Our fabulous Features Editor for 2023-24, Olivia Hannant, got the chance to talk to May Payne about her sound, songwriting process, as well as the themes that define her music.
For people who aren’t familiar with your music and style, what kind of sound would you say you have and who are some of your musical inspirations?
May: I always find this question so hard, but lately I've settled on R&B-influenced folk-pop, honestly a lot of my biggest inspirations are not people who necessarily match my style. Growing up I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison and then I had a huge Emo phase, which I guess is what makes me want to write such emotional songs I think?
But stylistically I feel like I'm super influenced by the likes of Lizzy McAlpine and Phoebe Bridgers.
You’ve released three singles now, two last year and one last week, how did you find the actual songwriting process and which one has been your favourite to write?
May: My favourite to write has definitely been Take It Too, but the writing process When You Hold Me was one of the first songs I ever wrote and it was just me sitting at the piano improvising and experimenting with the chorus. I find the process for me is very natural, the sound has evolved from me just playing loads rather than it being super thought out and meticulous. Take It Too was definitely a lot of word vomit in a sense as it was me processing my feelings and I didn’t necessarily realise what I was writing about until it came to writing the chorus.
"I think sometimes I can actually be a bit too vulnerable, I find it really hard to suppress my emotions"
It’s quite a vulnerable song, in the sense of the subject matter, would you say that you struggle with being vulnerable or has it acted as a productive outlet for those feelings?
May: I think sometimes I can actually be a bit too vulnerable, I find it really hard to suppress my emotions in that sense and I always have, when I was younger I used to excessively post about absolutely everything so I feel like songwriting is a great outlet for me to make sense of my emotions.
What are your plans for the future, is there any new music on the way?
May: Yes! I actually just uploaded my next single which is being released on May 12th and then followed by an EP further in the future which is super exciting.
Following up on your live shows, which has been your favourite venue to play and for the international shows have the crowds differed?
May: I mean, my partner is from Pittsburgh so I supported their pop-punk band which was really cool to get to play to a different audience, one in which they didn't necessarily expect my kind of sound. They’re also going on tour around the US this summer so I am supporting some of those dates as well which should be really fun.
What's your personal favourite venue you’ve played?
May: It’s really tricky, in terms of like performing experience for me there's this open mic night in Manchester at a venue called the Whiskey Jar which I always love to play. I feel like people who come to gigs are very aware of their body language whereas, at an open mic, I find people are a lot more relaxed and can absorb the music from a first-hand perspective and give honest criticism which is really nice. Obviously, all the crowds I’ve played to have been great but I love it when people have the time to engage and understand the music.
Are there any festivals on your bucket list to play or attend this summer?
May: I’m definitely not the right person to play the festival but Love Supreme, I’d love to attend if I can't play because it’s just so cool. I’m also hoping to come to Nottingham at some point because my bassist in my band is actually from there and I have never been there before.
What Artists have you been listening to recently or do you have any recommendations for other forms of media?
May: At the moment as I'm sure many are, I’m listening to the new Boygenius album, it's just so good I have a really short attention span so I find stuff hard to engage with certain albums but I’ve just had that on repeat. Also 8485 and other hyper pop and I’ve honestly been revisiting Fall Out Boy because I went to see them the other week and it brought back all the memories connected to the really old pop-punk stuff along with Origami Angels who also have that pop-punk fifth wave emo blend.
Other than that; media-wise I love podcasts, I don’t know if this is really obnoxious but I love Binchtopia, a great podcast about sociological and psychological perspectives on pop culture. They go really deep into theory and philosophy but in an accessible manner.
Ahhh that sounds so good and up my street I’m definitely going to take a listen!
May: You should they’ve just done an episode on the history of nail salons and it is so good.
Thank you to May for taking the time to chat with me, check out her new single Take it Too on streaming platforms and watch the space for more music and live shows!
Olivia Hannant
Edited by Roxann Yus
Cover image courtesy of May Payne via Facebook. In-article image courtesy of The Whiskey Jar via Facebook.
Comments