Since exploding onto the House scene last year with her ubiquitous single ‘What they say’ house girl du jour Maya Jane Coles is the new kid on the block.
Incredibly versatile, Maya’s talents are by no means confined to the realms of house and techno. Her live dub/electronica outfit, ‘She Is Danger’ alongside singer Lena Cullen has created remixes for Massive Attack and Gorillaz and her Dubstep Product under the moniker ‘Noctural Sunshine’ has support from Joy Orbison and Sucba to name a few. Maya’s talent is evident in all her own productions; The ‘Humming Bird’ EP on Hypercolour showcases her vocals and her ability to create beautiful and understated songs, not just beats for the dance floor.
i-D Online caught up with the charming and unassuming songstress to discuss her musical background, plans for the summer and aspirations for the future. To hear what Maya is all about, Domino Records have lent i-D Online an exclusive sample of Maya’s forthcoming remix of Tricky’s ‘Time To Dance’. Listen to the track here.
Can you tell us about your musical upbringing and how this all started for you? I learnt quite a few instruments when I was younger, didn’t carry on anything for long enough to be amazing at it but over the years I’ve had lessons in guitar, drums, cello, saxophone and taught myself bass and keys. That really broadened my understanding of music composition. My production wouldn’t be what it is now without those skills.
‘What they say’ blew up in a huge and unexpected way (Beatport Deep House Chart No. 1, Tarxsource top download & Resident Advisors most charted tracks for October); did you ever anticipate this reaction from the song? No not at all! For me it was one of my simpler productions. I didn’t expect it to become so huge. But I guess the simplicity meant it struck a chord amongst a lot of different listeners and I certainly can’t complain about that.
Do you have any hidden talents outside of music? Maybe a few ;-) I do love painting and drawing. Haven’t had much time to do any recently but it’s something I’ll always enjoy doing when I have spare time. I bought a few massive canvases a few weeks ago and got really excited to do a couple of new pieces but I haven’t even had a spare second to start anything yet so they’re just sitting there looking blank….
What are your goals and aspirations? I have many plans for many different projects and I want to gain respect from audiences way beyond the dance scene. I’m not just a producer/DJ, I’m a musician, I want to get into film music, writing for other artists, producing for bands etc. and there are a lot more things, the list is endless.
What are your plans for the summer? Gigs gigs gigs. Not much time for anything else unfortunately, although I am taking a month off in August to go to Japan. I have family there and it’s been a couple years since I last went so I can’t wait. I’m also looking forward to the Summer festivals. Glastonbury and Exit are two that I’m playing at that I’ve never been to before so that’ll be fun.
Tell us about your EP out this week… The EP is out on 20:20 vision. Ralph Lawson (owner) and I both agreed it was important for it to reflect more that one side of what I do so there is a bit of variety with the tracks. The title track ‘Focus Now’ is a production from quite a while ago, I’ve been playing it out for ages now so it’s strange to hear it elsewhere. The last track ‘Senseless’ probably reflects me the most on this package and is more along the lines of how my album will sound.
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Text: Laura Hinson
