Thank you for talking with us and congratulations on the new single! How was it filming the video for “3am?” Emotional. I essentially went through my mind’s scrapbook of an entire relationship and drove through all the places of the pictures in my head. I was basically filming what I’d already done a few times to get through the heartbreak, but this time was different. Watching the sun rise after filming all night, I realized I had created something for myself out of what someone else did that hurt me for so long. It freed me. I turned the places and the memories into something I could love again.
At the end of the day, what do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people take away from your songs? I want my music to be a meeting place. I want my song to meet people where they are, put it’s metaphorical arm around them, and make them feel less alone.
Do you have any pre-show rituals? I have to be alone even for a minute. I typically go outside—sidewalks are a great spot. I put in my headphones and listen to whatever song makes my heart really feel the most at the current time (currently, it’s the title track off of Columbus, OH band Snarls’ new album, “Burst”). Doing this puts me in the emotional headspace of when I wrote all the songs on my setlist: when I propped myself up at my keyboard back home to try and write just to survive the moment. Playing them feels more genuine after I do this to take myself back to their “moment of conception,” I guess.
Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? Now, I only ever write from my own life or experiences really close to me. (I should probably warn every boy I meet, ha!) Once I started writing about the hard stuff—heartbreak, falling in and out love, phases of life—I noticed that people connected with my music so much more. And, in turn, I began to feel incredibly fulfilled in my creative process. I think people can tell when you’re genuine. I know I can.
Is there anyone in your family that you can credit as being instrumental in your decision to go into the music field? My grandma! Not because she had a musical bone in her body (my family is comprised of doctors, pharmacists, teachers, etc.), but because she believed in me. She just believed it to be a true and undeniable fact that her granddaughter was a singer. She coerced me to sing at every family gathering, and she’d go on about how she’d hoped she would someday see it on a bigger scale. She passed a few years ago, but I still can feel her watch every step of the way and I can’t wait to prove her right. She is also the reason my name is Majeska.
Did you always want to be a musician or was there a specific moment that something happened that made you think "this is what I want to do with my life." If so, what was it?
There was this one day I can trace it back to, yeah. I was ten, and being the small but mighty Elvis fan that I was, my parents had surprised me with a trip to Graceland. That day, I walked around with the widest eyes seeing everything of Elvis’s that came from nothing. I read every plaque and soaked in every word. I remember getting to the end of the tour—to his memorial garden—and thinking to myself that I wanted to leave a legacy like he did. Looking around at the silent people still mourning this man’s death, I realized I wanted my music to leave an imprint on people’s lives, too.
Was there ever music playing in the kitchen growing up? Always! My mom raised me on Stevie Nicks, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, and so many more from that era. The way I see it: I’d help her clean up, and she’d teach me about great music.
How do you drink your coffee? I drink a flat white! Similar to a latte, but with a stronger coffee flavor. It’s a common way to take it in Australia, and I picked it up while living there.
Most memorable meal while touring. Where were you and what did it involve? After my first sold-out show in Toronto, I stopped by a little cafe before I was to meet up with friends later on. I don’t even know what the place was called—but I sat up at the bar, and had a small pastry with my espresso. It was about 10pm in Toronto on a Saturday night, people were all around me drinking with their parties, and I was there having one of my own. I remember not being able to stop smiling having just reached one of my goals: a sold out show in a different country. It wasn’t the pastry or the coffee that was memorable—it was how happy I was.
If I was a bartender, what would you order? Either a Negroni or a Guinness. And there’s really no in between. (Unless I’ve met some new friends, because then it’s tequila shots for everybody!)
If you could share a meal with any four individuals, living or dead, who would they be? Tom Petty, Prince, Karen Carpenter, and Elvis Presley. Can’t wait for cocktail hour up in the sky.
Finally, if you could be sponsored by one food/drink brand who would it be and why? Vegemite, please sponsor me. I'm going broke shipping it in from Australia! (This stuff is a kitchen staple for me. I swear by it.)
Website: https://www.majeskamusic.com/
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“I want to dance while I cry.” Rising electronic-pop dynamo Majeska Alisha Lynn—now “Majeska”— is no stranger to feeling it all and feeling a lot.
Transferring emotive lyrics and heart-affecting melodies to the rest of the world has freed her through connection. “Through writing and writing with others I’ve learned that none of us are alone. We can be lonely, sure, but we are together in loneliness.”
Majeska's electronic-pop sound glints with the fragments of her 80’s-driven inspiration. Growing up in Greenville, Michigan, she was raised in her formative years by her mother and the music of the likes of Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, and Kim Carnes. She spent much of her childhood hidden in her bedroom singing their songs and writing her own at her out-of-tune piano.
Those classic female voices gave Majeska inspiration for seeking a voice of her own—complete with finding something to say that’s all her own, too. Many newer artists have taken a hold of her heart and creatively influenced her as well: artists like Vera Blue, BANKS, Maggie Rogers, Nina Nesbitt, and Australian trio Mansionair.
Majeska left her small town Michigan life to pursue music in a place where it was happening and landed in Nashville, TN in 2015. After living in Sydney, Australia for a bit in 2017, she eventually landed back in Music City. Though Nashville is her home, music has taken her on regional tours throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States, as well as a bit in Canada.
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