Inspired #135 - Maya Delilah
Maya Delilah hits us with huge rays of sunshine with new single ‘i’m just stupid’ - which tells us a story of overthinking when it comes to a potential new relationship. The breezy track is the latest from Maya since she released her charity single ‘Safe’. She took a moment to talk to us about challenging gender stereotypes, movie soundtracks and the key inspirations behind her new single.
Who are you top three musical inspirations?
Wowee, well as hard as it is to narrow it down, I’d say John Mayer is up there. He’s been a huge inspiration for my guitar playing, song-writing and singing (he got it all goin’ on). He’s always been someone I take inspiration from as he (along with others such as Derek Trucks and B.B. King) plays guitar with such feeling and soul, which is often hard to find.
H.E.R is definitely another massive inspiration as she is such a boss on so many instruments. She’s a fierce female musician in a field dominated by men, so really inspires me to take after her and pave the way for other boss-ass women to feel confident breaking the mould.
I think my final inspiration has to be Vulfpeck. Having seen them live (two nights in a row cos they were that good), I hope to have as much fun as they do on and off stage with my music. You can see it in their music videos, on their social media, on stage and even in the music itself.
Is there a certain film that inspires you?
Oosh, this is hard eek. I’d probably say it is currently ‘Baby Driver’. As a musician with both parents in the film industry, I’m a big movie fan and always pay close attention to soundtracks. In ‘Baby Driver’, the soundtrack works in sync with the action. It is very cool. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my music videos and Edgar Wright’s precision and attention to detail is a big inspiration.
What city do you find the most inspiring?
As someone who has never lived anywhere except London, I’m gonna have to say London. It is where I have made all my music and found inspiration for my songs. However, I don’t think I have been to the city that inspires me most yet - not that I don’t LOVE London, but I think I have some more travelling and living in different places to figure that one out.
Who is the most inspiring person to you?
At the moment I’d have to say Matty Healy from The 1975. As someone new to the world of The 1975, I have quickly become in awe of so many things to do with them. The way they write about such a wide range of topics, a lot being very political, and still manage to make their music sound insanely cool. As well as the lyrics, their sound as a band is so varied and versatile, which I think is super cool as they make what they want and don’t conform to expectations (but they never seem to disappoint). Matty Healy himself (sorry I haven’t really been answering about one person in specific, woops) inspires me as he really just does what he wants, speaks his mind, voices his opinions through his music and in interviews and is completely himself and it’s one big mood.
What were your inspirations when writing the track?
Well, ’I’m Just Stupid' is about that feeling of being fooled into thinking you’re somebody's 'special someone' when they are really just stringing you along (anyway I hope it's a common feeling and not just me...). It's about that back and forth feeling in your head - do I really like them? Do they really like me? Am I being played? AM I JUST BEING STUPID????!!???? So yeah, I thought I'd write about it to firstly get it out of my head and onto paper, but also to show others that they are not alone in feeling this way. After realising that the easiest way for me to write lyrics is just to be fun and not always too serious with them, this song came much easier than previous ones.
How would you like to inspire people?
As a female guitarist, my main aim is to inspire young women to challenge outdated gender stereotypes and kick ass on the guitar. Nothing beats the feeling when I get a message from a girl/woman telling me they’ve picked up the guitar because of me. To do this on a much wider scale would be a dream come true.