Daily Inspiration: Meet Kiliyan Maguire

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kiliyan Maguire.

Kiliyan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My first memory of creating music reaches back to about age 8 or so, I remember singing little melodies and trying my best to remember them the next day. I guess a tape recorder would of been useful. Around age ten, I found an old acoustic guitar in my grandparent’s garage. It wasn’t elegant; instead, made of cheap wood and plastic. It had been my grandfather’s from when he had tried his hand at guitar back in the mid-70s. Upstairs, away from the dust of the garage, I plucked my first out-of-tune note. In that moment, there was no great beam of light or choir singing golden tones at the dawn of a musical awakening. Instead just a gnawing feeling that I wanted to put words to those strange out of tune notes I had just played.

Fast forward through a few high school garage bands, a college education in music and I arrived in my early 20s, eager to write music that I felt was authentic to me and hopefully spend some time on the road. Touring had always been a romanticized dream of mine and eventually that dream became my reality. 2016-2023 were spent largely on the road with my band Charming Liars (with a brief break in 2020 like everyone else). I’ve had the beautiful experience of playing my music all around the world, I’ve opened up for artists that were childhood heroes, and I’ve played to empty rooms in Sacramento and small hockey arenas in Prague. I’ve been overlooked, overworked, and at times overjoyed. All of this just comes with the territory of being an opening band trying to cut your teeth out on the road.

At the moment, I’m in the middle of creating my 4th full-length record with the band and really enjoying the process. The victories and defeats will all come packaged neatly in shrink wrap. (or streamed on a phone, who buys CDs anymore?… I do…)

Additionally, when I’m not on the road or in the studio, I work as a vocal coach. It was something that started out just to help keep the bills on my kitchen table at bay, but now I’m coming up to my 11th year of teaching. To be part of each of my student’s artistic tapestry is truly one of the most rewarding aspects of music.

Alright, 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 think one of the biggest hurdles we had to overcome was the pandemic. From 2016-2019 we really carved out some momentum for ourselves on the road. Then when touring ceased up, we felt our lifeline to the world narrow a bit. Like most artists during this time, we had to adapt and figure out ways to stay connected to our close-knit family of musical supporters.

We figured if we couldn’t physically play for them, we would do the next best thing and use technology to bring them into the studio with us. We would livestream and just hang out. We’d play new music and chat about life or art. It was very lowkey and felt just like hanging out with old friends. In a way, the distance of the pandemic actually brought us closer to our fanbase and deepened our bond. We kind of weathered the storm together and for that, I’ll be forever grateful.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At my core, I feel like I’m most proud of being a songwriter and a storyteller; an alchemist of words, sounds, and feelings. I enjoy touring and performing, but songwriting just offers such a unique palette of sensations.

Evolving with my guitarist and songwriting partner Karnig has really been a priceless achievement as well. We started off as strangers who shared a common love for music and now have found ourselves midway through our 4th full-length release. Our musical curiosity has brought us to a new horizon we call “alt wave”. We take influences from the large eclectic umbrella of 1980s new wave and infuse them with modern alternative elements.

The other thing I’m most proud about is that we’ve done all of this without a big label. We self-produce, write and record everything that comes out under the Charming Liars’ name. We’re an independent band. I’m proud of that.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
The saying “It takes a village” pops into my head with this question.

Whenever I think of the achievements I’ve had so far, my grandparents pop into my mind. From childhood up to about age 17, people often look at your pursuit of art or music as admirable or even cute. However, when you graduate high school and say you want to make a living playing music, that’s when a lot of people start to doubt your choices and try to sway you into a safer arena of life. My grandparents never did that. They encouraged and championed my career when others were hoping I’d reconsider it. I’m not sure any amount of backlash would’ve kept me from pursuing a career in music, but my grandparents made the choice much easier.

My wife Stella has been a constant source of encouragement throughout my career. We’ve been best friends since junior year of high school so she’s seen every moment of perfectly timed luck along with every fall from grace. My hat really goes off to her. It’s not easy encouraging a career that takes your significant other away from you for months at a time. And when I have those dreaded bad days where I think I want to quit, she always jokes “I only date musicians” and that usually lightens the mood and gets me back to work.

Along the way, I’ve shared stages, garages, and rehearsal spaces with lots of talented musicians. I owe each one of them a bit of gratitude for the artist I am today. Also, I definitely have to thank my bandmates Karnig Manoukian and Mike Kruger for going on this strange journey with me. I really am just one-third of a larger piece.

Contact Info:

• Website: Charmingliars.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiliyanmaguire/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharmingLiars/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/charmingliarsmusic
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/charmingliars/

Image Credits
Ben Zucker Photos Dieter Unrath Photos Corey Eyres Photos