With such a mesmerizing and shimmering sound and the nostalgia-loaded tenderness of her first EP Always Dancing Mazey Haze is indeed a pretty fitting moniker for the music of Nadine Appeldoorn. Lovers of sun-drenched indie-pop in the tradition of Alvvays, Snail Mail and good ol’ Fleetwood Mac will immediately find tremendous bliss in the five songs the Dutch songwriter has crafted. It’s a determined coming-of-age tale and we think it’s about time for you to experience it. So that’s why we asked Mrs. Haze a few questions about it.
Hi there. Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us where are you right now? What’s going on in this moment as you answer these questions?
Hello! I am Nadine, artist name Mazey Haze. I’m having the sun on my face as I’m answering these questions, chilling in my bathrobe in my living room.
Your debut EP Always Dancing has just been released and it’s an emotionally open selection of lovely dream pop songs. In the press release you stated that you wrote some of these songs while facing true low points in your life; still I think there’s a hopeful element in the music. Is that your usual way of dealing with bleak times?
I think in life I’m always trying to do stuff better than the day before. I’m mostly putting stuff in perspective in my head which makes most things less worse than they feel. My heart is a bit slower in feeling better, and I also think feelings are a lot stronger than thoughts, but in these times I do try to make my heart feel a little better with my head, that’s, in my opinion, a nice thing to try and strive for when you’re having a hard time.
A debut release is always an important one and I was wondering what you learned while recording this music, both artistically and personally?
It was my first time ever recording a full batch of songs so everything was a first time for me. Artistically I really learned how a puzzle of the sound of a song works and how I like to fit that puzzle together. I find contrast in songs very important, if a song only sounds beautiful and perfect it’s a little boring to me, it has to have a nice balance between ugly and blissful. Personally I ran into a lot of my insecurities. In the beginning I was having a hard time believing in myself, always talking myself down. But in the end I learned that, for me, the best thing to try is to totally be my free self and if something feels right to me, it’s the best thing to go with.
I’ve been working hard to always speak up about this feeling I get when something feels right to me and when I have that, there’s a high chance that’s just what it’s supposed to be.
Tell us a bit about Sad Lonely Groove, the song we’re highlighting today in our playlist …
This song was my debut single, and was born in august 2019. My first relationship ended and I suddenly was all by myself, I didn’t have any friends and was living on my own. I never learned how to be alone at that point. Sam, who I made the EP with, sent me a loop of 1 and a half minutes, including the bass line, synth chords and drum groove of Sad Lonely Groove. I was immediately very excited about it. So I sat down behind my laptop and put these parts in logic. I made a structure and started recording little guitar hooks. Once this was starting to sound like a song I started recording vocals. I just pressed record and everything that is now Sad Lonely Groove, regarding vocal melody and lyrics, are mostly still exactly the same as when they rolled out of me back then. It was just there in one go. So as I was feeling very very low, my heart was very open and threw out this song.
Regarding the title of the EP – I was wondering what songs and music keeps you dancing these days?
Naturalmente by Marcos Valle or China Girl by David Bowie or Magnet by NRBQ. And you can always make me happy and catch me dancing with some nice Beach Boys tunes :)
As it is mentioned that you grew up with ABBA (me too, by the way) I really have to ask: what do you think about that impending comeback happening next week?
Haha nice yeah love ABBA!!!! To be honest I’ve only listened to one and a half new songs they released and I didn’t really like it. I still love ABBA very much but their comeback hasn’t much to do with what ABBA is to me. I mean it’s really cool they still made music together at their age and with what they’ve been through together but their comeback doesn’t really interest me.
What’s next in the cosmos of Mazey Haze?
I don’t know! Hopefully a lot of new experiences and I’m still looking for a nice red scarf, so hopefully I’ll find one soon so I can wear it as Mazey Haze if I’m ever gonna play somewhere chilly.
Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an
Interested in the best yet still way too unknown music? Awesome! Because every Monday you’re favourite music blog is updating its 50-track-strong Listen AHEAD Playlist on Spotify as we add ten strong songs by fresh artists on top of it. And you are happily invited to follow the playlist over on Spotify and give these new talents a spin. They surely deserve it.
This week’s picks include brand new music from artists like Moodbay, Beach Bunny, CMAT, Loupe, The Let Go as well as Moyka who we already introduced you to right here the other week. Come and hit the play button.