Today we’d like to introduce you to Maisha aka Gaea.
Hi Maisha, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a musician and multi-hyphenate artist based in Atlanta, Georgia – I do so many things. I write music under Gaea, my anonymous form. The name came about by mixing my name Maisha, which means “mother-life” in Arabic, with my mother’s name, Athena, a Greek goddess – I combined them into Gaea, the Greek goddess of the earth.
Gaea is this music persona that comes out of me, she is soothing, healing, and loving, and Gaea’s music should just wash over you like a wave of calm. Soft vocals, meditative instrumentals with roots in Rnb, Neo-Soul, and some experimental Pop.
I really have been singing my whole life – my family is very artistic and really rebellious. I grew up surrounded by hippies living off the land in Central Maine, all artists, activists, musicians, and creative people who just wanted to live away from everything society was trying to push them into. I grew up going to a lot of community jam sessions around the campfire, and my family loves to tell the story about how I jumped into the middle of a song, belting out the lyrics at four years old as if I was born to do it. I think the music probably just possessed me – and I don’t think it ever left!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve been writing music and melodies as long as I can remember, but it really was a journey towards sharing it for the first time. I really write music for myself. It’s how I process things. I really never thought about putting it out, it was just so personal to me.
My partner was really the one who put that inkling in my mind in college. He was putting out his own music with this rigor, going to studios, showing me demos and then mastered tracks and I didn’t even tell him I wrote music too until we were dating for like 3 months! He was so shocked, he was like “Why aren’t you putting this out??” He really taught me how to navigate distribution and promotion and artist development. I have so many people, friends, mentors to thank for pushing me to do this, in New York, Atlanta, and my hometown of Boston, I have been blessed with so many supporters, cheerleaders, and guides.
To me, music is the air I breathe. Sometimes, I struggle between self-expression and digestibility. I don’t like to make music for the sake of self-promotion – it gets so easily twisted up into making your music for the masses instead of yourself and you can lose your own sound. On the other hand, I WANT people to feel my music hit them, and sometimes you have to simplify the chaos of self-expression and channel it into a form of media that people consume and find themselves in. That’s super hard for me and a journey I think every musician goes through.
Someday I think Gaea will retire from music, and Maisha will take her place. I hold myself to such a high standard that I struggle with letting Gaea go. She is my alter-ego that allows me to be free from the expectations I put on myself and my music. She’s a goddess! How can I tell her she can’t share all the love she has just because “it’s not mixed well enough” or “this melody isn’t catchy enough”. I don’t want ever want to rush my career, I know when the time is right, Gaea will pass the baton on to Maisha – I hope my fans will take that journey with me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I would describe my music as a blend of Neo-Soul and Rnb. I have a jazzy tone to my voice, and I love to curate a sound that is calming and earthy. That’s what Gaea’s music is – earthy. I sing a lot about nature and love, things that always bring me back down to earth when I feel stressed or chaotic. I hope my music is a safe haven for people, the way I listen to Erykah Badu or Sade – it’s a feeling of authenticity and realness that comes from music like that, it just washes over you.
Recently I’ve been expanding the world of Gaea with visuals. I can’t wait to show it. I haven’t put out music in 3 years (I know!) but I’m coming back full force with new music and insane visuals. I am so proud of my upcoming visual projects and the music that comes with them – vivid colors to go with my vivid harmonies and these insane shots that create this mystical world that Gaea lives in. I have created entire pieces from scratch – a headpiece made entirely out of golden bottle caps, paper maiche masks, veils made out of chain, an entire outfit made from bubble wrap. It’s crazy. It’s invigorating. I feel like I am creating new mythology with my voice, my hands, my body. It really is Gaea’s world – I’m just living in it!
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I have a new song coming out on May 13th called Banyan Tree on all platforms. The music video premieres on May 27th too, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for Gaea on your screen.
This song is about the meeting place of life on earth – meeting in the middle, at the center of everything, to connect with each other. As Gaea, I invite everyone in to meet me at the heart of our home through soothing vocals over a pulsating beat, the rhythm and energy holding us together.
The song comes with a psychedelic music video of Gaea, a snake amongst bright and vivid plants, writhing an intoxicating belly dance, with an Egyptian influence in the choreography styling and a mysticism and otherworldly energy that is quite Pan’s Labyrinth-esque.
I want to shout out Kenny “Kenny Sees It” Cochran and KunD! for being my partners in crime. We shot this video in one night on an iPhone and an Android. They were so down to experience this crazy spontaneous moment with me, and I could not be more grateful for friends who inspired me and pushed me outside of my comfort zone out of pure love for the craft. I am so, so, grateful for them both and I can’t wait to let this beast out into the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/gaeamusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvtherlife/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gaea7959
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/gaeamusic
- Other: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/gaea1/banyan-tree
Image Credits
Image by Mike D. Video stills by Kenny “Kenny Sees It” Cochran & Francis “KunD!” Kundi Graphic Design by Solenne Steelberg
