The Note's Niall Fitzgerald chatted with Babehoven's Maya Bon about how she writes songs and the story behind her groundbreaking release of Sleep.
Introducing Babehoven means introducing Maya Bon. Introducing Maya Bon means that you’ll have to thank me later. This is monumental stuff. Bon is the principal songwriter, singer, lead guitarist, and overall brains of Babehoven, the Portland-based 3-piece band that has burst onto the scene over the past year, playing shows at local venues and getting signed to one of Portland’s premier record labels, Good Cheer Records (Turtlenecked, Alien Boy). Bon has been writing and performing music for some time now. One could say that Maya and I go way back; we lived across from each other during our freshman year at Lewis and Clark College, and since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness her jump from performing (outstanding) solo set house shows around Portland, to now being behind the helm of one of Portland’s most exciting new bands. Babehoven released their debut EP, Sleep, on August 15th through the aforementioned Good Cheer Records Label. The EP has been receiving outstanding reviews, with the Portland Mercury likening Maya’s songwriting to “a cross between indie pop heroes Allo Darlin’ and heart-on-sleeve folkie Julien Baker”; Post-Trash called Sleep “a remarkably strong debut...Bon has done something truly special here...This is genuine bedroom pop-rock at its finest and most relatable”. My own review would go something along these lines: genuinely good music from a genuinely down to earth, great person.
Maya and I chatted over the phone (she’s back in LA - her hometown - and heading out of the country to Europe for a few weeks) after Babehoven’s record release gig at the infamous Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, which took place on September 4th. I asked her about how the tunes for Sleep came about, how she approaches songwriting, and how it feels to be on the Good Cheer Record label.
When asked about her general songwriting process, and whether her songs tend to brew for while or come about quickly (Leonard Cohen took 10 years to write the lyrics for Hallelujah; Noel Gallagher claims to have written Wonderwall in 5 minutes... makes sense.) Maya says that she has “always written lots of songs, but can go months on end without writing anything. I tend to pretty much have short bursts of writing, trying out a lot of ideas in a compact space of time.” In terms of lyrical/sonic approaches? “I used to be into stream of consciousness sort of stuff when it came to the lyrics. Doing that, and then sort of editing after the fact if I thought the original idea was good enough to keep going with. Sort of very hippie mama kind of stuff”.
I asked Maya specifically how the tunes on Sleep came about, in terms of when/where they were written, and the inspirations, if any, that were behind them. Maya says that for Sleep, she made the deliberate decision to try to turn away from “stream of consciousness,” abstract writing, and to write more literally about experiences and things that she had been going through. This, she notes, was a “fun spin” for her, delving into a different style and growing the courage to be able to say things that were maybe a bit more direct that what she had been previously writing about. The 5 songs on Sleep were written primarily over a two week period during the summer of 2017; starting as demos, they evolved more over the course of last year into what we hear on the record. Maya tells me that one of the songs, a demo that did not end up making it onto the official release, was one of larger songwriting steps that she took; it was extremely personal. Anybody who thinks modestly of themselves (as Maya does) and puts out something creative for the world to see, something not only creative but intensely personal, can imagine exactly how she felt. She says that after putting it online for others to hear, she “freaked out, deleted like 10 social media accounts. I had never done that before. So embarrassed. I was chilling at home, my mom kept on asking me what was wrong", she tells me through fits of laughter.Maya instead chose to include 'Five Times Rule' on the official release as a fun, lighthearted change of pace.
I asked Maya if she had always wanted to back these particular tunes with a band, and she revealed that forming a group was a big intent of hers going into senior year from last summer. Trying consciously to avoid “leather jacket long haired asshole dudes” (my words, not hers, although she agrees) that seemingly lurk with guitars in every street corner in Portland, mumbling to themselves about Kevin Parker’s psychedelic ground-breakingness, Maya conversed with fellow Good Cheer labelmates and friends, among them former Lewis and Clarkite Morgan O'Sullivan (Boreen), who helped direct her to Skylar Pia and Elias Williamson, two musicians active in the Portland scene and highly renowned for their talents in their own rights. One only need listen to Sleep to hear how great the 3-piece sounds together, and how well Maya’s pursuit of a group turned out. Pia and Williamson helped turn Babehoven’s Sleep demos (I found out that both Maya and I share the same musical background, the 2011 Macbook Pro Garageband method..aka the “white mac”) into what they are now.
