Maya Azucena is a professional. Several times during
the interview a near-by cappuccino would blurt out unpublishable
noises. Maya, without missing a beat, would instinctively lean in
to the tape recorder preserving the flow of the conversation. She
exudes a sense that she is totally on top of her game. Her music
is strong and soulful; a funky combination of old school soul and
hip-hop; kind of like Chaka Khan singing with Sly Stone's
band. She has ignited the stage at S.O.B.'s, The Blue Note
and MTV/Holland. Possessing of a generous spirit, Maya organizes
a monthly review with other performers called Music of Choice.
Her forthcoming album entitled "Maya Who?" will be released
sometime in 2003. Please visit www.mayaazucena.com for more info.
Maya's positivity is quite infectious. We hope you catch it.
WOMANROCK:
You grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn?
MAYA:
Yeah.
WOMANROCK:
What was that like? How does that influence your work?
MAYA:
My childhood is very important to me. A lot of my texture comes
from my experiences growing up in Brooklyn; in the different neighborhoods
of Brooklyn. I grew up in a brownstone on a really nice block. At
the same time it was two blocks from the main avenue where it was
typical for them to be dealing drugs on the corner. You'd hear gunshots
at night. It was all just part of the picture.
WOMANROCK:
Did you have to work hard to stay away from that?
MAYA:
No, no. I was never in the mind set of "fear" or "I need to be sheltered."
I always thought "How can I be down?"; meaning I'm not afraid of
circumstances. I think "How can I get along in this?" I never felt
sheltered away on my little block.
WOMANROCK:
Were you close enough to that world of the avenue where there was
a choice of spending all of your time there?
MAYA:
I guess it's how your parents raise you. I was never tempted. I
never felt hanging out in the street was an option. I was always
academically involved. The street didn't interest me. I did go to
public school after my parents divorced. I always felt that was
good. I never wanted to be sheltered and unable to deal with reality.
It was important to me to be able to hang with all kinds of people
with all kinds of different experiences.
WOMANROCK:
When did music begin to become important to you?
MAYA:
I started singing when I was about four. I'd be in the middle of
a grown-up party at my parents house singing "You Light Up My Life".
I used to think in the old-school way that you can't be in the entertainment
business unless you can sing, dance and act. I took it all seriously.
I would practice to 45's. I'd warm up my voice every morning. I
had a Chaka 45 of " Got to Be There" and Diana Ross. Angela Bofill
and Stevie Wonder were very powerful early influences.
WOMANROCK:
Did this come from your parents or did you find this music on your
own?
MAYA:
They had the albums around the house. I got my own 45s though. Angela
Bofill, Al Jarreau, Prince... that was all around the house. I fell
in love with it. In high school I majored in music. I was studying
classical voice, we did a full-scale opera: "Hansel and Gretel",
I was the witch. Studying classical voice unleashed my ability.
At this time I was doing a lot of acting and auditioning for T.V.
and films. I realized that with music I could create a vision and
follow through on it and it's all mine. When I'm acting, I'm fulfilling
someone else's vision. It's a role. Actors bring to life someone
else's character. With music, I can bring my own vision to fruition.
I feel very passionately about social issues, about youth, about
struggle. Being a singer and a songwriter is empowering.
WOMANROCK:
When you think about subjects for your songs, do you have a list
of ideas in your head?
MAYA:
Peoples' pain really touches me. I don't really calculate it. I
see someone on the subway and he touches me. I write my thoughts
and poetry in my journal. A lot of lyric and song ideas come from
that. I refer back to stuff that I saw. I'll see a strong statement
or a three word phrase and think "This is cool lyrically" and try
to build a song around it. All of my decisions are spiritually based.
I'm serious about my faith. I think about things in broad strokes
like "life and death."
WOMANROCK:
It sounds like music is a religious experience for you.
MAYA:
It's important for my performance to touch someone. I respect the
position of artists to be able to influence someone in a positive
way. I value it and I fear it. It's my duty to be humble. Whether
you recognize it or not, it is a position of power when you're in
front of hundreds of people and you're saying something. I have
reverence for the art. I want to make sure I'm coming from the right
place. Sometimes you go see an artist and you realize "I can't get
this anywhere else but from this artist." They have a magic. This
is why I love music. I want to have that kind of quality in my performance.
WOMANROCK:
Many singers work hard to find their "sound." Did you struggle to
find yours? Are you happy with your voice?
MAYA:
As a singer, I've known the character of my voice longer than I've
known it's proper musical setting. My identity as a singer, my vocal
tone and choices I make are stronger now. What took longer was getting
the sound of the over-all music. I've had three different incarnations
of the band. I had to be in it to figure out what I did and didn't
like. I knew something wasn't right so I switched up some players.
I realized what I was looking for was strong hip-hop undertones
with an old-school soul center. I need players who can appreciate
the switch from a Marvin Gaye to a Jimi Hendrix type of vibe with
a hip-hop backdrop. I didn't want to mimic anything else out there.
I knew we had to form something that was it's own thing.
WOMANROCK:
Do you arrange these songs?
MAYA:
Yes I do. I write all of my lyrics. I write the melodies as well
and come up with the vocal arrangements. I work with one of my players
on the music. Christian, the guitar player, and I wrote a couple
of the songs together. I do a lot of things by ear, but I'm hands
on in the process.
WOMANROCK:
Do you feel that you have to compromise your vision when working
with a producer?
