(8.1.2020) Gaea
From mixing her own tracks, writing her own lyrics, to independent production, Gaea is a self proclaimed music engineer and established artist. Gaea has released two albums and a single “S.W.Y.W.T.S” in the past year and a half and currently has a new project in the works. Gaea purposefully incorporates her love and appreciation for the Earth and her surroundings in her music. She utilizes her creative upbringing including her connection to ‘creep city’ in Athens Maine and her Algerian roots to encompass the unique and raw tone in her music.
Interview by Ada Steinberg
1. Would you tell us about who you are and your stage name & how it came about?
Hi! Soooo, I’ve been releasing music under my stage-name Gaea for over a year now. The name Gaea came about from my wanting to be kind of anonymous in my musical journey. When I was about to release my first project Vol I: Water, I still was not comfortable attaching my own name and wanted people to listen to my music outside of however they knew me. So my real name is Maisha, which means “mother life” in Arabic, and my mother’s name is Athena, after the Greek goddess of wisdom; I combined the two names into Gaea, the Greek god of life and earth. So my stage name is kind of a pseudonym that reminds me to bring my music back to my roots.
2. Was music often present in your childhood? What influenced the desire you had to make music as a profession?
Music was everywhere as a kid. My dad was always playing Arabic music in the kitchen. I used to have a CD walkman I would hide under my pillow and listen to when everyone thought I was sleeping. I just sang all the time--I actually even used to harmonize with the vacuum when my mom cleaned the house. But my grandmother was probably the biggest musical influence in my life, though she might not know it.
My grandmother is an amazing artist, activist, and singer who grew up in Berkley, California. She was also part of an a cappella group called the Twatones in central Maine and I definitely take after her in many ways. In my college a cappella group, I sing “Tracks of my Tears” by Smokey Robsinon, which she used to cover back in the day as well. Last year, she visited campus and we sang the solo together, which made me tear up a little bit. She was the type to chain herself to doors in protest when she attended UC Berkeley. Later, she even went on to work for Cesar Chavez, protest against the Vietnam War, and eventually was part of the back-to-the-land movement of the sixties and seventies.
3. Where did you grow up? Can you think of ways your community challenged or inspired you as you grew there?
So my mom grew up in that back-to-the-land community in central Maine. I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but returned to West Athens every summer. Our land trust [basically a plot of land owned collectively among families], is affectionately nicknamed “Creep City,” and served as a safe haven for many political rebels, outcasts, and the self-proclaimed “hippies” and “weirdos.” I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “it takes a village,” but Creep City was really where that statement was embodied in every way. I have so many aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins who are not related to me by blood but are my family nonetheless.
Every 4th of July for the past half a decade has been the best holiday in my family and the entire community of West Athens, Maine. The national day of independence in the "Free Republic of West Athens" starts with a parade of absurd floats. The parade would stop at the gravel pit, where the In Spite of Life Players, started by my grandmother and other members of the wider artist community in West Athens, would start the play with the "one finger salute to the government," and proceed with a loosely scripted political satire. My mother went into labor July 4th, 1999, and I was born on July 5th, which just so happens to be the anniversary of Algeria’s independence from French colonialism. My birthday is so symbolic for me, because it demonstrates both sides of my family, the ways they have fought for liberation and how they celebrate that freedom.
4. Would you discuss more in depth your relations to West Athens, Maine in perspective of developing as an artist, and the community there?
My grandmother has always told me that the most important thing about our community in West Athens was how integral art and love was in creating, maintaining, and sustaining it. It takes so much care and patience to create a community from scratch, and art was really what created the bond, the foundation on which three generations have grown from. It has taught me to not be afraid of challenging the ways we are told to live and exist; and that we can change the way we structure our life at any time if we are committed enough. My grandparents retreated from a toxic society, built their own houses, grew their own gardens, focused on their own art, and poured love into their chosen family. They would rather live in a shack in the woods with no hot water and an outhouse for a bathroom, and growing up in that situation basically taught me to be ok with being humble if it means you can live how you want. If anything, Creep City has taught me to not care too much about the standards of modern life, as long as I am breathing, eating, loving, and creating, everything will be okay.
5. Who is your biggest inspiration? Favorite artists of any mediums who have inspired you?
Solange for sure is one of my biggest inspirations, there is just something about her music and her voice that feels so genuine and so original. It feels like she has put in a lot of work to find herself and the way she wants to make art. I’d definitely say I take a lot of sonic inspiration from Sade, Erykah Badu, Mereba, Ravyn Lenae, and a bunch of other neo-soul and r&b women as well.
