Features Get To Know… Mae Stephens

Recently we’ve met Nell Mescal, South London based Rainn Byrns, Nottingham-based newbies Divorce, Sister Ray, Jakarta’s Elephant Kind and now we’re introducing you to Mae Stephens!

If you’ve been anywhere near TikTok in the last couple of months, it’s likely you’ve heard her viral hit ‘If We Ever Broke Up’. Already with 58 million streams, the song has pushed the Kettering-based musician into the spotlight with its irresistible melodies and catchy lyrics.

“I used to be quite angry as a kid and I had a lot of pent-up tension, especially coming home from school,” Mae explains of her journey into music. “I tried so much to find what was going to help me release all of that – stuff like judo, skiing, biking. I tried so many things until it came to song writing. Just being able to sit, close the door, not have anyone around me and just have some space to think and let my emotions out into something creative was probably the one thing that really got me through school, other than my brother.”

We sent her over some quick fire questions to find out a lil’ bit more about her…

Describe your music to us in the form of a Tinder bio…

I like dancing like nobody else is in the room, being myself and original. I won’t take any shit and if we ever broke up I’ll call your dad so don’t ever test me.

What’s your earliest musical memory?

My earliest musical memory, there is a video of me of my brother playing the recorder and me singing on it. But my favourite musical memory is probably me and my mum singing at the top of our lungs to Florence and the Machine ‘Only if for a night’ in the car.

Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out (and why)?

Freddie Mercury because he was always himself and didn’t care about what anyone else was saying about him and he was a stage beast! I listen to Gorillaz all the time and I love them! I am also a big fan of Cody Fry and The Strokes are definitely popping into my fav playlist.

You’re from Kettering! What do you think of the music scene there at the moment?

Honestly, Kettering is great for a night out! Each club plays different music so you can just nightclub crawl and you get different sounds and amazing vibes all night! Good people there too!

Are there any other artists breaking through at the same time that you take inspiration from?

Venbee is amazing! I met her last week at a release party and she is an incredible human being inside and out. A massive inspiration!

Who would be your dream collaborator?

Sigrid, Venbee, but the ultimate one would be (gonna throw this in to the mix!) a collab with Andrew Lloyd Webber. I grew up with my Grandfather listening to his music my entire life, so for me to be in a room working with him would be the ultimate dream!

Musically or otherwise, what are you most looking forward to this year?

The music video for IWEBU to be out there, it’s fun and I can’t wait for everyone to see it and hopefully people will enjoy it as much as I do. I’m also going to New York and LA soon which I can’t believe !!! It will my first ever trip to the US and it’s always been an ultimate dream of mine to be able to go there, I’m just so excited to be able to travel more and hopefully planning to go to Europe and Asia this year too.

But mostly being able to perform on some amazing festivals this summer obviously! I haven’t been playing live for a little bit now and I really really miss connecting with fans and playing all my new songs live with a band, ooooh yes I have a band now! The guys are incredible and we are all working around the clock to put an awesome show, it’s gonna be so much fun!

Tags: Features, Get to Know, Interviews, Neu, Mae Stephens