What does it mean to live life to the fullest? For some, it’s building a family and owning a pretty house in a quaint little town. To others, making one’s career dreams become reality is exactly what life should be like. For Briston Maroney, a young indie singer-songwriter from Nashville, who, over the years, has become famous for his deeply personal and consistently relatable musical endeavours, it’s what he spends his day-to-day with – music. His recently released sophomore album has not only become a testament to his evolution as an artist and a person, but it has moreover helped him heal from the things hidden in the darkest corners of his soul and come to a place of self-discovery and forgiveness. It tells the story of how he found the “ultrapure” essence of life.
“I started this whole crazy thing when I was 11 or 12 years old,”, Maroney reflects, his voice tinged with nostalgia, thinking back to the beginnings of his now flourishing career. “Pretty unintentionally, I started playing guitar because a lot of the family I had on my dad’s side played guitar in the house. So, music was a very present part of our day-to-day life. But no one did it professionally. It was just kind of like a language in our house. And so I picked up the guitar just to be a part of those little circles within the family, and then very quickly realized that it was a method of communication.”
Like a red thread that has now woven itself through Maroney’s work, it was the desire to connect and express himself in ways that transcended the limitations of spoken words that brought him to where he is now. “For me, that was much easier than communicating verbally when I was a kid,”, the young artist admits. “I was pretty shy. But before I knew it, I was writing songs and then got encouraged by my family to share them with people. Back then, I had no intention of ever singing, but I was writing the songs, and I was like, “Well, no one else is ever going to sing them, maybe I should try”. I used to sing really quietly and timidly when I was young, and that is where it all started – just playing these very quiet, shy songs.”
From those humble beginnings, Maroney embarked on a musical journey that would see him evolve into a prominent figure in the indie scene – even though it was never truly something he actively strived for. “I’m definitely not one of those people where I always knew that this is where I would end up,”, he chuckles. “I had no grand vision. Of course, I had my little fantasies, like every kid with a guitar, but I never realistically let myself consider it as a career option. So, still, to this day, it’s something that I don’t necessarily always grasp well. It’s still a really strange thing to me that this is what I do full-time.”
Still, looking through his discography up until today, it’s easy to understand that Maroney isn’t someone to let things simply happen to him; rather than that, intention and profound personal awareness are what push all his projects and his very self forward at all times: “I don’t think I’ve had one defining moment. Every time I sit down to write a song, I’m still trying to prove something to myself. I don’t think I’ve had a moment yet where it’s felt like, “Cool, I can catch my breath”. I guess getting to play Red Rocks this year was one of the first moments in my life where I let myself breathe into my career and accept everything. It was a pretty amazing thing and maybe the closest to feeling like, “Wow, we really accomplished something, we’re proving that we’re meant to be here”.”
It’s a constant commitment to his craft that extends beyond just the music itself and that he could especially dig himself into during the production process of his latest record, the wonderful ‘Ultrapure’. “Making this last album was just me, my producer, and our engineer, so we had the space and time to be perfectionistic,”, he explains. “But I also find myself a lot of times, maybe undercooking a lot of ideas, maybe out of fear. But if I see something through all the way to the end, then I’m definitely going to be a perfectionist about it.”
Looking at the sublime collection of thirteen songs, it’s the LP’s title that first raises the question as to how Maroney stumbled upon it. “Basically, I just loved the word ‘ultrapure’. I love the idea of something being ultrapure, this idea of something being completely earnest and harmless and well-intentioned. I think it was kind of a message to the younger me, also in relation to other songs about my family. I was trying to shed a positive light on everything we went through when I was younger, and how hard everyone was trying; this pure effort to try to be a functioning happy, awesome family. I just have so much love for my family for trying their best,”, the American musician illuminates, touching on the driving force behind his latest body of work – healing and growth.
Revolving around stories of heartbreak, past relationships, newly found love, family, and forgiveness of one’s past, Maroney’s newest album is a deeply personal tale, which, for the very first time, saw him delve into more intimate and private moments that he had not touched on with his music before. For some songs, it was even experiences he had not been able to talk about before in general. “That’s kind of the first time I’ve talked about my relationship with my family in depth,”, the singer recalls. “But I don’t think it’s overly detailed, so it could mean a lot of things to people. It just felt good to write something where I could be like, “I finally feel like I said what I’ve been trying to say about the situation since I was eight”. It was a very cathartic thing.”
