by Grace Murtha

Summary:

Afro-EDM artists Maze x Mxtreme bring their unique style and tone to Nigeria, despite the obstacles they faced on their musical journeys. Both artists hope to spread peace, love and happiness through their music. Growing up in Nigeria and fusing Afro-EDM music was a challenge nonetheless, but they pushed through to create the sound and fanbase they have today. Whether it’s singing in church or sneaking into the church building to create their own music, Maze x Mxtreme will push through anything to create what they are passionate about. For these artists, music is about breaking cultural boundaries and connecting people through a shared interests.

Join Words, Beats & life on February 26th to watch Maze x Mxtreme along with 3 other artists perform for our Off the Couch event.

WBL: Did you come from a musical family? Tell me about your family in general.

MM: No, we have no musical family members. I think we’re the first in our families to engage in music. There’s no bedrock or ground rock for us. We actually did everything by ourselves. We grew up together, so we’re basically brothers and our families are close.

WBL: I’ve learned that EDM is not very popular in Nigeria. What drew you to this genre in particular?

MM: Growing up in Nigeria we were exposed to basically just Afro, the mainstream kind of music, but we found ourselves wanting more styles of sound. We had never heard a music that could literally draw out your emotion and I think that was one thing that really intrigued us. One of the things that actually took us there or drove us towards electronic music is the fact that we’ve always been misfits while we were kids. We didn’t really fit in with the whole set of natural kids stuff, we kind of did our own thing. When we were deciding what we wanted to do with our lives, definitely we weren’t going to do the normal things. IIt was quite easy for us to make that decision because it was just different and fusing our culture with a sound was just epic.

WBL: Who are some of your artistic influences and where do you draw all of your inspiration from?

MM: I don’t think there's a classic person or artist, we listen to a very wide, wide range of music. We listen to classics, we listen to hip-hop, we listen to jazz. But in terms of our creative inspiration, we just let the music come from within; we just express ourselves. Because of the fact that we’re doing not just EDM but Afro-EDM, there was no mentor or someone to look up to. We had to create something new as we went. We had to see what worked and what didn’t work. I think basically, if you were asking in terms of EDM I would say Martin Garrix, Tiesto, Galantis and The Chainsmokers.

WBL: Afro beats are taking over the world on a lot of levels in the past 5 years. At what point did you realize how big it was outside of West Africa and which of the Afro beats artists do you feel are inspiring you right now?

MM: Burna Boy is someone who took the chance to include some urban fusions and Afro and it takes guts to do that here because they tell you if you aren’t doing the popular stuff, or if you aren’t doing what everyone wants, you’re not going to make money. Burna boy, in time, people can see that he’s been at it for a long time. From the Afro guys, I would say Burna Boy, he’s daring and he took a chance.

WBL: Obviously growing up in Nigeria and creating your own Afro-EDM style has impacted your work, so I was wondering if you could delve in a little bit more on how your identities, your backgrounds and your upbringings have influenced your music.

MM: We’re from a Christian family; very disciplined. Getting into secular music was a challenge because they didn’t really support us at first. They wanted us to be doctors or lawyers. In Africa, parents put pressure on their kids. You don’t have any chances to mess up. We had to just take a chance. As far as the music and our backgrounds, the only place that we were allowed to go to without our parents trying to stop us was church, and this is where we spent most of our entire lives. At night we were learning how to mix these secular songs in the church compound. It was very risky stuff to do. It wasn’t easy, we were always hiding. Growing up here, it’s different. You have to be stubborn if you really want to get stuff done for yourself.

WBL: COVID is a hot topic right now because it’s so prevalent everywhere. How has COVID impacted your production process and your performance opportunities?

MM: We were supposed to have a couple of gigs the last two years. We had one in the US and one in France and we were supposed to travel. We suffered from some economic losses because there were no shows and everything was locked-down. The production industry here has risen; there’s a whole bunch of producers but we stand out because of our branding and our sound. There were no gigs apart from online gigs. It was difficult. Then I think almost at the end of 2020, the restrictions became relaxed. We have one thing that is more deadly than COVID in Nigeria which is Malaria. As you’re growing up, you get to have resistance to Malaria. We felt like 2020 was going to be our year and then COVID hit. It wasn’t easy but we survived. It was getting better; shows started opening up again in 2021, there were no issues as long as you had your mask. Everybody was happy with going back to business. So, I guess it’s gotten better this year and it’s about to get way better.

WBL: Some artists have unique and creative processes for coming up with their work. Could you walk me through the way that you produce music?

MM: With remixes, we don’t want to hear the song. We just download the song, listen to the first part, and don’t listen to it anymore. Everything has to come fresh. The song should not have any influence on how we make the remix. We make sure the mood of the original song is still there but we amplify the emotions. We try to make sure it sounds more intense. Usually we start with the bass to get the pace and then we move to the drums and that’s how we create the whole song. For originals, it just happens. We could be going outside and maybe we hear something, we record it quickly and when we go home we put it together.

WBL: What is one message that you would like to convey through your music? What feeling or emotion, what is something you want to show your audience?

MM: I would say peace, love and happiness. When we play our stuff, we want to give that sort of feeling. No matter what we’re doing in this life, no matter what anybody is trying to push for, the reason why we work, why we do what we do is because we’re all just trying to be happy. When you listen to our songs, we want to be able to express ourselves. Music does not segregate, it doesn’t discriminate. We have always wanted music that could bridge the gap from culture to culture. For example, with Afro-EDM, we find that two different people can come to the same space and enjoy the same music. We’re trying to bridge that cultural gap between both types of music.

WBL: If you could offer one piece of advice to any aspiring artists, what would that piece of advice be?

MM: It is hard. It is very difficult. Do not rely on motivation, you have to be disciplined. Do what makes you you. Be original, keep yourself together. Make sure you express yourself through your music. There are billions of people out there but what makes people want to listen to you? -No matter where you get to, keep being you.