Meet Meaghan Maples of Mama Haze in West LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meaghan Maples.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Meaghan. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area and grew up singing in both a Pentecostal church and a San Francisco classical choir. I went to college to study sociology and social work.

Even though music was a passion of mine, working with people is what has always fueled me. During my time at university, I did a bit of traveling, and it really gave me the itch to want to spend my life experiencing all sorts of different people and cultures and arts.

I grew up in a pretty religious family, and there was a lot of music and art that I wasn’t able to fully experience until I was an adult. I knew in my twenties, that I wanted to spend my work-life building relationships and to partner with artisans and creatives. After a few years living in San Diego post-college, I knew I needed to be in a more challenging environment for myself as a songwriter and vocalist so I headed to LA.

I had already been a nanny for about a decade when I first moved to Los Angeles. I’m great with kids and family systems, and it was an easy way for me to make money and have a flexible schedule while still staying active as a songwriter, back up vocalist, and worship leader at my church. I was doing a vocal session once for some producer friends of mine (Tim Myers and Jordan Frye), and we had such an incredible time working on this cover song.

One thing led to another, and over the course of the year, we spent time writing a bunch of new songs, pushing my voice to the next level and eventually ended up with a collection of really fun pop/vintage soul/cinematic ballads. I was moonlighting as this epic, soulful singer while still spending my days changing diapers and steaming bottles of breast milk.

If anything, having a steady job with kids during the entire duration of trying to find success in the music industry has taught me incredible work-ethic, compassion and a high tolerance for toddlers.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say my two greatest obstacles during this journey have been general existence in LA and the pressure to take a more traditional career path. I’ll start there. I come from a very amazing line of women. My mom, Aunt and late grandmother are all some of the most amazing, educated, successful, women in my community let alone my family. They set the bar so high as far as life path goes.

I was always told I was capable of being anything I wanted… a businesswoman (like Mom), a doctor (like my Aunt) or a Ph.D. in Stats with a day named after you in your hometown (like my grandma)… but that wasn’t the path I chose. I have always wanted to be an artist. And that hasn’t always looked as impressive on the trophy shelf. I’ve always had support from my family, but it’s been a long road of me coming to terms with the fact that I’m so different from the people who have influenced and given to me most.

Living in LA is already a tough thing. It’s expensive, and the culture is hyper-competitive and over-sexualized… don’t get me wrong I’m all about being free in your own skin as a woman, but topless maid service is a thing I didn’t know existed till I lived here. I have never lived in such an uncomfortable place. Being from Northern California where there are perfect weather and more libraries than strip clubs instilled in me such a different hard-wiring than what was asked of me when I got to La la land.

The tenacity required to invest in your dreams is not for the faint of heart. There were days when I felt like I was living in the real-time version of hunger games. Waking up with a parking ticket on my windshield and a garbage truck blocking me in to sit in an hour of traffic to watch someone else’s kid in 100 degree weather to come home covered in someone else’s kids throw up to try and meet a friend across town, and then they cancel when you’re halfway there and then to finish that song I had to record the next morning to make enough money to pay my water bill and oh yeah I need clean underwear and where’s the nearest laundromat. Ha!

A lot of days were a battle. And a lot of days were a blessing. I had enough blessings to make all the hard work worth it. And I still do!

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m a vocalist by trade. I’ve been trained to sing anything from Irish-Folk Gospel to R&B and Electro-pop. But over the course of the last few years, I’ve really honed in on developing as a songwriter. Mama Haze as an artist brand is something I’m very proud of because it has pulled out every one of my strengths and combined them to make this super beast out of me.

The songs I wrote and developed with Tim and Jordan for the “Honey” album covered a wide range of vocal technique as well as genre representation. We had so much fun making some of these songs, while also getting to put some romantic and sweet sounding poetry in others.

This music translates in both live settings and sound to picture for commercial use and that’s not easy to do. I’m very excited to share the new stuff we have cooking up, and I know this project has the capacity to soar and influence a lot of people. I love that I get to make music that brings joy to both me and others!

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career so far has been landing my song “Go-getter” in a National Toyota campaign. I’m so grateful that my producer Jordan Frye had such killer instincts in what direction that song took. It was the most song fun I’ve ever written and performed on.

From start to finish! And to see it in such a fun commercial is so so cool. The commercial is such a fun, loud, well-done narrative and I love that we got to be apart of that!

What’s the most Important quality of your artistry?
I think the most important quality for me to hold on to and grow in a while pursuing this path would be my warm nature. I’m extroverted and extra, but if you asked me to choose between putting on a show and hosting a dinner party for my friends, I would nine times out of 10 prefer the latter.

What that means when I do put on a show though, is that I treat it like it’s a dinner party with my friends. I want every single person in the room to feel welcomed and to participate and to leave feeling full. I want to make my music a thing that people feel they can take part in and love and look forward to and share with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mamahaze.com
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Sarah Shreves, Karen Marie Co

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