Q&A: Garage-Pop Artist MAYA LUCIA Grips the Complexity of Nostalgia with Her Sophomore EP ‘miss girl world’

Q&AMusic

Sep 1

☆ BY Shellsea Lomeli ☆

WITH EMOTION-DRIVEN LYRICS AND MEANINGFULLY RAW PRODUCTION AT THE FOREFRONT — singer-songwriter MAYA LUCIA’s latest EP, miss girl world, is a deep dive into the beautiful and painful duality that nostalgia and growth carries. From harrowingly honest tracks like “pbr” to more warm, lighthearted ones such as “tobias,” the Minneapolis native explores past memories in and outside of her hometown in a way that feels commendably personal yet comfortingly relatable all at once.

Her elastic vocal styling pairs perfectly with Lucia’s angst-ridden lyrics and sound that seamlessly encompass the sonic influences of punk, pop, and surf rock in a flair of her own design. With the creative and musical support from her bandmates and producer who she praises endlessly, the artist’s punchy sophomore EP powerfully sets the stage for what is to come from the flourishing talent that is MAYA LUCIA.

Check out more about Lucia’s creative process, key collaborators, and meaning behind miss girl world below.

LUNA: Congratulations on the release of your new EP, miss girl world! How does it feel to have this out, and how do you view this project in comparison to your last in 2019?

LUCIA: I’m excited. It’s been a really long time. We definitely hit some bumps in the road. This EP was supposed to be out in July and honestly sounds a lot different from how it sounded about a month ago (laughs). So in that respect it reminds me a lot of the last EP — there were so many delays with the first one. The main difference with this one is that even though there have been those bumps, it feels more organized. I think that has to do with who’s on the record. Everyone put so much love into this and I think it feels a lot more connected because of that. The last record was a lot of people on the recording and producing side who weren’t part of the band. The band itself was pretty new in terms of who I was playing with. This EP has really grown a lot and shown a lot of growth in terms of experimentation of styles and where I would like to move forward into for the next EP.

LUNA: Can you share more about the key collaborators on this project?

LUCIA: The project started with Samuel Strap, my drummer, and James Duncan, who is my bassist and my producer. James also mixed and mastered the record. Samuel has been with me since the start of the band in 2018. James joined us at the end of 2019. We also had Tanner Wallace on the project doing lead guitar.

LUNA: How does creating with someone or a group of people differ from creating on your own?

LUCIA: Songs change a lot when I hear what my bandmates do. I was reminded of this last night because I just played a solo acoustic set and I played “numb or something” and was like, “Oh my god, this song is a mess when they’re not with me!” That has a specific build that needs the other instruments to push it to the level it needs to go sonically. I think they [the band] can really change the trajectory of a song, even in terms of when we’re working on stuff together.

They definitely have a large impact in terms of where things head with the music. James has been producing for me since 2020. He has a really beautiful approach to creating. It’s really nice to work with someone like that. Samuel has worked with me for over four years, ‌so it’s given me a lot of confidence to write and consider my bandmates’ interests — what they like to play and how things are going to sound. Like, “What’s going to be fun for them? What will their part sound like?” When I come to them, I usually have a finished song. I give them the framework and it has a lot of my own memories, attachment, and feelings towards the song. If I have a story with a song, they don’t have the same story, so it’s interesting to see how they interpret things without me telling them. They’re just able to add to it seamlessly. I’m really lucky to work with them.

LUNA: What was the process like when deciding the track order for this project?

LUCIA: I remember the very first masters we got for this. We had maybe 10 people listen to the project, and we just kept swapping the order. We were bickering about it: “What do these people like? Why does this make sense?” We finally decided on the track listing that made sense sonically and tells its current story. It’s definitely changed since we first had everything in place.

LUNA: Why did you choose to end with “tobias” specifically?

LUCIA: “Tobias” was not supposed to be on this record. It wasn’t until James suggested it. I made that song with my friends Will and Alexa in Los Angeles. It’s about Will’s cat, Tobias — Toby. It really wasn’t supposed to be anything (laughs). I think it’s a sweet song. The record kind of explores these different ways that nostalgia presents itself. Sometimes I think nostalgia can be really painful for me. For example, “pbr” is a really heavy song, and it’s very difficult for me to listen to sometimes because of how emotional it makes me feel. I think other times, like with “tobias,” nostalgia can be really beautiful and tender. It shows that things aren’t always that bad. Sometimes, when you’re really having the shitiest of times, it’s really not that bad when you look back like, “Wow, that was such a beautiful memory even though I was going through probably the worst time of my life and was not doing well.” I think the EP wraps itself up so that, even though there are a lot of songs like “numb or something” that are very intense, it’s a lighter way to leave things. It’s a good question mark to what the next record is going to sound like.