“I’m trying to take advantage of the fact that I‘ve been alive a little bit longer and I‘ve had space to process some things.“
Featuring lyrics such as, “I swear some people are alive and spend their whole life just surviving so the ones they love can learn from their mistakes” in the beautifully soft ‘Sunshine’, and, “I feel blessed, I feel cursed, that everything hurts, but at least I’m free to get it off my chest” in the cinematic ‘Sunburn Fades’, it’s clear that Maroney didn’t just set out to create a record that would make his fans happy and enable them to connect with it but also to guide him through the process of dealing with things he might not have been able to deal with before. “I wrote some songs about some friends that I lost touch with and that I reconnected with. And I talked a lot about my relationship with my family that I haven’t really in the past and tried to highlight the forgiveness from both ends,”, he shares, further highlighting the importance of music in his everyday life. “The older I get, the more I feel like it can be like a tool in my life. I have a harder and harder time trying to write super accessible stuff. I think it’s a door into the things we hide internally that are really scary so that we can work through them.”
Coming off the production journey of his most recent album, the indie star has become quite aware of the immense impact the creation of it has had on his identity as an artist. It hasn’t just helped him heal, but also to move closer to the individual and musician he wants to be, as he exclaims: “This whole recording process has really got me back in touch with what I want to do as an artist, and who I want to be as a writer. It has helped me grasp where I really am on earth because, sometimes, I lose touch with that a lot. So, this has been a really helpful process to ground me again.”
It’s this newfound perspective that also sparked a shift within the focus of Maroney’s songwriting. “When I was younger, I would have an experience, go home and immediately have to crank out an idea,”, he states, reflecting on how letting go of old habits can often help make room for better things. “It was just this young mindset of the whole world falling apart. And so now, I think I’m writing a lot more about things I have perspective on now – like relationships, whether it be familial relationships or romantic relationships. I’m trying to take advantage of the fact that I’ve been alive a little bit longer, and I’ve had actual space to process some stuff and look into things.”
This shift also found its way into the actual creation of ‘Ultrapure’ later on, from Maroney playing every single instrument that can be heard on the record, to it featuring his partner and fellow indie artist Samia on the closing track on the one hand, and the peaceful songs of birds and gushes of wind crashing into trees that we all know so well on the other. It’s those little fun titbits and easter eggs that turned the album into a unique and immersive sonic experience from start to finish. One particular track, the sombre ‘Sink;Swim’, saw Maroney venture outside into the world to capture the sounds of his surroundings, as he fondly remembers: “We were recording the song, and my producer Daniel Tashian gave me this little handheld recorder and just had me press record and then walk outside around the neighbourhood, get in my car, grab some stuff, walk back out, that sort of thing. We wanted to catch the sounds of what the day felt like to us and give people a chance to hear what it would sound like to roll up to the studio for another day of tracking.”
Thinking about the most prevalent sources of inspiration, the Nashville-based artist finds himself coming back to the mundane moments in life that others might not even pay attention to. That and nature, as Maroney underlines the crucial role his environment plays in his creativity: “I’m a huge nature person. I love being outside; it’s one of the most wholesome things in my life. I think right now I’m most inspired by very simple things, just very simple moments of joy and discovery.” Over the years, this deep-rooted bond with his surroundings has become such an important part of his work that it has made him rethink the location he wants to ground himself in, as the 25-year-old singer admits: “I’m pretty sensitive to the environment I am in. It’s hard for me to be super creative when I’m somewhere that I’m not necessarily connected to. That’s why Sammy and I have been talking so much about moving this year because we’re just trying to find the best place. Like, Nashville is fantastic, but we’ve just been here for a long time, so we’re trying to find somewhere that is conducive to walking outside and instantly feeling inspired.”
