Boardmasters 2024: Maisy Grace makes local festival her own - and importance of keep on learning in industry

Not many musicians have a large-scale festival on their doorstep, but one person who can claim this is Maisy Grace. Cornwall born and bred, she has performed on multiple occasions at Boardmasters- and continues to feel privileged each time. 

In the afternoon following her set at the festival and with the sun starting to burn through the morning drizzle, Maisy opened up on her career so far, her major influences, and why she feels it's important to never stop learning when it comes to being in the music industry. 

“Every year everyone is like ‘who is going Boardies?’ and it's always a pleasure to play Boardies,” Maisy said that the festival is something that was often talked about back home. 

“I’ve only ever played here, I’ve not been here as a fan before. I feel like I’ve played here enough times now that it feels like another fun thing to do. It feels cool though, I feel very privileged.”

Taking a positive outlook to her career in 2024, Maisy outlined why she loves what she does. 

“I’m enjoying everything I’m doing at the moment, so I'm working now on who I want to go ahead and be. I just love my music so much, I love playing it and being in the music world. 

“I think being around so many people involved in music has really impacted me. It’s helped to show me what else is out there. Just being in London has its influence, it’s very different to Cornwall. There’s just so much music there. I love having influences, I love being influenced by people.” 

Maisy has several important themes in her songs, including gender equality and mental health. She believes that writing about these themes in her music can have a positive impact on those who may need it. 

“Writing songs is one of the most important things to me. If I feel like I have something I couldn’t just talk about or if it’s something I don’t think people are talking about enough, I write about it. It’s like you can talk to someone without actually needing to have a conversation, sometimes having a conversation can be hard. Songs are a good way to get through to someone. 

“Music is a language that anyone can speak. It hits everyone in such a different way. Using it to change the world, I know that’s a bit drastic, but it's huge and really important. 

Maisy added that her influences are varied, but that she has a common goal behind what she takes on board.

“I’ve been influenced by everyone I listen to, I think of things that I think would be a cool feature to my music. I listen to a lot of Ben Howard, I think his song writing and music is incredible. I want to be interesting, and not doing what everyone else is doing. I want to be different. Music is so different, and mine might be bad to some people but I enjoy doing it so if people like it then that’s a bonus.” 

The importance of keeping on learning is not lost on Maisy, and she hopes to continue with this as her career builds. 

“I don’t really have big goals, obviously I want to go on and do big things and make them but I don't have anything in particular I want to do. I just want to keep on making music and enjoying what I do. Releasing music, learning more about writing new music and all things like this. There's so much music and so many genres out there. I just want to learn as much as I can.”