Mayfly
Montreal-based duo Mayfly has released their new single “when all we knew was us”. The self-produced single is about the feeling of falling in love for the first time.
Magical and emotional, the new single showcases a beautiful simplicity and captivating vocals.
“It brings you back to this state of being completely vulnerable towards someone else. Lyrically and instrumentally, we tried to create a soft, reminiscent sound that would bring back feelings of nostalgia to our listeners,” explains the duo.
Emma and Charlie recently signed with Canadian record label Duprince and will release their new EP ESSENCE next month.
”when all we knew was us” is now available worldwide :)
Photo credit: villedepluie
"when all we knew was us" is your new single - what's the inspiration behind this single?
-Emma: The night I started writing the song, I was very nostalgic thinking about my “first love”. This same night I sort of understood that I wasn’t missing the person, but I simply missed the feeling of falling in love for the first time. I wanted to write about this feeling. The plot and theme song of the movie “Call me by your name” were also a big inspiration for the instrumental of our single. The movie inspires this intense and unique feeling of being in love for the first time. The movie’s theme song ‘Mystery of Love’, by Sufjan Stevens, gives the feeling of nostalgia, but in a beautiful and overwhelming way... And that’s what we wanted to create with “when all we knew was us” as well!
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? When did you start working on it?
-Charlie: Our songwriting and production process almost always starts the same. One of us comes up with lyrics or part of a track, and then we develop on this idea together, trying to push the instrumental vision as far as it can go. Emma sang me part of her lyrics and right away, I fell in love with the song and added harmonies. We finished writing the song almost that same night. Then, with Jules, our co-producer and best friend, we switched up the chords that Emma had originally created.
We started working on this song at the end of summer 2020. We hopped in the studio real quick, started recording vocals and creating the musical arrangements. It felt so natural to produce this song. The vibe of it is so natural, raw and close to these vulnerable and nostalgic feelings we have all felt in our lives.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
In creating the visuals for our song, we wanted to hommage “Call me by your name” by making an artwork that puts forth a very passionate and sentimental love between men, similar to the love portrayed between the main characters of the movie.
What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?
Our upcoming EP, ESSENCE, is meant to bring our listeners to the same vulnerable state of mind that we were in while creating the album. This past year has been super intense emotionally for us, as we’re certain it’s been for lots of people around the world as well. The EP is sort of a safe, serene and comforting space for all these emotions to be let loose and felt to their fullest, rawest extent. ESSENCE embodies a dark sensitivity that is expressed in such softness and fragility; the same that comes when you are fully vulnerable towards yourself and others.
You are also producers - what gear and production tools do you usually use?
Our studio is directly in our apartment, which makes producing and creating music a lot easier. We have access to our tools at all times. Being emerging artists, we’re obviously working on a budget haha, but we’ve managed to equip ourselves with pretty good gear over the years. Our “day to day” essentials for recording are our computers, music softwares (Logic or Pro Tools), MIDI keyboard (or any live instrument), a soundcard, and of course a recording microphone (we use the Shure SM7B, it’s amazing with the Cloudlifter). We have lots of other equipment and instruments for shows and other types of recording; electric, acoustic and bass guitars; MIDI (or sample) pads; synths and electric pianos; stage performance microphones; loop pedals and mixing consoles, etc. The list goes on, but this is really the essential stuff! We even made a whole recording booth for the EP at home... out of blankets and pillows LOL!
What's it like to be women in the music industry?
So far, it’s been the most amazing experience. We feel incredibly lucky to do what we love and have so much positive feedback and impact on others, even if the impact is small. Being independent female producers and creators is such an empowering feeling, and we truly hope that it pushes other women to see and feel that they can do anything they want. There are no boundaries, no limits, and women are fierce. Period.
As artists, how's it like to live in a city like Montreal? How's the music scene out there?
Living in Montreal has been awesome so far, the city really breathes music and arts. There are festivals, concerts, people playing music in the parcs, in the streets; it’s honestly so inspiring to be around this much creativity all the time. Of course, the pandemic has changed the music scene a lot (like everywhere in the world), but we still managed to land some incredible opportunities and even some live performances in the city. We’ve also had the chance to meet amazing people from the industry who’ve helped us make our creative ideas come to life and made us feel like we have our place here. Montreal is just an amazing city and we can’t wait to be able to perform more and feel those human connections with people at our shows.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
From our perspective, it really feels like the industry is changing a lot right now. There are less and less boundaries; artists have so much more power and say in their creativity at the moment. Music genres, styles, the way artists portray themselves on social media, the way music is being listened to; all these things are being redefined. We feel like we are part of this movement, this wave of change. But even with all these positive changes, there still isn’t enough importance attributed to culture and music, and all other forms of arts. This is what we would want to change; the perspective that people have on artists. With the pandemic, the industry got tossed to the side, all culture was shut down. We’re more important than that.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
The world would be a better place if everyone focused their energy on bettering their own selves, instead of wanting to change the lives of others or thinking that they have a say in that.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
It will always be valid to follow what truly drives you. Do it for you, not for anybody else. The only person you have to impress is YOURSELF.
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