We’re going into the NYOTA archives to find some of our favorite interviews that weren’t originally shared on the site.
Interview by Carol Wright | Photographer: Kyle Drew
Sometimes when a song comes on it manages to transport you to different places. Maybe it puts you in a dream-like trance and the next thing you know you’re picturing yourself on an island looking up at cotton candy skies. When you put on any song from The Marías debut EP Superclean Vol.1 that is exactly how you feel. This LA-based band is set to take over everyone’s airwaves, playlists, and festival lineups. I was lucky enough to hop on the phone with María and Josh and talk about a few of their inspirations and what we can expect from their new music.
How did the The Marías come to be?
María: Josh and I met at the Kibitz room which is this historic venue next to Canter’s Deli which is a really well known deli in LA. We met there when I was doing a solo show and Josh was running sound so Josh asked if we wanted to record at his studio and I agreed and after that we fell in love and the rest is history and we started making music together and then once we realized that we wanted to be a band and play these songs lives we asked a couple of our closest friends to join and we’ve been a band now for a little over a year.
Does your relationship inspire most of the lyrics to your songs or do you pull from your environment?
M: I think naturally since we’re in a relationship we do pull a lot from that but we also pull inspiration from life and people that we meet and other people in our lives that aren’t necessarily each other. A couple of songs were just insecurities we were having internally and so we definitely pull inspiration from our relationship. We have highs and lows just like any relationship.
Living in LA do you feel a sense of competition with other artists or inspired because you’re surrounded by so many people chasing their dreams?
Josh: There’s definitely a lot of bands and musicians around the world, but in LA specifically I wouldn’t say we feel like there’s a competition because a lot of the people that we’ve played with so far have become good friends and everybody wants the best for each other. I’ve been in a few other bands where I have definitely noticed a competition. I guess when it comes down to the business side I can see how labels and other companies will compete for an artist and there’s definitely competition in that but I think between musicians themselves it has never been competitive at least with the people that I know it has always been cordial.
M: I think that as artists we all share the same struggles and we all share a lot of the same goals and adding competition to the mix is another added thing that nobody wants. On top of everything else don’t compete against each other cause that’s a headache you don’t want for yourself and everybody else.
Who are some of your favorite artists right now?
M & J: We’ve been listening to a lot of Mild High Club, Sunset Rollercoaster, they’re this new band from Japan that was just on tour with Mild High. We’ve been listening to the greats, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, The Beatles, a lot of Bossa Nova, Antônio Carlos, Elis Regina.
M: There’s a new song that I love, it’s a project by the woman from Alabama Shakes called Bermuda Triangle and they have this song called “Susanna” that I’ve had on repeat lately. I think it just kind of changes, we’re always trying to find new music but some of the greats we’ll always go back to.
J: Kendrick Lamar. I’m a huge Kendrick fan.
Would you say when you’re listening to other artists you’re also pulling inspiration from their sound?
J: I don’t think we look at it and say oh I really like this one tone that Radiohead got in this one song and try to emulate that. We’ll record a song and then after the fact be like ‘oh that’s kind of like that one sound.’ We won’t go back and change it unless it’s like way too similar but stuff like that never dawns on us in the moment unless it’s blatant and extremely obvious. Afterwards we’ll go back and listen and know we were inspired at that time, but you never really know when you’re inspired while you’re being inspired.
Your music videos are like mini movies. Is it a collaborative effort when it comes to creating them or is one person responsible for the creative direction?
M: The director that we work with Ian Lipton has been great to work with and he adds that cinematic feel to it.
J: He’s got an amazing eye and is extremely talented behind the camera and also comes up with really good ideas too. I’d say so far it has been a collaboration between María and Ian. When they put their heads together they compliment each other in many ways and I don’t want to speak for María, but I will tell you she has a very good eye with aesthetics and she has a clear vision of what certain things should look like or ideas of what’s going on on screen. Ian comes in with unbelievable angles and amazing camera technique and amazing editing and together they really are a great partnership.
What was your reaction when you found out you’d booked Coachella?
J: I’m born and raised in LA and I first went to Coachella in 2008 or 9 and that was when I first heard about it, and I’ve been in a band since then and every year it has always been like ‘oh I think we’re gonna get Coachella this year’ and then that ended a few years ago I just kind of gave up. Throughout high school between me and some of my friends I would always say ‘we’re gonna play this year’ and they were like ‘yeah sure we’ll see’ and so after that I kind of gave up trying and just hoped maybe if it happened one day it’d be cool. So this year I did not expect it at all. It really just came out of nowhere and we didn’t hear about a possibility that we would play. When we found out it was like “you guys are playing” and it was extremely exciting and we all had a little celebration at our place and it was hard to keep it quiet too cause we knew a couple months before the lineup came out and we weren’t supposed to tell anyone. There were some friends of mine during highschool that I told ‘we’re gonna play this year’ and they would give me shit for it jokingly and with attitude so I was very excited to tell them this year.
Would you guys take a political stance within the lyrics of your songs or would you stick to uplifting audiences through the good vibes of your songs?
M: I think just for ourselves and to get our frustrations out we will write songs like that. A few weeks ago we wrote this Spanish punk song about Trump and all the lyrics were just kind of about him and I think we wrote a couple songs about him actually and those songs will probably never be released. We’re thinking about doing another version of the Spanish punk one but they were to just get our anger out. Definitely we need to spread positivity and good vibes but we are opinionated and aren’t just gonna stand back when we see wrongdoings going on, just on all fronts, whether it’s political or not. We will stand up for what’s right and we’ll make people know about that because I think musicians and artists and anybody that has an audience should use their platform to spread, obviously their art and their craft, but I think they should also use their platform to spread awareness about wrongdoings that are going on whether political or not.
What can we expect from Superclean Vol.2?
J: First off, I would say a couple of hot bangers and maybe a slow jam, maybe a classic spanish song or two and maybe a hot dance track. You know all around.
M: My word of advice would be to not expect anything from it. I think just keep your mind open cause it might be a little bit different from Volume 1.
J: Remember that Volume 1 was our first release and we’re still growing as a band, so I agree, be open minded.
What advice do you have for aspiring musicians or people trying to go out to LA and pursue their passions?
J: Unless you’re living in very remote area that’s out of contact then sure you can try LA but my advice to others who have access to maybe a studio or internet. I think it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a little fish in a big pond with millions of other fish. Cause that will get the LA labels attention quicker, if you’re big in a small area then everyone in that area is talking about you and you’ll get more attention than having a couple people at the Whisky or the Roxy in LA talking about you. Also, my advice would be to keep creating and to release as much as you can and be yourself and do things differently, think outside the box. You have to think of a way to get people’s attention without seeming like you are trying to get people’s attention.
M: I think just being yourself. To some people moving out to LA they get more inspired and they feel more encouraged and feel like they need to be more driven going out there, and for that person, do it. Just do what feels right to you because everybody is on a different path and you can’t just take one person’s case study and think it’ll work for you because it won’t. I think just following your gut and your instincts and really honing in on what you want to do and what you want to accomplish and figure out your own way to get there.
J: Yeah, I take my answer back now.
This story first ran in Issue 11. Read more from the issue here.
