My name is Maddy, and I am from She Can Play. Hi, and welcome to Dynaudio Unheard. My name is Christopher. I am your host. Our next guest Maddy just visited our mobile recording studio. She had lots of support from her follow artist in She Can Play. Now Maddy is here with me in the lounge to talk about inspiration and music. Maddy, I'll just give you a microphone. - Thank you very much. How was it in our mobile studio? It felt surprisingly comfortable. You are there with a super nice producer, and you get everything you need to have a good experience. I think the comfort and acceptance, this feeling that what you do is good enough, you don't always get that, and here it's just like, "You do you." It was great to experience that. - Lovely. It's nice to feel the comfort of "You do you," when you're in a different studio setting than you are used to. You rarely have a panoramic view to the people looking at you. Yeah, and it's nice to see that people are listening and think it's cool, and even if you don't hear the applause you can see that they like it. It's kind of a mix of a studio session and a concert. There's a lot of young people, who want to listen to the full song, but think it's interesting to listen in on my conversation with the producer. - For sure. And the kind of music you play fits really well to a morning like this. We have to admit it's a festival, and I think some people need to sit down and relax for a while. Now I said it fits well with your music. I could easily have added a lot of adjectives, but I'll rather ask, how you would describe your music? - Well it's actually a bit... With my project Maddy I typically make a different kind of music. These are my tracks, written by me, as opposed to what I normally do in the studio, where I work with a team, a songwriter, a producer, and me, and we actually write the tracks together. And this was a bit of a freaky experience, because it was the first time I really recorded my own stuff, without having to make it more commercial or more pop like. I got the opportunity to be me, and I thought it was an exercise in accepting that the music I write outside this group is also okay, and great. I would... Whether it's for the group project or just me, I would call my music quite dark. - Okay. - To a certain degree. - Is it towards the melancholic or more... - Yeah, for sure. I don't think I can write a non- melancholic song. Or that happened only a few times. So I would say it's very melancholic. It's very vulnerable what I write. And some of the other songs are maybe more about power. It's a bit of a controversy, because the songs I just played were about my issues, my vulnerability, and my fragility, and some of the other songs I write has a sort of power feature to them. It's super important as a woman to express oneself in a powerful way. Show that what I do is great. I can do this and I am super cool. You have to remind yourself of that. - That you have something to offer. - Yeah. All of us talked together before we had to record. We talked about, "I don't think my songs are good enough. I am super nervous about playing it." And we had to support each other and say: "Listen, it's super cool. Regardless what you do. We believe in you." So I think my songs need to have some power, because it reminds me that I'm worth something. - I'm cool. I am good. - Of course. You mention your group, the She Can Play community. - I already talked to two of the members. - Yeah. One of the things they mentioned is the support you can offer each other. Can you talk a bit about that? - So you remove the competitive aspect. I think it's very natural for girls and women to always compete. Who is the prettiest? Who has the nicest hair? Who is the best singer? Or who will write the best song? In the case of the music industry. And I think in this case women often see each others as competition, because you think, "What if she sounds similar to me, and she gets more attention, becomes more popular, or she's better?" It's so important to know what you are worth, and use each other as support. And it's the first time I see that female singers meet and are so supportive with each other. - That's great. It was also the feeling I got. What was it I said when I talked to Bathseba? This thing with being there for each other and creating a frame for development and reaching your full potential. In a group like this, surely you are able to get inspired by each other. - Of course. We were just talking about someone from the group who was really nervous about playing. And someone else said, "I've heard you track once, and I remember it. I have been really inspired since the first time I heard it." I think it's important to say, because when you are at a party and you think, "Shit, the dress she's wearing is really nice." You think it, but that evening you don't get any compliments yourself, so you realize, "Well, I didn't give any compliments myself." It serves as an example that we often have these nice thoughts and have good intentions, but it's not in our nature to actually support each other when you are in a competitive industry. And I think it's an asset to be able to turn it into being together and giving each other space, and love, and care, and listen to each other. - If you have to mention some of the things that "She Can Play" has taught you about supporting each other and transform it into something that you can pass on. Is there something they, the people out there, the young women, who would like to get into the industry, should think about? - If you know female producers, songwriters, and singer it's important to use them as inspiration and as... You could really just have a conversation or play some music and get a good advise, and know and trust that it comes from the right place when people say, "I think this could be really great, if we do this." So be able to trust that some people are more skilled in some areas. We really just have to learn from each other. And think... Instead of creating jealousy and envy, we should be able to give each other advice and receive it and know it comes with the best intension. Really try to remove the competitive aspect. - And what if you turn it around? This question was about the individual, but an individual can only do so much. Someone on the other side also has to grant the opportunities. - Yeah. - If you have to turn it around, and talk about the people giving the opportunities. What would you like to have more of? - I've never heard about something like She Can Play. I've never heard of a community that's... Except maybe girl bands, like Spice Girls. There just isn't... There just isn't something like that. I didn't experience it before. - Right. - And I think, if we go far, which I hope we do, that we'll continue to have this community. We also have advisers. We are a group of complete newbies. And I'm thinking as time pass, and we learn more, we'll be able to pass it on. - Yeah. So it can become really big. - So you would wish for a bit more mentorship - Yeah. - in the industry? Yeah, and especially from woman to woman. It's not because I want to badmouth the men in the industry, but I think there's been this understanding that it's a male industry. It's often male producers, male management, and male everything. It's dominated by men. I think a lot of women will think, "I'm just a great voice." Or, "I just have the right look." I think a lot... - Get objectified. - Yeah, even if it's not to disrespect. You might think it's all about money. I think a lot of women feel they need to be something in particular, or need to be what people see them as, "I have this style, look, and voice, and it goes well with this image." I think a lot of women are subjected to that. My experience was, from the first day we met each other in She Can Play. We offered a different form of support. There was this sense of, "You do you, and don't feel pressured. Never take of more clothes than you want, or sign with someone... Know what you're worth. Never feel subjected to what others made you into or managed to make you feel that you are." In regard to the talk we just had. If you have to say something about everything you've experienced. If you could get that much desired time machine and go back and give yourself one advice for the travel you were embarking on. What would it be? I think it would be... Or I'm quite sure it is, know you own worth. A lot of people believe, I have many conversations with both male and female colleagues who say, "I really would like to sign a record deal and enter this world." And I'm thinking, it's not just about signing a record deal, it's about signing the nice deal. It's about knowing ones worth. If you know your worth you can expect more, so don't just jump at the first opportunity, because they seem to see some kind of potential in you, and you have to try it out. I think it's about knowing what you want and knowing what you're worth. I think you get the best experiences from that. You get the great record deals, and contracts, and collaborations. Of course there's a balance to it. - Don't ask for too much. - You know what you're worth. You have to be careful not to get too arrogant, or too smug, but rather a tat too much than too little. - Super. Maddy, thanks for coming and for sharing. Now I will cut you loose, so you can spend some time with all the other people at the festival. - Drink some booze. - Yeah, exactly. Maddy, thank you for coming and talking to us. And remember to find Maddy and her music, through... which channels, Maddy? - Instagram. - Instagram. Check her out. Super nice. And check out the She Can Play community as well. See you later...