The third artist to be announced as part of Apple Music’s Up Next Local series is the hilarious and divine Maple Glider.
The Up Next Local series is all about highlighting the finest local, rising talent across Australia and New Zealand. This instalment of the series will focus on Melbourne’s brilliant Maple Glider, one of the most singular voices in the indie canon.
Maple Glider recently announced her debut album, Swimming, will arrive on June 21st. Thus far we’ve been privy to three of the albums singles, the titular track, ‘Good Thing’ and ‘As Tradition’. Three elegant, swooning songs that weave together luscious imagery, evocative vignettes and yearning musings. It’s shaping up to be one of the loveliest records of the year.
We spoke to Maple Glider about her process, how she has faired during this crazy twelve months, and… piggybacking?
Watch ‘As Tradition’ by Maple Glider:
What is one thing that has helped keep you going during this global pandemic?
I’ve been very privileged to have a backyard so I’ve spent a lot of time gardening and getting muddy. I’ve become pretty obsessed. I love bush walks and swimming in nature so being able to get my hands and feet in the dirt when I need a time out has been very soothing for me. I think the best thing though has been love for and from my beautiful community of friends- they make everything feel better.
Take us through how you developed your music style?
One of the first songs I ever wrote was called “Mosey” and it contained the word “venogram”. I basically just closed my eyes and pointed at random words in the dictionary and made a song. It was pretty tragic. The kind of music I make now sometimes makes me nervous… I write from personal experience, and sometimes pretty intense feelings come up, but it also feels really amazing to let them out.
What do you see as your secret weapon when it comes to your music?
I’m very physically strong and I could probably piggyback you whilst carrying all my music gear into a venue and not even fall over.
Tell us about your latest single; how it started, what it’s about, and anything else you’d like to share about it.
Someone asked me to write them a love song, but in the end, it kind of became a break-up song. I’d been disconnecting quite a bit from my feelings at that time, and this song just kind of poured out and I was like “oh ok… so that’s how I feel”. It took me a bit of time to work things out from there, but the chords in the song changed and the whole feeling of it quite naturally became a bit darker. It follows a very visually stunning time of my life, I visited lots of really incredible places and felt quite overwhelmed in the beauty of it all. The video was really fun to make too. My friend Bridgette Winten and I just got to hang out in some really beautiful locations with my life-size skeleton pal.
What are five attributes you think an artist needs to have in order to have career longevity in this music industry?
I think it’s really beneficial to have a strong sense of your values because that is what will help you to connect you to people who won’t make you compromise on things that are really important to you. Doing that will never make you feel good. Being patient with yourself as you are learning and adjusting and working things out helps to form a kind of steady resilience. Setting boundaries will make sure you have enough time and energy for self-care- this one can be harder than you may think. Most importantly, remember to treat other people with compassion and kindness always. We are all just people, and we rely on the support of each other.
Why do you make music? What’s your great big ‘why’?
Music helps me to process things and relieve tension. The release can feel huge when I get to play a show. I love the energy of connecting to people in that way. It’s a really spectacular feeling. Plus I get really weird if I don’t play music enough.
What’s something that you’re really excited about right now?
I’m so excited to be releasing all this music and to be playing more shows! I’m having so much fun and meeting so many beautiful people through this experience too. It’s the best. I’m also really excited to visit my mum in a couple of weeks! I haven’t seen her in over a year and I’m ready.
If we gained access to a few songs you have on repeat at the moment, what would we find?
‘Hidden Qi’ – Mindy Meng Wang + Tim Shiel
‘Contact’ – Ryan Downey
‘Falling’ – Bumpy, Wukun- Gurrumul
‘Ever New’ – Beverly Glenn Copeland
‘Nuevo día’ – Lole Y Manuel
What’s something your fans don’t know about you, but you want to share with them?
I gave my partner a piggyback on our first date but stacked it and we fell face-first into the footpath and so when I told you my secret weapon in music was piggybacking you with my music gear without falling over it was a lie because even though I’d definitely piggyback you, I would also definitely fall over but that doesn’t matter because the interview is nearly over and I’m not going back there and if you’re reading this there is absolutely nothing you can do about it MUAHAHAHA grammatical nightmare.
What does Apple Music’s support through Up Next mean to you?
Apple Music has been so supportive of Maple Glider so far.. I feel about them how I feel about an old friend … I want to come and give you all a dorky smile and then hide in the stairway and jump out and scare the daylights out of you and then we can laugh hysterically afterwards about how that was a “good one” and we’ll put our arms around each other and walk off into the sunset as the light becomes soft and the credits start but everyone watching just knows that we are BFF’s from now until the end of time you know? Thanks, Apple Music xoxo
