Interview: Maja Lena on her upcoming gig at The Bodega

Previously of the alt-folk band Low Chimes, Maja journeys among the parameters of her own imagination, bringing us a soundscape with all the trembling nuance of an undiscovered planet. She reflects upon the creative process of her new album, Pluto, and shares the various realms of art and music from which she draws her inspiration.

Her second album acts as a natural progression from the first, The Keeper, as Maja begins to tiptoe the boundaries between the self and the universe, fiction, and reality. Pluto is enriched with the pastoral imagery of The Keeper, as Maja constructs her very own otherworldly landscape, complete with sci-fi-inspired synth beats.

Her first headline tour promises to unite artist and audience, as they embark upon a shared journey into unchartered territory, exploring the depths of Maja’s very own planet.

Your latest album Pluto features an interesting juxtaposition of pastoral and cosmic soundscapes. What enticed you about bringing these two musical themes together? It’s not a combination we get to see very often, but it makes for such an otherworldly auditory experience!
Yes, so for me it was partly a development on from the first album, The Keeper. That album was very heavily nature inspired and so there was a lot of organic instrumentation in there, with little bits of synthesizers here and there. Whereas for the second album, I wrote it during lockdown, and I’d been watching a lot of sci fi tv, looking at a lot of sci fi art, listening to a lot of electronic music.

I was really enjoying the world visually, like in Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, and particularly loved the scenes where they’d go to another planet and they’d be in their sci-fi gear. I really loved the combination of organic sounds with the more space-inspired synthesizers and electronic sounds, and so for the second album I very much wanted to develop and create a soundscape out of that. I was trying to create that world in my head, and it very much came out of the internal bounds of my imagination.

I think we have a bit of an idea, given the heavy sci-fi influences, but what is the story behind the album’s name Pluto?
As I was writing the songs, I felt like a lot of plutonic scenes were emerging throughout, such as creation and destruction, transformation, and renewal, they all felt very much like a running theme. It felt very much impacted by what we were all going through in real life too. I liked the idea of being on this made-up planet where the songs were set, but also then the idea of Pluto being visible in the distance, just as the moon is at night, which I think a lot of us are heavily influenced and inspired by.

I just liked the idea of having that, but with Pluto instead, with these plutonic themes being very much in play. When I painted the album artwork as well, it gives a little snapshot of the planet, with elements such as the stone and the water and the flowers, with Pluto in the distance. I was just feeling very drawn to Pluto as a planet (though it is a sub-planet now), and so it felt right to name the album after it.

You talked a little bit there about the album art, and you create all your own artwork. How do you feel that having a more holistic influence on your artistic output affects the way that your art is perceived?
I guess my hope is that for someone viewing the artwork and listening to the album, it brings together the key elements of the songs. I created both artworks after writing the album, and so I was able to bring those landscapes into the visual. I’d like people to be able to take away their own imagery and their own ideas from the songs.

It feels important for me to be able to share with the listener what my visual is for the record. I think music and visual together is something I really love. I’ve always enjoyed watching music videos or experiencing a soundtrack alongside a film. One of my ways of trying to do that for the listener is to give them a snapshot into how I see the album.

With this cover, as I say, you see the stone, which is from the song The Stone, and then there’s the body of water which features in Clear As The Water, the flowers from No More Flowers. I like the idea of these images all coming together in that way and being able to share that.

You’ve shared before about how the natural world inspires you. I’d love to hear more about what else inspires you, whether that be artistically or musically.
I think it was initially helped by the fact that I was in a band called Low Chimes for quite a while and each of us had such different musical and artistic tastes. It was always an interesting process trying to marry those influences together. That felt like a really important journey and experience to me, as I listened to so many different types of music that I wouldn’t have done otherwise.

I’m also really inspired by art. I love looking at art and paintings – I always have done - and making things. I’ve recently begun to be really inspired by Japanese watercolour, which has influenced my painting style as well. I love how evocative a lot of the landscapes can be. There are so many different layers to them, almost as if there is a whole world within a single landscape.

I also love textiles, and my friend Martha Webb who makes clothes, drawings, paintings and takes such beautiful photographs. We started working together, and she actually made a load of costumes and flags for my music videos. We share a love of similar types of artwork and textiles and fashion, and so we’ve had our own take on bringing the album to life.

What are you most looking forward to in bringing the album to a live space with your upcoming tour?
It’s going to be interesting because we’re doing a lot of the tour as a trio. For most people it’s a really difficult time financially, and so we’ve had to make the vision of doing it live a bit more stripped back. We’ve been doing a lot of gigs as a trio recently, my friend Rob who produces the album, and our friend Alex. I’m excited to see how we can bring the tracks to life through that.

On a lot of the tracks there’s lots of different layers going on, and I like the challenge of that, of bringing those key elements to the live listener. I really like it to be a sort of 'room of requirement' type of experience, to not try and enforce anything upon the listener. This idea of people being able to take away from it something they need, maybe, or whether it’s just somewhere to be for a bit: to tune in or tune out.

As well, we were releasing the first album when we were in and out of lockdown, and so we didn’t get to do a tour. This will be my first headline tour for this project, which feels really nerve-wracking (I’m not sure if anyone’s going to come!). I think we’ll just be pleased to see anyone there that we can share the evenings with, and hopefully give each other a little bit of January warmth too. I find what I love about live gigs, each one is obviously in a different place, but in each one there is such a different feeling. I really like going on that journey with an audience, no matter how big or small. I really hope that people enjoy it, and that it brings something positive.

Quick Fire Questions!

We know that you draw some of your inspiration from the Studio Ghibli films. You can only choose to save one: Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro?
My Neighbour Totoro! Very close, but I think that’s one of my absolute favourites.

What is your Spirit Animal?
Ooo, an axolotl! I love them.

Inspired by the title of your album, do you think we are solitary beings in this universe, or is there something beyond?
I’d like to think there’s something beyond.

Any super memorable gig stories?
I once played in this little town, and nobody came to our gig, except my bandmate’s manager. But then a hen party appeared! We just had this really fun evening of playing our songs to this hen party and then doing some covers that they requested at the end. We were all dancing and having a good time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so receptive to our gig. I think it was this thing where it wasn’t who we were expecting in our audience. It was really fun and unexpected.

Favourite track on the album?
At the moment, it’s Daylight Comes Revealing, but it changes all the time. That song for me it’s very much about reflecting on things and trying to move forward, looking for little glimmers of hope to carry through. I don’t know how you feel about January, but sometimes we need a little bit of joy to carry us through to the next week, and I think that song is that for me.

Maja Lena will be performing at The Bodega on 9 February

@majalenamusic