Already moving his gaze to the future, Maroney is most looking forward to being back on the road again – amongst many others, also for his series of shows in the UK. As for any upcoming sonic adventures, the singer-songwriter seems to be happy just going with the flow for a while and not letting the past dictate what lies ahead. “I’m not sure I want to stick to what we did with ‘Ultrapure’ because it was such a beautiful thing and a really specific experience,”, he muses. “I think for the next project, I will maybe want to have some other people work on it with me. It was truly special to rely on my brain to think of all of these ideas, and it was fun to push myself, but it was also pretty exhausting to be responsible for all of the parts. So, I think bringing in people who are smarter than me, better at these instruments and more instinctual with their ideas would make it more exciting to me. But then again, who knows? It could be six months from now, and I could be having an absolute ego trip.”
An idea that could not be further from reality, as despite his massive successes, Maroney has remained refreshingly down-to-earth. For example, when asked how he would describe his music to someone completely new to it, he simply replies with a light-hearted laugh, “I would say it’s not that bad. I mean, you can try it; it’s definitely worth a try.”
“I’m definitely one of those people who would not be here without music.“
It’s this level of ease and means of not taking oneself too seriously that, next to his music, of course, made it possible for Maroney to build such a unique bond between him and his fans. Because of this, it’s nothing new to him anymore to be receiving in-depth stories of his fans’ personal experiences, whether they are good or bad ones. Once he started being open to the people venturing through his colourful soundscape, they started to do the same back to him. “I mean, there’s definitely a balance that has to be at play with being open with people,”, the artist reflects, touching on the multi-layered and sometimes complicated relationships that can be found between artists and their followers nowadays. “But I understand fans so deeply because I’m such a lover of music, where I have also listened to songs and had the feeling that I know exactly what this person is going through. And so, when people share their own stories with me and have this connection with the music and assume that it means that we know each other, I totally get it. But it’s also strange to be in this position, where I actually don’t know these folks, and they don’t know me. Over time, I’ve learned to have gratitude for their openness and try to let the music be there for them.”
It comes as no surprise that opening up about personal experiences can be daunting, but as can be seen with the musical rollercoaster rides Maroney takes his listeners on, the musician has found that it often leads to a deeper connection with his audience. “There’s totally an initial element of fear with it. Because I’m saying some stuff that I really feel and haven’t said before, but anytime I’ve done anything remotely like this, those are the songs that I found people relate to the most,”, he acknowledges. “The times that I’ve been most open are the ones when people typically respond the most verbally and share their own stories. That has always been so encouraging to continue and tap into that vulnerable stuff.”
As Maroney continues to evolve as an artist, he remains fixed in his passion for the transformative power of his work. For him, music isn’t just a career; it’s a lifeline. “I’m definitely one of those people who would not be here without music,”, he confesses. “It really is such a life-saving thing, writing songs for me specifically. I think anyone could find some sort of healing in a creative process, whatever it is in their life. It’s been a huge part of my mental health journey; my emotions are directly tied to the music, always.” But what exactly is it about music that makes it such a powerful tool for connection and healing? For Maroney, the answer is simple: “It’s an opportunity to create beauty in your life. I think you have the option in your existence to fill it with beauty or not, because it can be a very plain thing if you let it. You can just go through your days and live until you don’t anymore. Or you can fill that time with something unique. And music, to me, is a way to make the most out of my existence. It’s a way to put beauty into a space.”
Wandering the realms of ‘Ultrapure’, it becomes evident that Maroney’s music is more than just addictive melodies and heartfelt lyrics; it’s a journey of self-discovery and emotional healing. As the US artist continues to refuse to be confined by genres or expectations, it’s his creative outlet that helps him embrace the purity of his own experiences, emotions and the beauty that can be found in the most honest and vulnerable moments of life. In the end, there is only one question that remains – what does it actually mean to lead an ultrapure life? For Maroney, it is this: “I think the way to live ultrapure is to be kind to yourself and honest about all of your feelings, the good and the bad. It’s to seek out that beauty in times of joy and in pain. The choice to find beauty in your life is solely up to you. And to constantly choose that, I think that is what living ultrapure means to me.”
Written by Laura Weingrill // photography by Muriel Margaret
GEM Magazine 