Norwegian bass player/vocalist Maya Vik drops an inspiration video for an equally inspiring track, "Fighter" produced by William Idap, off of her forthcoming EP, Beyond The Basics. An anthem for strength and perseverance, "Fighter" gets a stunning visual treatment with Maya taking to the ring to show her strengths as a young Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. With lines like, "It's time to woman up/When I look back gonna feel like looking down/On the walls that I've shattered and the fears that I've battled down now," it's easy to relate with her vision.
With "Fighter" on iTunes now, Maya Vik is gearing up to drop her Beyond The Basics EP soon, so we caught up with her over email for a brief Q&A, which you can read in full below:
When did you start making music?
I started off playing the bass in an all girl group in the small town where I grew up in Norway. Lack of things to do there, lead me into music. I grew up with Björk, Janet Jackson and Prince posters on my wall. Prince’s, "The Hits," collection was my first ever album, and I learned songs like, "Head", even before I understood English. I’ve been a bass player for years, but I only started singing a couple of years ago.
What's the transition been like between being a star in Norway and coming over to the States?
My favorite thing is to play live and I’ve done a lot in Norway, but some of the best live moments have been in the US. The live shows often turn into high energy funk jams, (a drummer, a keyboard player, and myself on bass and vocals). I’ve played some shows and festivals in the US including Dâm-Funk’s club Funkmosphere in LA, and to get to play for true funksters like that was fantastic. So things have been good so far and I’m really excited to see what happens next.
What new project are you working on and what's some of the inspiration behind it?
My new EP called, "Beyond the Basics," is out in March, and like the material I’ve already have released, I find inspiration in 80's and 90's funk, r&b and disco, among other things. I’m originally a bass player and not really a trained singer, so it forces me to write and record my vocals in a different way. We play around a lot in the studio – thick layers of vocal harmonies, effects and so on. I have some very talented people with me on this EP: Will Idap (who did Nico & Vinz’s "Am I Wrong") helped produce "Fighter," and Norwegian space disco king, Lindstrøm, helped produce the next single, out in February.
What does "Fighter" mean to you?
Everyone has something to fight for, and this song is about fighting those every day battles. In the video it’s a bit more literal, as I dress up like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.