MAYA:
The reason I'm working with my current producers (Bob Brockman and
Scott Jacobi) is because I absolutely trust them. I'm very particular.
These guys are so musically insightful. When Bob says "You can do
that vocal better," I trust him.
WOMANROCK:
Is there a change in energy level required for the studio? People
often sing louder on stage than in the studio where the mics are
more sensitive.
MAYA:
Depending on the song, I'm trying to deliver the live performance.
When I buy CDs after I see someone live, I sometimes think, " Man,
it didn't have nearly as much energy as the show. It's kind of flat
compared with the show." We're not making a live record, but I'm
performing it the same.
WOMANROCK:
When you're on stage, do you listen primarily to the rhythm section?
What do you use as a guide when you're in the zone?
MAYA:
Yeah. I think of myself as one of the cats. Maybe it's from when
I worked in Jazz, I look at it like I'm an instrument among instruments.
I'm trying to lean into the rhythm section. It's like a machine
with a lot of parts and I'm one of the parts. If something is out
of whack, it's not going to sound good. I lock onto my amazing drummer,
Ivan Katz. He's the most musical drummer I've worked with.
WOMANROCK:
Now that you're entering the wild world of pop music, do you find
yourself resisting the "image machine"? Is it a challenge to hold
on to your identity as a woman and an African-American?
MAYA:
I love fashion and I have a strong self-image. To me, that's fun.
It's a blast to dress up and have a "look." I am aware of this need
to have sex sell everything. I feel it's misleading for young women
if the only way that you can be perceived as sexy is to be naked.
Beauty is not measured by how much flesh is showing. There is beauty
in sexuality but I'm not in competition with Playboy. I'm not hugely
resistant to the image-machine. As calculated as they would be to
change me is as calculated as I would be to change them. I feel
like "You want to play a game? O.K. we'll play a game."
WOMANROCK:
Do you actually think about how you want to present yourself?
MAYA:
There are reluctant artists. They don't want to bother with it.
They just want to sing. Maybe it's because I've worked in the music
industry as well and I respect the fact that this is also a business.
I realize that if I want some big institution to back me, they think
a certain way. Whether or not I agree with it, I respect the fact
that it exists. They want to see that there's a package, that you're
together, that they don't have to baby-sit you, that you have a
market. I already have a crowd. They won't benefit from changing
me.
WOMANROCK:
What are the biggest challenges that you face as a musician?
MAYA:
Financial challenges. Doing everything myself. I don't mind. I can't
delegate when I can't afford to pay people. The physical labor ends
up being between me and a couple of friends. The managing of my
career is a full-time job. There are moments of intense pressure
where I have to get everything done in a time-frame. It's like starting
a company. The first six months you hemorrhage money. In the first
year people start to realize that you're there. After two years
you start to break even and from there you establish yourself.
WOMANROCK:
Are there any specific challenges to being a woman in the music
industry?
MAYA:
There are built-in challenges for women. I'm not a defensive woman.
There are a lot of women who are hyper-aware of being a woman and
it becomes this big feminist thing. I love men. I love working with
men. Whether or not you agree with them, they tend to be forward
and practical. I can just get up in their face and be like, "I disagree
with you!" There are challenges for women, but I just shrug them
off. It is important for me to be a good example for young women.
I'd like to show them that there are things that they can accomplish.
I think it's about how you see yourself. I don't see myself as a
victim or an underling or lesser.
WOMANROCK:
Did you have to work on your strong sense of self?
MAYA:
I did have to work on it. Also, a good part of it is that I grew
up with all guys on my block. I was the only girl who was playing
sports with them. I don't see men as this other animal. I'm really
comfortable with them.
WOMANROCK:
Was your song "Break the Spell" inspired by anything in particular?
MAYA:
It's one of my first songs… I've had friends who were involved in
underground activities. Their lives were in jeopardy. They lived
their lives knowing that someone could kill them. I was singing
to brothers who are in deep activities and feel lonely because they
can't trust anyone. It's supposed to be an empowering song.
WOMANROCK:
Do you feel that the racial climate in America is improving?
MAYA:
I think that there is always progress, but I think there are still
a lot of problems which affect the psyche of young African-American
people. Some of it is self-imposed because we're pissed. The state
of mind of resenting injustice can trap you in a negative mode where
you're actually not doing anything positive. You're just pissed.
I consider that slavery of the mind. It's not always us against
them. Injustice must be spoken about and fought against. At the
same time I get nervous about continuing to live in mental slavery.
We are in a society where we are empowered to build great things.
Another choice is to be destructive and multiply hatred. There are
people who have grown up in worse circumstances, like Maya Angelou.
When you read her autobiography you realize that she grew up in
a different era, but she did it with grace and self-worth. Those
undertones are in my mind. When I look at the hip-hop industry now,
what weighs upon my heart is that we have such a rich history of
excelling and surpassing rough circumstances. Therefore, I cannot
accept that it's "in" to call each other "nigger."
WOMANROCK:
Isn't it a way of appropriating the insults being used against you?
Diffusing the power of the word?
MAYA:
I've heard that argument, but I think it lends itself to self-hatred.
It perpetuates a derogatory term. We have to stop being trapped
in the past and figure out what kind of future we're building towards.
A friend of mine named Sidney Stewart dedicated a poem to Langston
Hughes in which she says "How dare we not be brilliant?" We owe
it to ourselves to continue to build great things. |
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