Upcoming dance-pop singer-songwriter Steel Maggie has captured the attention of music fans around the globe through her vibrantly unique musical style & captivating vocals.
Now, this gifted artist is set to release the brand new single “Out Of Eden” on February 5th & has kindly spoken with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution about her forthcoming track. You can check out the full interview below.
When did you first discover your passion for music?
Steel Maggie: I started training classically on piano at age 10, although I always dabbled on the little keyboard we had at home before then. My dad introduced me to almost every genre under the sun, so I had always been musically inclined. I would write short stories in high school and I loved all kinds of music, but somehow never put two and two together that I could be writing actual lyrics and songs as well. It just didn’t occur to me that it was something I could or even should do.
When was the first time that you can recall performing in front of a live audience?
Steel Maggie: In a kindergarten choir, I always loved singing – I just wasn’t good at it until recently. But I am a HAM through and through. I love the stage. I always sang in choirs throughout childhood and acted on stage in high school, did musicals and such before I started writing music. You can’t take me off the stage. There’s this video of me when all the kids are filing off the stage and I’m just standing there, like 4 or 5 years old, just smiling at all the applause. It’s hilarious.
Have you always known that a career within the music industry is something that you wanted to pursue?
Steel Maggie: Actually no. I started “late” by industry standards. When I was 18, I was feeling out of place and lost in college. I was on the psychology track, but it didn’t feel right. My best friend told me to pursue what I really wanted to do, which was get into the performing arts department and start seeing what I could do there. I wrote my first song on guitar, even though by no means was that my primary instrument. I joined choirs and ensembles, trying to find my solo voice along the way. It was rough. I was pitchy and uncontrolled, and I was trying to put the gravitas of the male rock and roll vocal into female vocal chords; apparently that doesn’t read well! They told me I sounded like a folk artist, and that was the last straw, because I wanted to be pop. I went head first into my vocal development, and eventually found the sound you hear now.
How would you describe your musical style to someone unfamiliar with your music?
Steel Maggie: I’ve always described my style as bittersweet and bold dance pop with introspective lyrics. I want it to be an audio injection of strength and self-worth for anyone who listens, because that’s what it is for me. You’ll hear Lady Gaga, Allie X, Marina and the Diamonds, and a little bit of Chris in most of what I write and release. I blend 80s synth pop and 80s stadium rock with modern dance pop, set to lyrical themes of self-worth, internal struggle, addiction. That’s the cocktail that I think creates a sound you feel like you’ve heard before somewhere, but you just can’t put your finger on it, you haven’t heard it like this – and that’s because it’s me.
You are due to release the brand new single “Out Of Eden” on February 5th. How did the idea to create this song come together?
Steel Maggie: The idea actually came in 2015, I was playing with my microKorg and it the original motif carved itself out. That’s the same synth you can hear in the post-chorus interludes in “Out of Eden” now. It used to be called “Get Out.” Lyrically it arose from my frustration, feeling mediocre, feeling trapped under the weight of my past, present, and future. I wrote several lackluster variations of that idea and scrapped it until 2018 when I rewrote the song. Throughout the years I had so many new melodic ideas that I knew were supposed to be in the song, new lyrical ones too. I was going into studio in December of that year and I knew it was meant to be recorded, so I sat down and put it all together. I remember the moment the chorus lyric came to me – “I can ride in line, or I can free my soul” and it was almost an out of body experience because of how far the song had come, and also because of where I was in that time in my life. And so Out of Eden was reborn.
What does the song personally mean to you?
Steel Maggie: To me, it encapsulates duality. The duality of the freedom of choice, the exhilaration and the insecurity, the joy and grief of a new identity and leaving everything I thought I knew. Out of Eden is the story of how I woke up cosmically hungover after a life of subconscious war with myself, all because I kept the peace for everyone else. I maintained such a devotion to my warning labels, a certain spirit of self-pity, but that identity had me accepting the ultimatum of mutual destruction. Eden is supposed to represent this beautiful place where nothing is wrong, but in my eyes, there’s a reason why Eve ate that fruit. We ignore all warning signs and lock ourselves in self-made prisons of the way things are supposed to be; the way we’re supposed to react; who we are; what we’re worth; what we deserve, good or bad.
If listeners could take anything away from this song, what would you like it to be?
Steel Maggie: There will come a time when you will have an “Out of Eden moment” if you haven’t already. It’s when you give up the internal fight, leave the demolition and destruction of your past behind, and take your path on the open road. It will be uncomfortable, it might even be painful. You will have to leave your old identity behind. It will be an entire reprogramming of your being in this world. But it will be the start of a life more incredible and beautiful and impactful than you ever thought possible.
Do you have any further musical releases planned that you are currently able to tell us about?
Steel Maggie: I will be releasing “Apple” some time in late spring/early summer, which, in Star Wars fashion, is a prequel to “Out of Eden.” It’s a courtroom drama in a song, and I’m playing Eve on trial. That’s all I’ll say for now 🙂
What advice would you offer someone who was looking to pursue a career within the music industry?
Steel Maggie: Oh boy do I have an answer for this, so buckle in. You are enough. Full stop. Don’t let anyone tell you that your music or your work isn’t needed because “this industry is so inundated and compacted blah blah blah.” The “industry” doesn’t work without YOU, but the people we’ve given all the power to benefit off of you thinking and believing small, that you don’t matter; that you couldn’t possibly make a splash. That changes with this generation, mark my words.
I’ll tell you something I don’t like to talk about; I’ve spent thousands and thousands of dollars on courses and programs and industry coaching (on top of my actual B.A. in Music), searching for something outside of me that would “fix” me and the lack of progress in my career, when it was really me who wasn’t stepping into my power. I was constantly throwing myself from tactic to tactic, paying top dollar for “insider” strategies, never knowing the strategy was ME all along. I wasn’t taking responsibility for my power to create beautiful growth in myself and inspire it in those around me.
If you want to learn about sync licensing in depth, FB ads in depth (I hope not), Spotify in depth, email list building in depth, awesome, invest in something you truly believe in – but remember that you’re not buying information, you’re buying the transformation that person is telling you the information will bring to you. Trust someone who has spent upwards of 15k – save your money for the studio and into all the ways you can love yourself and your community first. Believe 5000% in you and what you have to offer, create and share from a place of love and generosity, collaborate with others, and everything else will fall into place, I guarantee it. Ok rant over.
Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?
Steel Maggie: Don’t be an agnostic regarding you and your power. Don’t pre-disqualify yourself from anything. Don’t pre-reject yourself. whether it be feeling worthy enough to take a shower today, or from sending that scary email to someone you want to work with. I’ll go a step further: Be a zealot for you. Be a zealot for your own gospel. Refuse to spill your own blood in your own temple. Remember everywhere you go is your own holy ground.
You can pre-save “Out Of Eden” by clicking here.
Steel Maggie: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram.
Fierce & Fabulous Revolution 