Mauvey (BC, Canada)

My whole life, I have faced the unimaginable torture of racism. It has been unyielding and suffocating. In fact, the only moments I feel any semblance of freedom is when I imprison myself in my own home. It has ravaged me beyond comprehension.

I have spent too much time accepting people’s definition of MY ART and of ME. I have accepted comparisons to artists I have never listened to, or even been inspired by. I was afraid the ‘industry’ and its gatekeepers wouldn’t let me in, but in truth, I’m more scared of looking in the mirror one day and seeing someone I don’t recognise or like very much.

With all due respect, I’m not a rapper. I am not an R&B singer. I am not a soul singer. I am not ‘urban’ or someone making ‘black music’. I make music and I am black!

I am pop, I am cinematic, I am rock, I am punk, I am alternative, I am electronic. Something like Michael Jackson, Future Islands, Prince, Coldplay, FKA TWIGS, or Labrinth – but nothing like any of them or anyone else.

MAUVEY was born as a result of my obsessions with storytelling, songwriting, cinema, and fashion. I was angry and frustrated and happy and grateful and in LOVE and desperate for the world to change. I was all of this, all at once, and so was my music – and it still is. It’s MAUVEY.

Our world is dying of a broken heart. With LOVE we might be able to mend it and each other. That’s what distributing LOVE is.