the same music program from middle school all throughout high school and it wasn’t until my senior year that we got Mac desktop computers, pianos, and access to garage band software in our classes. I’m pretty sure it only happened because there was a freshman piano prodigy that just got to my school and her mom complained enough to the school board that we got all this new stuff! But my point is under privileged and underfunded schools miss out on the opportunity to nurture their gifted students due to lack of resources.
To later go on to study audio engineering and having only been introduced to garage band right before graduating, I can only imagine how much more advanced I would have been at engineering by the time I went to college to study it. Investing in the arts, and investing in programs that promote creative freedom while giving kids the resources to make their ideas come to life is so, so important. Put money into your schools theatre department, put money into those competitive dance teams, all those extracurriculars matter. There are future Grammy and Oscar winners in low income and underprivileged cities as well. As long as society doesn’t forget that, we’ll always have a thriving creative ecosystem.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when a song touches someone in a way that you couldn’t have ever imagined. When I perform live, whether at an open mic or a showcase, or just a random impromptu on the spot moment, It always touches me deeply when my music or performance resonates with someone. I’ve performed an unreleased song of mine “Questions” live a couple times last year and one of the times was at the finale of an amazing open mic held at the The Undergrind here in Atlanta. After I sang, a girl in the audience quickly asked me if the song was out yet. She expressed she was almost in tears during my time on stage. Theres been times where I’ve handed over my AirPods to a close friend to listen to something exclusive and my song ends up moving them to tears. Most times due to how relatable the writing is to something they’ve experienced in their own life. I definitely strive to write music that people can relate to and give the feeling as if I’m writing the soundtrack to their life. Anyone who frequents black twitter knows how often we reflect on how it seems as though we all lived the same life. We share similar lived experiences in life, in dating, in heartbreak, all of it. And as an artist, we take on the responsibility of putting that experience so eloquently into song. We’re storytellers. When it connects like its supposed to is a very rewarding if not the most rewarding aspect of being an artist.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayarichsings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=mayarich
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQk6-G7IdMmbbsDj8kpgCLA
Image Credits
Deshawn Crawford