(Originally published in Outline.)

We caught up with Maya ahead of her new single release on April 10th, and later in the year look out for her EP launch.

Maya Law lives and breathes music. Releasing her debut album at 18, she went on to support artists such as Loyle Carner and Akala, perform for BBC Introducing and play the legendary Roundhouse venue in London. I sat down to chat with her ahead of the release of her new EP ‘Hitchhiking’ in April – her first body of work in 4 years. 

 
Why did you start playing music?

I started because my brother did it first. He’s five years older than me, he’s in a band and used to play all the time growing up, so I pretty much just copied him and started playing guitar when I was about twelve, and then straight away started writing my own stuff.
 
What would you say are your main influences?

I grew up listening to a lot of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. My mum’s records basically. Then Amy Winehouse was a massive influence and people like that really, a lot of strong female role models.
 
Your songs are quite heartfelt and honest – how do you go about writing them?

It just comes out of me quite naturally. Every time I’ve tried to sit down and write a song it’s always really rubbish. It just kind of falls out, but then I think that is the best way to write.
The songs I never intended to post or share are the most successful – the songs where I think ‘ooh, I don’t think I want to show anyone that, that was a bit too much’ – but I think people respond better when they know that it’s true.

Which track from the EP do you really want people to hear?

I’ve just been sent an almost-finished product of ‘Say It Ain’t So,’ which is the second track on the EP, so that one probably because it’s the newest in my head.
It’s the first part of the EP; so the EP is split into two. The first half and the first part of the middle track is acoustic, then from that point onwards the full band comes in.
 
Why did you want to move from just acoustic to a full band?

I don’t want to stick myself in a box and say ‘this is what I’m doing now’. For me this EP is more like: I started off doing this by myself when I was 15, now I’m going to start doing this for a little bit, maybe the next thing I do will be completely different…
The EP is called Hitchhikingand that was kind of the idea behind it.
It’s super cheesy – but you can be still figuring out what you’re doing but still be on the way somewhere, and not know necessarily where you’re going. I think we’re all doing that in some way.
 
After the EP comes out, do you have any plans for the future?

I am planning on heading to London, which is quite exciting, but I’m not 100% certain on what I’m doing yet.
I will be putting out little bits and pieces after this EP, maybe with some new producers… I don’t really have a plan, I’m just trying to focus on this for now, and then think about that when it happens!

Words: Frances Butler