Q&A: Maddy Davis Explores Sisterhood and Budding Relationships in Latest Single “Sally! I Met A Boy”

Q&AMusic

Aug 22

☆ BY Steph Dunlop ☆

COLORFUL AND WISTFULLY YOUTHFUL — Maddy Davis’ vibe is playfully fun and wholly unique. With a lyrical style that embraces authenticity and relatability inspired by the musical icons of her childhood, Davis’ music is equal parts nostalgic and representative of the modern-day adolescent. Taking inspiration from artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Avril Lavigne, and The Killers, Davis focuses more on collecting snapshots of the emotions their songs arouse within her, as opposed to creating music that is sonically similar to theirs.

Her latest single, “Sally! I Met A Boy” explores the tight bonds between sisters, emphasizing the power of a friendship spanning your entire lifetime. The track is an ode not only to Davis’ need to share life updates with her older sister but also her desire for approval and trust.

Mixing powerful electric guitars with her deep vocals, Davis showcases her unique blend of indie rock and pop in “Sally! I Met A Boy” Alongside the track, Davis is also unveiling a music video directed by Carolyn Knapp, which twists in a sense of distance between her and her sister in hopes of conveying the anger, joy, and passion that float throughout the track.

“Sally! I Met A Boy” arrives in anticipation of her debut EP, MUD. Named after her own childhood nickname, the EP chronicles different stages of Davis’ coming of age and serves as the preface to who she is as both an individual and an artist.

Read below to see Maddy Davis dive into her latest single, her relationship with her sister, and her upcoming EP.

LUNA: Congrats on “Sally! I Met A Boy”! What was the inspiration behind this track?

DAVIS: Thank you so much! So, I thought of the concept for this song one day after realizing it was time to call my sister and tell her I was falling for a new guy. She's my big sister, and of course I always seek her approval on the people that I date (or consider dating), but after so many failed attempts before this, I felt pretty desperate for her trust. I thought about how frequently I call her and say, “Sally! I met a boy,” and then decided that would be such a fun song concept. I thought of the concept in the shower and finished the first demo all within a couple hours.

LUNA: The song touches on your relationship with your sister — how would you describe this relationship?

DAVIS: My sister quite honestly understands me better than anyone ever has and ever will. We aren’t twins but we both sometimes think that some parts of our brain are the same. She always knows what I'm thinking and I always know what she's thinking. We used to live together in New York before I moved out to Los Angeles so — though frequent — our life updates have to be a lot more intentional now, hence the song concept about having to update her on my love life. Since we were little, I've always tried to be just like her, and as we got older I never really grew out of that. She's my older sister — not only do I want but I need her opinion on basically every aspect of my life. I definitely don't know where I would be without her.

LUNA: What was the creative process like behind the music video for the track?

DAVIS: The music video was directed by Caro Knapp, who straight away had a vision for the project the first time we met about it. We started talking about filming a video for this song many months before we actually got around to filming it, so it was super refreshing being able to work with someone who kept the same passion for the project even months later. This video was my first experience at having a treatment and a team and even a plan beforehand, and after so many years of figuring out what type of visual experience I want to portray it was really cool being able to see that come to life with Caro's direction.

LUNA: You’re releasing your debut EP soon! What themes are you exploring with MUD?

DAVIS: Yes! Mud is my childhood nickname, and I’ve known for a while it would be the name of my debut EP since it’s an intro into who I am as both a person and an artist. I started writing a lot of the songs on the EP over two years ago, so in a lot of ways I feel like this project symbolizes my “coming of age.” Each track serves as a time capsule for myself because I can really listen to any of them and transport back into whatever emotions I was feeling when I wrote them.

LUNA: Who are your main inspirations? How does their influence show up in your work?

DAVIS: My inspirations that have stayed pretty consistent throughout my life, including Bruce Springsteen, Brandon Flowers from The Killers, and Avril Lavigne. I don't necessarily think my music sounds like any of them, which has never been my goal, but I think generally the way that each of their music has made me feel has contributed to the way I approach writing music. Both Springsteen and Flowers are able to tell such vivid stories in just a few lines, which I was always so inspired by even as a young child. With Avril Lavigne, I loved the way she embraced angst and made six-year-old me feel like I was a rockstar. In first grade, I got an iPod Shuffle for Christmas and she was one of the only artists my mom downloaded for me. I remember fully performing “Complicated” on my bed for my empty bedroom and being able to imagine what it probably felt like to perform for a crowd.

LUNA: How would you describe your own music?

DAVIS: It's so hard for me to assign a genre to the music that I make but I would say it's kind of edgy pop music or rock through a pop lens. I would love to fall under alternative rock but I do think there are so many pop elements in my music that I can’t ignore. A big part of my sound, though, is imperfection. I get uncomfortable when things in my music sound “perfect.” I want to sound like an actual human being with cracks in my voice and breaths and sometimes a little pitch issue here and there. I want my music to represent me and not any type of façade of who I think people want me to be. If my music is a little off the grid or if my guitar sounds a little fucked up, who cares. I also like to describe my music as relatable storytelling. I want to paint a picture with my lyrics and for people to read my song title and be like, “WTF does she mean by that, I’m going to listen.” Telling stories is so fun in songwriting and it helps me in my own life just lay out what the hell I’m dealing with and to put things into perspective. Some things feel so confusing until they are written down.

LUNA: What brought you to the genres you like to work within?

DAVIS: I grew up with a ton of rock music in my house, and I was excited for the day that my piano ballads evolved into the type of music that I could jump around to on stage — but I didn't really know how to get there. I started learning piano when I was three or four years old (my mom teaches), and it will always be my first love. I wrote my first songs on my mom's upright piano and it became my safe haven. I do feel like I was pigeon-holed for a while because I didn't know how to write songs that weren't solely meant to be performed on the piano. I was eventually able to pivot when I learned how to produce and then a little bit more when I learned how to play the guitar because both became vehicles to better describe what's going on inside of my head.

LUNA: You were born in New Jersey but are currently based in LA — which of these two places would you say has had a bigger impact on your artistry?

DAVIS: As much as I love LA, I would definitely say New Jersey. As a young artist living in a small town where creativity isn’t as embraced as much as sports and school, I was so eager to figure out a way to build my own path that would get me to a city like New York or LA. Looking back at the town that I grew up in and the childhood that I had, I'm so grateful for so many things, but at the time I couldn't wait to get the hell outta there. There weren't many opportunities for young singer-songwriters around the part of New Jersey that I lived in so I often had to create my own, which for all of high school meant throwing shows in my mom's basement. Those were some of my first experiences with the community that music can bring together, even in what sometimes felt like the driest town in America. I think those aspects of my childhood, and Jersey (in a sense of what Jersey means to me), really shaped my artistry and just generally my personality.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