Interview with Maya Malice!

Thank you so much to maya for the interview! Check out her on social media in the links at the end of the article!

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Q: I'm so excited to welcome the first modern crunkcore artist I ever listened to, Maya Malice, to the blog! Please, tell us a little bit about yourself! (Feel free to say as much or as little as you'd like!)

A: Ayy whassup, Im Maya :P I make art, music, and the occasional youtube video (all of questionable quality). In addition to the stuff I post on the internet, I’m also a hot topic employee and aspiring hair stylist!! 

Q: You've spoken about your introduction to scene culture before on your YouTube channel, but can you explain some of it here for the people who haven't seen your video?

A: I initially got into scene culture because of my cousins and some of their friends. Back in ‘09-2012 a lot of them were pretty into the scene (music, outfits, etc) and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Once I was a bit older, I started looking into scene again and really started to get into it. The music, fashion, and general “don’t give a fuck” attitude was really inspiring to me, and I remembered why I thought it was so cool as a kid. Even though my cousins had moved on by then, they still gave me some music recommendations and my one cousin was nice enough to give me all her old kandi beads (the only two gay cousins in the family were both scene kids and ravers, go figure)

Q: What would you say inspires your music the most? What are your main influences?

A: My influences come from all over the place! Im mostly inspired by the older crunk musicians (who would’ve guessed lol) but lately I’ve been really inspired by some of the smaller artists like Subscene and Boy Talks Trash. Im also super inspired by some of the more electronic MySpace bands like Breathe Carolina and Electric Valentine, I absolutely love the way they do instrumentals and I do a lot of similar stuff in my music too. Besides scene music, some of the other genres that have really inspired me over the years are metalcore, industrial, pop, and old school hip hop. 

As for the lyrics and subject matter, that comes from all over the place too. Some of my songs are very Geoffrey Paris-esque MySpace drama inspired, others are based on real life experiences, and some are just about things I like, sometimes to the point where they could be considered fan songs

Q: This is something I've been really curious about; the screams in your music are icon, how much of it do you do with your voice & how much of it is vocal editing?

A: I’d say about 80-20. Most of it is fully my voice, but I’m still at the point where it would sound weird without any effects/editing. Its kinda similar to how I would use autotune/fx on clean vocals 

Q: Who is an artist you look up to and why?

A: I’d say Melissa Marie Green and the rest of the Millionaires. Their whole attitude surrounding their music is super inspiring. I love how confident they were in the face of criticism and hate, and how they continued to make fun and awesome music regardless of quality or other people’s opinions. I also love the fact that Melissa has been keeping the spirit of the band alive, its always cool to see og crunk musicians still making stuff and I love her commitment to the old school scene look/sound. 

Q: What is something about the community revival that makes you the most excited?

A: Im really excited about seeing new crunkcore artists/other musicians! Scene music is already pretty diverse, so it’s been super cool seeing each persons take on it + any new stuff they might bring to the table

Q: Tell us something you're really passionate about, can be related to music or anything else!

A: I mentioned above in the about me section, but I’ve always been really passionate about hair and beauty! I’ve been studying cosmetology for a couple years now and I just recently got a job at a salon. I always thought the process and science behind it was super cool, along with all of the different ways hair and makeup can alter your appearance. Scene definetly helped me get into it much more too since I’ve always admired the crazy cut/colors that a lot of scene kids had back in the day. 

Q: Care to talk some about your last two big releases 'Sanction' & 'The Basement'?

A: Sanction was my first attempt at making something a bit more cohesive (and that album is still my baby <3). It’s a bit silly to assign a deeper meaning to a goofy crunkcore album, but I did genuinely have some general themes/a story in mind. 

The central theme for Sanction was “mind control” or the idea of someone/something deceiving you. Whether it’s monsters, friends, the government, or your own brain, most of the songs connect to back that specific theme. Along with some of the “story” elements in which I get break into some old abandoned radio station and something horrible presumably happens to me.

As for The Basement, the central theme was “stagnation” or the idea of being stuck in place, and in here some of the connections are a bit more obvious (feeling powerless, stalemates, the Hanged Man tarot card etc). Since this is a direct sequel to Sanction, the theme/story reflects my character being stuck in “the basement” of the radio station. I was gonna do a little intro to help clarify that more, but maybe if I end up doing a Spotify release I might make something for it :P

Q: Can you share a little bit of your music process? How does something go from an idea to a published song?

A: It kinda varies from song to song, but usually I’ll start with a melody/concept idea and go from there. Most times I end up making the instrumentals first before writing the lyrics, and once I record it’s just a matter of messing with vocal effects until I end up with something listenable that I like 

Q: Where did 'Maya Malice' come from as your name?

A: Once I fully committed to being a scene kid and theming my social media accounts around the subculture, I needed to chance my username. I was mostly inspired by scene kids who had alliterative names like Vanna Venom, Michaela Mischief, and Kiki Kannibal to name a few. “Malice” just seemed like the right fit and a few years down the line I still really like it! 

Q: How did you start making music? What sparked your interest in it?

A: I’ve been interested in music for a long time, even before I started getting into the scene. I would usually just mess around with instruments and occasionally do stuff with my friends, but I never posted anything I made. But once I got into crunkcore, it seemed so much more accessible, like I would see all these old artists who were all just (pretty much) normal people and I remember thinking “I could do that”. Eventually I tried my hand at some goofy instrumentals and terrible screaming, and the rest is history

Q: Anything you want to share about any upcoming projects?

A: I don’t have too much going on as of late, but I do have some song ideas I’ve been kicking around for a while now! No guarantees but I might have something new out by the end of the summer ;)

Q: Do you have any other artist recommendations to send us off with?

A: Some of my favorites lately that I find super inspirational are Rabbit Junk, Electric Valentine, I See Stars, Ladytron, Angelspit, and KMFDM (mess of genres I know lol) 

As for newer crunkcore artists that I would recommend, Korra Rain, Kira, xX_KeilaKreepz_Xx, and Candi Roxx are all super underrated! And ofc friends of the blog like Kuma AKA, Slutmachineee, Pizzamachine, and Dart Darling all make amazing stuff too <3

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Thank you again to Maya for featuring on the blog! Here are her links, make sure to give her a follow and tell her SceneWeekly sent you! ^-^

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mayamalice

SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/h8vyxAND79mqhhK78

SpaceHey: https://spacehey.com/xxmayamalicexx

Newgrounds: https://mayamalice.newgrounds.com/