Interview: Jacob Marshall of Mae - Page 3

Do you or your fellow band mates feel pressure with the upcoming album? 

Jacob: The only pressure that we feel is internally.  We always strive to create an album that shows what we are trying to say and speaks of our journey and experiences.  I feel if a record doesn’t start with that internal pressure, it will come across that way to the fans.   

Mae is an acronym for Multisensory Aesthetic Experience, an academic major that you created and studied at Old Dominion University.  Was that during your graduate studies?   

Jacob:  No, actually, it was during my undergraduate studies.  The major was created with the help from faculty – mathematics and music.  Each professor helped to create the major from their respective discipline.  It was the study of music related to art, psychology (human organism), perception, emotion, and meaning.  

Are all the members interested in this particular study? 

Jacob: No.  We are all very much different people, and we each bring different facets into the band.  Dave is unbelievably talented with melody.  Melody ties this band together.  Actually, it is the star of the band.   

Mae is more than just catchy melodies though.  The band’s lyrics are very meaningful, a rare feat in today’s industry.   

Jacob: We are heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Police, and U2, where we immerse ourselves in their music.  Those three bands are the foundation of the band.  They each have created music that has a sense of timelessness.  Our goal is to do that.  Obviously, we are a long way from that status.   

I also noticed several of the members mentioned the influences of Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Sound Garden, Rage Against The Machine, etc. You and I are very close in age, and I also found those bands to be very influential in my life.  They are the reason I write about music.     

Jacob:  For me, identifying and relating to music at that age in my life allowed me to explore music’s rich history, like The Beatles and U2, and appreciate bands and individuals that have dedicated their lives to sharing their emotions with the world.  Especially U2, with the culture they came out of, with the religious disputes and open hostility that surrounded them in their homeland.  You cannot find the intense passion of a song like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” anymore.      

Can you see Mae, as the band continues to rise, use its fame to champion causes like U2?  

Jacob:  We do have a passion to help people that are unable to help themselves, like victims of domestic violence and people that are starving and/or have malnutrition.  Those are our platforms.  The literal issues matter to us, not the issues wrapped up in semantics.  We do not have an agenda and do not surround ourselves with people that do.  We want to stay clear of the sea of red tape that surrounds political issues and fight the battle that is right in front of our face.   

Article Author: M.D. Sandwasher

Blogcritics' M.D. Sandwasher moonlights as a freelance writer and is an avid lover of sports and music. He regularly contributes to Blogcritics and maintains his own blog.

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