TEN 4… MARIA LAVEAU
1… Who is Maria Laveau?
Hi! That’s me! I am a singer/songwriter/MC from Oxford, now living in Bristol. I love spitting to DnB, garage, grime, hip hop, but also love belting out a soulful melody! I’m part of the Dutty Moonshine Big Band and VooDoo Collective.
2… How have you found lockdown so far?
Lockdown has been interesting to say the least! There’s been some really tough times with tours and festivals cancelling, seeing the next 6 months of gigs and plans vanish, and then trying to adapt to moving totally online. But on the other hand, it’s been nice to have more time to pick up my guitar again and write more. I’ve just been taking each day as it comes, some are good, others not so much, but there’s always chocolate for that.
3… How has the Oxford scene influenced your musical taste and development as an artist?
The thing I love about Oxford is the fact that it feels like you’ve got a little piece of each corner of the world there. Growing up it felt like a really open space to perform and try new things. I started busking at about 13, and then doing pub gigs, then as my love for hip hop grew I became involved with VooDoo Collective and started Mc’ing. I think Oxford has a nice middle ground of taking influence from places like Brighton and London but without feeling overwhelming or too huge to get involved with.
4… These days people probably think of you first as lead vocalist for The Dutty Moonshine Big Band. What is Dutty Moonshine, and how did you guys link up?
The Big Band is an experience like nothing else, we take old school jazz and blues and mix it with dirty fat bass! Dutty Moonshine himself was and still is a DJ act, who also lived in Oxford, and he reached out to me, Hypeman Sage and Temple Funk Collective (a brass band who are also oxford based, they are amazing) and formed the Dutty Moonshine Big Band. Dutty had this idea of wanting to create an insane live act and brought us all together to do it, and since then we’ve toured the UK as well as playing main stages on the festival circuit each year and I absolutely love it!
5… The new Dutty Moonshine project ‘City of Sin’ drops May 29th and you’re pushing hard for a spot on the Top 40. This definitely feels like it could be your time! What is it about this new record that you think could connect with the public like never before? And how can new fans support?
Since we began back in 2015 its felt like we’ve just been going from strength to strength, there is something about Dutty that the crowd just absolutely loves, over the years we’ve really developed our sound and sharpened our strengths, leading to our signing with Universal a few months ago. We set ourselves this target of getting in to the UK TOP 40 as it feels like the right next step for us. We aren’t like anything else you’ll hear, and especially not in the charts! Really what we want to do is pave the way for all these hugely popular acts that you see underground or at festivals to be more represented in the mainstream. It’s a huge task and we need all the support we can get, so please head to duttymoonshine.com and bag yourself a copy of the album, like and share our stuff with friends and help spread the word! We find out if we made it in on the 5th June!
6… You seem to be great at self-promotion - trying out new, interesting ways to connect with your audience even during lockdown, whether it’s filming acoustic versions of your songs or chatting with fans via live Q&As. Do you have any tips for any artists struggling to staying active during this time?
The first thing I would say is be nice to yourself. This is a strange situation and not every day is going to be productive. When you are feeling up for it though it feels great to stay engaged, we had to cancel our tour which was heart breaking, but it’s been really nice connecting with fans through Zoom, or FB groups, or the live Q&A’s. Also Mike from Dutty is a great driving force for these types of things so he keeps us all going!
7… Before Dutty, we first linked up with you a few years back when you were gigging a lot with Oxford-based Hip-Hop group Voodoo Collective. What can you tell us about Voodoo these days?
Yess!!! Man it’s really strange to think the Cellar is gone now! Those Deep Cover nights were amazing! VooDoo is still going - we recently dropped an E.P. ‘Reflections’ which is available on all streaming platforms, go and check it out! You might actually recognise some of the tunes from back in the day, its definitely got a nostalgic vibe to it!
8… You’re pretty experienced in working as part of big musical ensembles at this point. Can you give us your key Voo-Do’s and Voo-Don’ts for staying sane and not falling out with your collaborators in the studio and on the road?
Haha! To be really honest I’ve been super lucky in that everyone I’ve worked with has been an absolute gem and are all now really good mates. Definitely a must for me though is having snacks because I do get cranky when I’m hungry on the road haha, I’ve got a special snack pocket on the inside of my coat where I hide my emergency biscuits.
9… You’re an exceptionally versatile musician yourself - playing guitar, singing lead and spitting bars depending on the situation… do you have any other tricks up your sleeve!? And can we expect a solo project at some point in the future?
I’ve tried to learn to beatbox several times and it turns out…I suck at it haha. In terms of a solo project, I do have a couple of things up my sleeve so keep your eyes out for a future release!
10… Where is all this leading? Do you have any dream collaborations or projects further down the road that you’re woking towards?
Well if Dutty gets this Top 40 that will hopefully be a huge push for us in the right direction, and we’ve got a big long list of collaborations we’re keen to get working on! As a group we have a lot of other genres that we’d like to explore too, it’s always fun to play around with new sounds and see what you can come out with. We always set our sights high, so watch this space!
Follow Maria Laveau
