A Quick Chat with Mayari

1What inspired your latest single ‘Closure’?

Honestly, a friendship breakup that I had in my early 20s. But since then, “closure” has come up quite a number of times for me through many losses and breakups both platonically and romantically. The song is meant to be the bittersweet catharsis and acceptance that comes after grief. It is the joy that comes through the sorrow. It is meant to feel euphoric, melancholic and hopeful.

What kind of technical/musical arrangements and production would you like to see in your music in the future?

I have a lot of musical production ideas that I would like to explore in the future. I would love to delve deeper into non-traditional music making forms, such as forms inspired by the indian melodic mode ragas and eastern tuning and lean into the sound as medicine world.

But also since returning back from Berlin I also would love to explore dance-oriented club music. Oh and also pop music! I have a lot of different influences you could say and I’m excited to explore all avenues.

3

Nature plays a big part in not only the style of music you make but also who you are as a person. In what ways does connecting with the natural world serve you?

Connecting to the natural world, helps me recalibrate and helps me connect to my spirit and culture. Simply put, when I am sitting in front of the ocean or a mountain full of trees, I am reminded by the vastness of life, which in turn helps me to connect to the unseen. When I remember that there is the unseen, I am able to surrender and accept and feel true inner peace. This way of being, is really great for my nervous system, helps to ease my anxiety and helps me to really see the beauty in life. Further to this, in indigenous Filipino culture, we really value the land as we see it as sacred and we believe it is important to have an emotional connection to the trees, oceans, mountains and sky... so connecting with nature helps me connect to my culture. Lastly, being in nature serves me not just on a psychological and spirit level , but also on a physical level, in which there is a lot of strong research out there which shows the benefits of nature exposure with increased blood flow, reduced cortisol levels etc.

Who are some of your formative influences and how does their music affect the music you create now?

Kelly Lee Owens is a huge influence, who similarly is deeply spiritual and believes that music is a healing tool. KLO is a former auxilliary nurse who explores “solfeggio frequencies and sacred frequencies” and is passionate about where music and healthcare intersects. It is through KLO that i discovered solfeggio frequencies, and delved deeper into the idea of sound as healing. Furthermore, KLO is very fluid between many genres such as dream pop and techno and this has been extremely inspiring in the sense of being able to flow as an artist between different genres. Another formative influence is Four Tet. I love the way he combines more eastern musical elements within instrumentation and form inspired by his Sri Lankan heritage with traditional western techno beats. Similarly I have been inspired to blend indigenous Filipino musical elements with electronic western musicality.

You create all your music and visuals by yourself, what are some of the biggest benefits in doing so?

Knowing that everything on all levels, is authentic and true to my vision. Also its super empowering relying on just myself to be able to execute my ideas, rather than relying on others (and spending heaps of money doing so).

What do you want listeners to get out of your music?
Generally speaking - I want to be able to transport listeners into an emotional place, preferably one that is filled with nostalgia. I want to provide listeners with a sense of escapism, catharsis and peace. I want to help listeners get out of their head, and connect with spirit.

What film has your favourite score or soundtrack?
The Beach (2000)

When you’re not creating music, what are you doing?
Camping. I love cooking over a fire , then making up a cute tablescape with the meal I’ve cooked, dressing the table with a cloth and native foliage collected from around the campsite. Then eating the said meal with a whiskey in hand and admiring the view.
Oh and pole dancing!

What has been a challenge in your musical career that you’ve managed to overcome?

Probably mixing and engineering this EP myself. I’ve always been highly creative and great with composition and sound design, but when it comes to the more technical side of things, detailed EQ-ing and understanding how signal flow works, and how sound works with different microphone polar patterns and frequency responses etc was a huge challenge and learning curve for me. I am so beyond proud that I worked through this challenge and can proudly say that my upcoming EP is 100% produced, engineered and mixed by me. In future though, I’ll definitely be getting an audio engineer on board if I need to record live drums or guitar again, as wearing so many hats was incredibly gruelling.

After the release of ‘Closure’, what’s next for Mayari?

Releasing another single, then my debut EP. Also a few live moments in the works... excited to be playing at Now or Never Festival with coalesce collective.