Mitch: You just dropped your latest single, Everything On Fire, on August 21. Do you mind sharing a bit about the track and what inspired it?
Maia: Everything On Fire is about trying to accept the gravity of walking away from someone who you still think so highly of. Having a baby together feels like one of the most trialling things you could do in a partnership and also the most shatteringly perfect thing to romanticise if you’re yearning for someone.
Mitch: How did the track come together?
Maia: I wrote Everything On Fire in a bedroom I was renting above a late night pub on the high street in Camden, London last summer. There was this neon ‘Comedy Club’ sign right outside my window that would bathe the room in a vibrant blue haze. The pub was often open until 3am and I could hear everything below, but it really gave me the freedom to make noise of my own.
When I came back home to Eora/Sydney, I took all this new material straight to my producer Charlie Tait and we got stuck into recording at The Confectionery Studio in Newtown.
Mitch: What do you hope people feel while listening?
Maia: I think this song might feel confronting, but I hope people feel a rush of love, a rush of what the fuck have I done, and a rush of nostalgia, but are ultimately left with a moment to be honest with themselves.
Mitch: For those who haven’t listened yet, how would you describe your sound and style without using any genres?
Maia: Intimate and gutteral.
Mitch: Do you have any shows coming up? Why should people come? What can they expect from a Maia Toakley show?
Maia: Things are being locked in as we speak. People should come along if they want to belt their hearts out in a room full of people. We sing together, we rock out together and then we also strip it back. I’ll also usually tell you a story or two.
Mitch: What’s the best way for people to support you?
Maia: Rocking up to shows! Also sharing and sending around the songs you like with your friends. Word of mouth counts for a lot.
Mitch: What can fans expect from you next?
Maia: I ain’t going anywhere! I’m in this for life ha. Everything On Fire is a part of a larger body of work. There will be my biggest shows yet to celebrate it. And then after that, we do it all again.
Mitch: Who are some emerging AUS/NZ musicians that people should get behind?
Maia: Vertebrae, Indigo King, Billy May.
RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS!!
Mitch: Favourite lyric from Everything On Fire?
Maia: “Cause if honesty is everything, then you and I, we’ve got a lot to believe in”
Mitch: Describe your music using 3 emojis.
Maia: 🔒🌗❤️🔥
Mitch: If you could feature any artist on the track, who?
Maia: Boygenius. Is that cheating?
Mitch: Finish the sentence! Maia Toakley is for fans of...
Maia: Collared shirts, breaking the fourth wall, running out the door, and cows milk cappuccinos.