6. How do you feel when you listen to your own music? Are you critical of yourself?
Honestly, I listen to my own music all the time! Immediately after I've written and recorded a song, I probably listen to it on repeat for two or three days until I've exhausted myself. For me, making music is just a way to process what happens in my daily life, so re-listening to songs I’ve made helps me really process all the emotions I poured into my creation. But I definitely get critical of myself, especially since I do almost everything from producing to recording to mixing, it’s really easy for me to get stuck in a loop of finding mistakes and feeling the urge to pull out my computer and fix it right away. But part of putting out music is just accepting that it will never be one hundred percent perfect, and that the flaws I keep in just make my music that much more real.
7. I’ve noticed a theme in your music of connecting with your natural surroundings. Have you always been expressive of nature in your music?
Yeah, totally, I grew up surrounded by nature, nature is usually what keeps me grounded and I think a lot of my lyrics reflect that. It’s amazing how just a breath of fresh air or a plant in your living space can often lift me out of my darkest spirals, and I think it’s important to understand and validate how connected we all are to the Earth. Nature is also just so expressive and beautiful and symbolic and calming, all things I want to convey through my music.
8. What was the first song you wrote on your first released album ‘Vol. 1, Water’ from 2019? Would you describe the process of finalizing the song?
Ooh, I honestly don’t even know which song started Vol I: Water, I think I wrote almost all of those songs in the span of a week. I had just decided I wanted to drop a project, when I had never told anyone except two or three people I even wrote music. My mind was just going crazy, I stayed up all night in my dorm room and just kept rattling off songs for a few days. I spent the whole semester mixing and remixing them until I was ready. At that time I was taking 5 credits, and my sister was getting married in India right before finals. I dropped the project, opened for Princess Nokia at Vassar the next day, and left for India within the week. I felt like I had dropped a bomb, it felt crazy.
9. What was your process like? For example, your first album ‘Vol. 1, Water’ in comparison to your more recent EP ‘Origins of a Moonchild’ & single ‘S.W.Y.W.T.S’ ?
Obviously, Vol I: Water was a crazy whirlwind of a release. Origins of a Moonchild was a longer and calmer process, because I was learning how to collaborate, and working on my mixing skills. “Infatuation” with KunD! was the first time I’d mixed anyone’s vocals that weren't mine.
My most recent single “S.W.Y.W.T.S” was produced by Font Leroy, and that was just a really fun song to make. It might even show up on my upcoming project --its still in the works but its just a taste of what will come. I will say I am really liking what I’m working on right now, and I am grateful for the people who stay listening to what I make. It means a lot to hear when people resonate with the art I make, so thank you for tuning in to Gaea.
10. Who creates your cover art? How do you decide what art to display alongside your music?
My dear friend (and beautiful singer!) Haley Cubell just happened to give me a beautiful illustration of me with flowers where my face would be while I was coming to the conclusion that I wanted to release my first project ever publicly. It was such a beautiful drawing, and even though my face didn’t show, she included my signature curls and one of my eyebrows- it was such a simple detail but made it so clearly an image of me. It was so heartwarming and perfect timing to use it for the cover of Vol I:Water!
She reached out to me again saying she was experimenting with graphic design when I was in the stages of creating Origins of a Moonchild, so I sent her a moodboard with a bunch of ideas and rough demo tracks so she could get the feel and color of the music I was making during that time. I especially loved how she portrayed my hair and likeness in the Vol I cover while still keeping my face anonymous, and I really wanted to play with another sort of self portrait. Together we visualized the cover of Origins of a Moonchild, with my hair flowing wildly around me and my hands caressing the moon, which was another big symbol for me in the making of that project.
11. Who plays all the instruments in your songs? Is music a collaborative art for you?
My first project I did entirely by myself, which was really important to me when releasing my very first foray into the music world, but with my more recent work I have been taking more steps outside of my comfort zone. In Origins of a Moonchild, two of the songs, Carnivore and Infatuation, were a collaboration with Holden, a producer I went to highschool with and reconnected with after my first release. SWYWTS was also a product of collaboration with an artist/producer friend of mine, Font Leroy, who has been super fun to work with.
