From engineering to show business: An interview with singer Stephanie Mae

April 27, 2015, 5:29 p.m.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Tell me about your musical background. How did you get started?

Stephanie Mae (SM): I felt a connection to music at an early age. Specifically, connection to a good song with a good melody, good vocals, and relatable lyrics. I would lay on my parents’ bed because the radio was next to it and listen to music on the radio for hours. It was a lot of 90s ballads. Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Michael Bolton. That type of music brings back a lot of nostalgia.

Stephanie Mae hopes to take advantage of new technological opportunities to get her music heard. (Courtesy of Melody Kuo)
Stephanie Mae hopes to take advantage of new technological opportunities to get her music heard. (Courtesy of Melody Kuo)

From then on I kept writing songs, dreaming of how they would sound if they were recorded. It honestly wasn’t about the live performance for me. It was about laying down, eyes closed, listening to the song and falling into that song’s world in the comfort of my own space.

 

TSD: What was your time at Stanford like?

SM: I entered my freshman year with my hair dyed red and a nose piercing, not knowing what to expect. I think I wanted to attract fellow creative types. I couldn’t find very many. A lot of people were interested in networking to find their fellow start-up co-founders. I wanted to find someone with a piercing and colorfully dyed hair.

I ended up studying biomechanical engineering (‘09). I wasn’t interested in majoring in music because I wanted to feel and create music, not study it. Majoring in engineering was sort of a challenge I wanted to accomplish. I wanted that mental stimulation.

Stanford is an amazing place. I am so thankful I went there. It brought out a lot of great qualities in me and gave me opportunities that I am incredibly thankful for. But you need to be clear on who you are and know that you don’t have to be like everyone else. You’re there for a reason and you belong in your own way.

 

TSD: What made you decide to pursue music? Was your decision more difficult after having spent so many years earning a Stanford degree, or did that make it easier in some way?

SM: I fell into a sort of depression halfway through college and it sort of all lasted until recently. There were many reasons for it, but I think one of them was because I wasn’t doing what my soul truly wanted to do — which was music. I’m still figuring out exactly what sort of music I’m supposed to be doing, and how I’m supposed to be doing it. But I’m just taking it one step at a time, using the resources I have, and making music authentically. And I can honestly say I don’t feel that sadness anymore that I used to.

 

TSD: Tell me about “Real Love.” Is there a story behind this song? What inspired it? What’s the message?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3L-SLREAt0

SM: I wrote the song initially as an anthem to myself. When I was around 20, I was in a relationship that I would define as energy-draining and toxic. And it’s easy to fall into those, not realizing it. Because the relationship shifts and changes and you keep thinking it’s that same person and relationship it was at the beginning, and you need to to stick it through and help that other person and if you’re not, you’re abandoning them. But really, you’re abandoning your relationship with yourself at that point.

 

TSD: What challenges are you facing as an independent artist?

SM: It’s hard because you’re sort of a start-up (which is difficult enough), but not a start-up in a way that everyone understands, which makes it even harder. But you still have to really grind and hustle really hard. You have a vision that you have to communicate and stand up for that vision. Some of the hard parts have been realizing that not everyone will get your vision, or will try to impart their own take on what they think your vision should be. I’ve learned a lot about honoring what I believe myself to be as an artist, taking in the advice and still appreciating it, but ultimately remembering that I have a vision and a musical soul that needs to be expressed my way.

 

TSD: What about your music do you think is worth hearing?

SM: People connect with my music. It’s raw and real. I also pay a lot of attention on the recorded song. My first love with music is creating recorded songs that someone can carry with them and listen to anytime they want. That’s where I focus a lot of my attention on. Like I said, I consider myself a song dreamer. I like to create experiences through song.

 

TSD: What’s next? Any new projects, any upcoming shows?

SM: I’m releasing a new single, “All of My Life,” in the next few months and a follow-up music video. Check out my website, StephanieMae.com and join the mailing list to hear about those releases.

Contact Benjamin Sorensen at bcsoren ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Benjamin Sorensen covers jazz for the Arts & Life section of the Stanford Daily. He is a junior from Stanford, California studying political science with interests in Chinese and music. He enjoys playing guitar, talking about music, and wishing he could sing. Contact him at bcsoren ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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