Maddee Brown

Maddee Brown is someone we feel you should get to know. Influenced by artists including Regina Spektor and Paramore, Brown treads happily across pop music with a slight rock edge. It may have taken her a little while to step out from her bathroom, but she is making up for lost time now.
Hi Maddee, thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte. How are you and what are you up to at the moment?
I’m awesome! Just in the middle of a busy last quarter of the year, finishing off assessments, writing new songs and changing setlists.
I read that you never really sang outside of your bathroom, even though you have an incredible voice. What sparked the change?
Hahaha, well as I got older I would just sing along to whatever was playing in the car at the time and slowly noticed that I got more encouragement to sing in public. So it wasn’t really a sudden change of behaviour, more of a slow realisation that I wasn’t terrible at this thing that I loved to do.
It seems since then you’ve gone full steam ahead and you’re even studying a Diploma of Music. How are you finding it?
The Diploma of Music is amazing! I’ve met and worked with some really talented people this year both inside and out of the course. The trainers push all of us to the point where we want to strangle them but it’s so worth it.
Do you regret not stepping out and pursuing music at a younger age?
Sometimes I think I should have started younger, but then some of the events in my life wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t start when I did so I can’t exactly say I regret starting at the age that I did.
How are you finding the whole touring process? Was the first show a huge hurdle to overcome?
Well, when we say tour it sounds a lot bigger and more glamorous than it actually is. All that happened was that I played seven shows around Geelong/Melbourne/Bendigo in a short amount of time. It really felt more like an extra busy month than anything! But the first show of the seven was a bit nerve-racking.
I have this weird thing where if I’m nervous I’ll jump up and down for about a minute and it goes away, so hopefully it didn’t look like I was nervous.
You’re currently in the middle of recording your new EP. How far off is it now?
Ahh, this EP has been such a long process – so many delays and a lot of rescheduling. We’re almost at the end of it now. My amazingly talented friend Jake Pickering is recording drums for me, which will take him about an hour, and then we just have to mix it. So I would optimistically say it will be finished mid-November.
Can we expect your usual tales of made-up characters and observations?
Oh definitely. A lot of the time I find my own life is too boring for me to write about so I observe my friend’s lives and their relationships, and when they get boring I make up stories in my head and write about them. There will be a few of those on the EP so hopefully I don’t get in too much trouble…
Given that a lot of your songs feature stories, were you a huge storyteller growing up as a kid?
Storyteller is definitely the more euphemistic word for what I was as a kid … I did like to make up stories and stretch the truth here and there.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us. Is there anything you’d like to add before we finish up?
If anyone is thinking about pursuing music, just do it. It took two-and-a-half years and two course drop-outs for me to get to a place where I’m actually doing what I want to do, so don’t waste time on things that you wouldn’t do for free.
Web: facebook.com/maddeebrownmusic