It is kinda strange for me to learn how to collaborate on music because for so long, I had been doing this just for myself by myself, but there is something about putting your music out there that makes you want to improve with every song. Throwing myself into collaborative sounds has really widened the scope and genre of what I am capable of, and it's so cool to see myself grow in new ways. I definitely have new music in the works that will be proof of that.
12. Do you write your lyrics for your music before or after assembling the beat?
My writing process is more freestyle, so I spend time creating the beat and sounds I want to start with, and then one day I will sit down and just let whatever come out. Usually I start with filling the empty spaces with vocal tracks, because I always visualize the background vocals first and it helps me get in a flow before I start with lyrics. Some days my lyrical freestyles might amount to nothing substantial, but once I can latch onto a word or story it tends to just keep flowing out until I’m done. Because of that, my catalog of music on my computer is pretty wide! My hard drive is full of songs I’ve made over several years that I don’t know if I’ll ever release because they were just sort of in the moment creations that either did not necessarily inspire me to keep working on it, or they were just too private to share.
13. Are there any aspects of your life or topics you prefer to not mention in your songs?
Since the music just kinda comes out of me, I tend not to shy away from any topics in particular, I just let out whatever I need to let out through music. I’ve written about mental health, sexuality, lost love and new love, and so much more. Carnivore, for example, is probably the most vulnerable song I’ve ever released; I recorded that song at around 4 am after I had spent the night vomiting after a horrible week. It was basically all freestyle and my voice was still so hoarse and low, which is why my vocals sound so dark on that song. Because of the pain I channelled through that song, it’s also one of my favorites I’ve ever released. I tend to try not to make it too obvious what I am singing about for my own confidentiality, but I think if you take the time to just sit down and listen to my lyrics, you will hear me sing about a lot of deeply personal things.
14. Who do you feel have supported you and helped you most throughout your music career so far?
Definitely my partner KunD!, who is also an independent musician who you should check out. He just released a new EP on all streaming platforms called O Solemn Night: The Pvrple Tapes! He is also featured on “Infatuation,” off Origins of a Moonchild. We met at Vassar College in my first year, and he had already kinda been doing the independent artist thing, going to studios, performing, and promoting his own music. The first time I noticed him was when he opened for one of my favorite rappers, Saba, at a show on campus, and we started a relationship shortly after.
I didn't even tell him I made music for the whole first month we were dating, and then one day I wrote a song that I just really wanted to show him and I kinda let the secret out. Ever since then, he was softly pushing me to release my own music and get me comfortable with distribution services and BMIs and things like that. When he graduated a few months later, he dove into the independent artist scene in Brooklyn, which gave me a big look inside what that life looks like as well. I owe so much to him for pushing me out of my comfort zone, because putting my music out has led me to meet so many amazing people and feel inspired in so many new ways.
15. Are there any specific artists you’re interested in collaborating with? Who and why?
A dream collaboration would have to be with artist/producer James Blake, because his music is so visceral and he has a way with vocals that create beautiful soundscapes. I would just love to learn from him and see how he creates--seeing how different artists have different processes is such a cool thing to see.
Also, I definitely crave live instruments since I am not super skilled on any particular instruments and have kind of taught myself everything I know. Instrumentalists also just see songs differently than I can, and can offer so much to a song. Working with a live saxophone, courtesy of Max Kaufman, on “Goodnight Moon” just fed my SOUL; so someday working with a band would be a dream. Otherwise, I’m open to so many different sounds, I just want to work with anyone who will push me to grow. Hit me up if that’s you!
16. Where do you see yourself in ten years from now (2030)?
Good question! Hopefully chilling in a space that is my own, with healthy plants, surrounded by people I love, and feeling fulfilled. At this point in time, I have no idea what direction my life is going to go. It would be so cool if music could become a full time project that can sustain me, but that is not my goal. I have so many passions, and my music is something I can and will do no matter where I am, as long as I have my Mac and my trusty ATR USB microphone. I doubt I will stop making music at any point during my life, it is just something I have always done to center myself and process, and I am lucky to get to share it so easily with modern technology.
17. If you were speaking to the whole world right now, what would you say?
Take it slow. Move at your own pace. Capitalism fools us into thinking we need to be productive in every moment and that we need to hustle 24/7. The world we live in has spent this whole year telling us to slow down and to think harder about the way we “have” to live. If there is anything I’ve learned the past few months, it is that there is no need to rush through life just to get money. Sometimes it’s more revolutionary to just chill out. I hope my music can soothe your vibrations when you need it ~♥
Check out Gaea’m music on all platforms!