Features
STARS OF THE YEAR: MAYA JANE COLES
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“Unstoppable future of house music.” “Multi-talented tech-house queen.” There have been a lot of accolades slung Maya Jane Coles’ way over the last 12 months. Quite how pundits will feel about Maya’s next move remains to be seen. “I’ll still put out the occasional dance floor track,” she says, “but with a dance floor track you already start off with so many limitations. I prefer creating music with no boundaries.”
The diminutive Londoner with a razor-sharp image to match her music has been positively swept up in the hype machine this year. Last winter the buzz was just building as her breakthrough tune ‘What They Say’ dropped to a rapturous response, but 2011 is the year that she became a household name – not least after becoming a Mixmag cover star in May.
Before that pivotal release, her DJing schedule was mostly scattered appearances at underground London parties. This year her gigs have included Glastonbury, Bestival, Exit, Space and Panorama Bar. That said, not every appearance has been a dream booking.
“I did one gig this year where a drink got spilled on the left CDJ at the start of my set,” Maya recollects. “I only had CDs with me so the promoter brought down a load of vinyl from the office and I had to play every other tune from this pile for about half an hour!”
Release wise, Maya has been somewhat cautious, putting out just three singles spread across three choice labels (2020 Vision, Hypercolour and Mobilee), but she hints that everything is building up to a debut album that may surprise a few people. Having already remixed the likes of Little Dragon, worked with electro-pop outfit Alpines and been part of all-girl dubstep outfit She Is Danger, Maya is not confining herself to any one sound.
“Now I’m not struggling to get my music heard I feel like I can focus on breaking through as an artist outside of the house scene,” she states firmly. “My album is a more universal approach to music. I want people that hate dance music to enjoy it!”