LUNA: Continuing the conversation about the tracks, is there a specific one that you’re most proud of?

LUCIA: I really really love “pbr.” Like I mentioned, when I wrote that song I was in a difficult place in my life. I was not doing well and I think I was in a lot of emotional pain. The visuals were shot on Super 8 in my hometown back in Minnesota, around all these places I grew up with. I think the instrumentation does a beautiful job complimenting that. The banjo was captured outside so you can hear all these birds chirping. You can hear my dummer Samuel open a can of PBR in it. It’s a very warm song to me, and I think it sounds very beautiful how it all came together with the production and the visuals. I spent so much time being unhappy and angsty in Minnesota. When I think about the Midwest it makes me feel so emotional. I have a lot of great memories and hard memories from there, and it’s just so vivid for me. I feel like having the combination of having that beautiful, almost raw production combined with the home-y visuals was one of my favorite parts of the EP.

LUNA: Let’s talk a little about the cover art. How involved were you when selecting this to visually represent your art?

LUCIA: The artist’s name is Eutalia De la Paz. I found her through one of my friends [Enne Goldstein] who’s also a designer. I really loved her [De la Paz’s] art. There’s so much detail in everything she does. You can really tell it’s very intentional what she puts in there. I sent her the EP and gave her a couple references and colors that I liked. Then she came back with three designs. I picked this one because there’s a photo that my friend Simran Gvalani took of me and it looked so much like it. I’m guessing that she knew this picture existed because they’re so similar. She went through everything and why she picked it - like the flowers. They’re orange orchids that symbolizing boldness and courage. At the time, the EP did not have a title. I was still debating with everyone about what it should be and “miss girl world” had been in the running since the beginning. The design was miss girl world. That is the image. So she also, I guess, picked the title for me. I just gave her the songs and she created from there.

LUNA: Who were some of your inspirations when it came to first developing your style and has that changed?

LUCIA: It’s definitely changed (laughs). When I first started learning guitar, I was in a huge Beatles phase. In 6th and 7th grade, that was legit all I listened to. I think it got more into the indie rock/pop world I loved Mac DeMarco in high school. I grew up on Nelly Furtado and Shakira so I liked the pop sounds of those hooks. I was drawing a lot from those when I was writing. Now, it’s less Beatles writing (laughs). It is a combination of what I’m listening to and where my hands fall.

LUNA: Are there any songs or artists that you’re listening to right now that you have on repeat?

LUCIA: I’ve been going backwards in time. I’m really into the ’90s, 2000s alt-pop scene that was happening and I really like the sound. Recently I was listening to Sheryl Crow’s 1996 self-titled album — such great songs. I was listening to The Sundays to a point where it was making me sick. I was like, “I gotta stop.” I love Wilco — that’s something I will always go back to listening to, so I re-entered a Wilco phase again.

LUNA: What motivates you to create, and how has that shifted throughout your experience as an artist?

LUCIA: When I first started writing, I just wrote. I wasn’t like, “Oh, this song sounds like the last one” or “This doesn’t make sense in terms of structure.” I think a little more now. For me it can be a bad thing because sometimes I’m like, “I want to make the perfect song — the best song in the world.” And you’re just thinking about everyone else that’s making songs like, “Why doesn’t it sound like this or that?” I think I’m trying to experiment with things more. When I pick up a guitar, I’m trying to be more patient about writing and letting myself play around with different tuning and stuff like that. I think my knowledge and comfortability with the guitar has gotten better. In the beginning, it’s a lot of stealing chords. You go on ultimateguitar.com and look up a Beatles song, like, “Great, we’re taking these chords” (laughs). You just pick the first structure you see and stick with it and then change your capo around. Now, I find a shape I like and try to mess with the tuning. Like, “I don’t know what this chord is called, and it’s probably really complicated, but I don’t care. I’m just going to write it on a tab.” That’s kind of how I’ve created a lot more recently.

LUNA: Aside from the super exciting release of miss girl world, is there anything else that you’re excited for the rest of 2022?
LUCIA: I just moved to New York in May so I’m excited to get things in order here and get to know the city more and play around a bit. We’re also plotting the next EP so we’re planning on recording a new single soon. I’m excited for the future with this EP and what’s coming.

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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 🎫