Lastly, I asked Maya how cool it feels to be signed to Good Cheer. She can’t say enough about the label, who are “constantly helping her” in terms of scheduling releases, photo shoots, gigs, and radio play. “Portland is such a small city. When people were telling me that Good Cheer was going to ask the group to sign, I told them to shut up, didn’t believe it. Sort of like, yeah right. But it’s worked out so well thus far.”
As for future plans? “I don’t intend for this to be the end at all,” says Maya.
For all of our sakes, I would sure hope not.
To listen to Babehoven's Sleep EP, check out the September 13 edition of The Note. To learn more about Maya and her music check out her Bandcamp here, and be sure to stream her music wherever you stream music.
Maya and I chatted over the phone (she’s back in LA - her hometown - and heading out of the country to Europe for a few weeks) after Babehoven’s record release gig at the infamous Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, which took place on September 4th. I asked her about how the tunes for Sleep came about, how she approaches songwriting, and how it feels to be on the Good Cheer Record label.
When asked about her general songwriting process, and whether her songs tend to brew for while or come about quickly (Leonard Cohen took 10 years to write the lyrics for Hallelujah; Noel Gallagher claims to have written Wonderwall in 5 minutes... makes sense.) Maya says that she has “always written lots of songs, but can go months on end without writing anything. I tend to pretty much have short bursts of writing, trying out a lot of ideas in a compact space of time.” In terms of lyrical/sonic approaches? “I used to be into stream of consciousness sort of stuff when it came to the lyrics. Doing that, and then sort of editing after the fact if I thought the original idea was good enough to keep going with. Sort of very hippie mama kind of stuff”.
I asked Maya specifically how the tunes on Sleep came about, in terms of when/where they were written, and the inspirations, if any, that were behind them. Maya says that for Sleep, she made the deliberate decision to try to turn away from “stream of consciousness,” abstract writing, and to write more literally about experiences and things that she had been going through. This, she notes, was a “fun spin” for her, delving into a different style and growing the courage to be able to say things that were maybe a bit more direct that what she had been previously writing about. The 5 songs on Sleep were written primarily over a two week period during the summer of 2017; starting as demos, they evolved more over the course of last year into what we hear on the record. Maya tells me that one of the songs, a demo that did not end up making it onto the official release, was one of larger songwriting steps that she took; it was extremely personal. Anybody who thinks modestly of themselves (as Maya does) and puts out something creative for the world to see, something not only creative but intensely personal, can imagine exactly how she felt. She says that after putting it online for others to hear, she “freaked out, deleted like 10 social media accounts. I had never done that before. So embarrassed. I was chilling at home, my mom kept on asking me what was wrong", she tells me through fits of laughter.Maya instead chose to include 'Five Times Rule' on the official release as a fun, lighthearted change of pace.
I asked Maya if she had always wanted to back these particular tunes with a band, and she revealed that forming a group was a big intent of hers going into senior year from last summer. Trying consciously to avoid “leather jacket long haired asshole dudes” (my words, not hers, although she agrees) that seemingly lurk with guitars in every street corner in Portland, mumbling to themselves about Kevin Parker’s psychedelic ground-breakingness, Maya conversed with fellow Good Cheer labelmates and friends, among them former Lewis and Clarkite Morgan O'Sullivan (Boreen), who helped direct her to Skylar Pia and Elias Williamson, two musicians active in the Portland scene and highly renowned for their talents in their own rights. One only need listen to Sleep to hear how great the 3-piece sounds together, and how well Maya’s pursuit of a group turned out. Pia and Williamson helped turn Babehoven’s Sleep demos (I found out that both Maya and I share the same musical background, the 2011 Macbook Pro Garageband method..aka the “white mac”) into what they are now.
Lastly, I asked Maya how cool it feels to be signed to Good Cheer. She can’t say enough about the label, who are “constantly helping her” in terms of scheduling releases, photo shoots, gigs, and radio play. “Portland is such a small city. When people were telling me that Good Cheer was going to ask the group to sign, I told them to shut up, didn’t believe it. Sort of like, yeah right. But it’s worked out so well thus far.”
As for future plans? “I don’t intend for this to be the end at all,” says Maya.
For all of our sakes, I would sure hope not.
To listen to Babehoven's Sleep EP, check out the September 13 edition of The Note. To learn more about Maya and her music check out her Bandcamp here, and be sure to stream her music wherever you stream music.