In many ways, 2020 has been a disappointing year for Maisie Peters; after building a buzz last year, she was scheduled to support Niall Horan on his European arena tour this autumn.
Instead, the 20-year-old Brighton native, who describes her music as 'emo girl pop', has been releasing some stellar singles – including recent track 'Maybe Don't' with JP Saxe.
We caught up with her to answer ten very important questions.
1. What’s the music that you listened to growing up, that you still listen to today?
The ABBA Gold album! Also the first Lily Allen album 'Alright, Still' is still a perfect album to me. I feel like I've come full circle and now really understand and relate to a lot of it, whereas as a kid, I was blissfully unaware of most of it.
2. In three words, describe the minute before you walk on stage.
Hot, focused, funny.
3. How do you wind down after a gig?
I'm not very good at winding down, to be honest. I tend to go straight out and start chatting to people and taking photos! But I like to look at all the Instagram stories that people have taken and repost my favourites, trying to match all the Instagram names to faces I saw in the crowd.
4. What’s the one song you wish you’d written or recorded first?
So many! Oh god, so many. My top 3 right now are 'Between Me and You' by Brandon Flowers, 'This Year' by The Mountain Goats, and 'Me and You Together' by The 1975.
5. You can only have three albums on your phone/in your house at any one time - what three would you pick for today?
Okay, for today I would pick 'Punisher' by Phoebe Bridgers, 'Folklore' by Taylor Swift, and 'Songs' by Adrienne Lenker. I'm in a 'soft guitar' phase, if you can’t tell!
6. Name one record, one book and one film that everyone should hear / read / see.
One record is 'Kindly Now' by Keaton Henson, one film everyone should watch is 'The Shape of Water', and one book is 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara.
7. Pick the director and lead actor(s) for a biopic about your life.
Greta Gerwig, for obvious reasons (I just want to be in Little Women – ok, fine, you've seen through me) and then maybe Saoirse Ronan, because that couple is so powerful and I feel like they would make me 100 times more interesting than I really am.
8. You’re ordering take-away, what do you get?
Probably pizza, because I have an obsession with cold pizza - sometimes I’ll order it hot and then wait for it to cool down and then put it in the fridge and only start eating it the next day when it’s cold.
9. Describe your perfect day off.
Wake up super late, coffee and a bagel, walk to Victoria Park and then walk into London, stopping off for numerous caffeinated beverages and pastries. Buy some knitted jumpers/notebooks/lipsticks, drop in at the pub and have a Guinness with a friend and/or a skater boy, back home again and then write a sad acoustic country song before bed. Dreamy.
10. Tell us, in one sentence, why we should come to your next gig (whenever it may be.)
Because something crazy could happen. You could find a million pounds. You could meet the future love of your life. You might not, but equally you might - and if you even maybe might, then surely it's worth coming.
BONUS QUESTION: Recommend a podcast and tell us why we should subscribe to it.
I don’t listen to podcasts! But instead, I recommend a Wendy Cope poetry book; light and beautiful and warming.
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'Maybe Don't' is out now.
