Recently, I sat down with Maeve Steele and talked about her new EP, Honeyland, which will be released on Friday, January 19, 2024.
How did you come up with Honeyland for the title?
Maeve: I was kind of riffing off of the intro. As I was going through the line “I'm a stranger in the garden and this is honeyland,” it just kind of came out. I was thinking about it and something in my subconscious told me this was the title. I feel like right when I finished it I realized it turned into this project about nostalgia and femininity. I was like, "Oh, that is honey it’s sticky and it's sweet and dangerous, but then beautiful," and I just loved all the imagery that came with it. So I feel like something in me told me it was Honeyland.
What was the creative process like for making the EP?
Maeve: It was definitely a slow process, it was over many months. I wrote “Strangers In The Garden” and then made that song. It was kind of like the sound and direction in terms of a project. I wrote the songs one by one, “Lorena” was next. As I went it seemed like I was playing with the same sounds and themes and it turned into the projects.
Did you have any inspirations while you were writing the songs?
Maeve: Definitely, I read Maggie Nelson's Bluets before I wrote "Strangers In The Garden" and I loved that. It's almost like a prose poem, 100 pages all about the color blue. Falling in love with the color blue and it becomes this character and she has this relationship with it. I thought that was so cool and just thinking about the shade of blue and how the different shades make you feel. That was kind of a jumping-off point. I was listening to a lot of Norman Rockwell - Lana Del Rey's album. That was a big inspiration for the production.
Which song are you most excited for fans to hear?
Maeve: Maybe “How To Run”, it feels really intimate but it feels really sisterhood and girly and I can't wait for my girlfriends to hear it.
What part of making the EP did you enjoy the most?
Maeve: Being in the studio with Daniel -the producer- it was a really great experience. He definitely pushed me in a way that I haven't been pushed before, out of my comfort zone. The spoken word was his idea, stuff like that. I'm so used to writing a verse, a chorus, a verse, here's how you write a song, make sure this part is catchy. He was like none of that matters, let's make something you really like and that feels like you. That definitely took me out of my typical routine.
Describe Honeyland in three words?
Maeve: Nostalgic, smokey, and sweet.
How did you know when the EP was done?
Maeve: I think when I wrote the intro, I was like this is an introduction and I know what it's introducing so it doesn't need anymore.
If you could set up fans in the perfect environment to listen to the EP, what do you imagine it would look like?
Maeve: Maybe in the morning, there's natural light in your kitchen, you’re pouring some coffee and getting started for the day.
Was there any part of making the EP that was a bit more difficult than you anticipated?
Maeve: I think the hardest part was once I stepped back from it. A bit of an identity crisis. This is the first time I didn't have a whole team behind me and it felt like every choice was my own. I think that it's so easy to be like this has to be who I am and this has to perfectly encapsulate who I am as an artist. Getting advice from Daniel and him being like this is just something that you're making that you love. It’s something that you did and that's it, that's all it has to be, it was really freeing. But I think identity crisis.
Your first EP title is Overland and this EP is titled Honeyland, is there any connection between the two?
Maeve: I like that it was a land to a land. Overland was so tangible and named after a street. It was inspired by me moving to LA and all the imagery and the natural world of LA. I feel like this one is so intangible and floaty in its own little magical world. I liked it going from this land over that's physically here to this land which is over here.
What is your songwriting process like?
Maeve: I did lyrics and loose melodies first. Everything started with me on the guitar in my room. With a crappy guitar part and loose melody. Then seeing the space it could turn into and then went to the studio and played more of the actual sounds that it would be. Once we made “Strangers In The Garden” we knew that was the world that we wanted. But they all started more lyric-based.
Are you planning on making any music videos?
Maeve: I would love to do a “How To Run” music video, maybe that will be coming soon.