photo by Ingrid Renan
MAITA'S evocative A Beast starts abruptly like someone walking through your front door in mid conversation. Words pour out of Maria Maita-Keppeler's mouth instantly on the downbeat, amid rushed shuffling drum beats and guitar rhythms, riding on heightened melodies like that "conversation" might be semi-heated by internal pressures. Maita-Keppeler's vocal aesthetic is at once reflective but full of angst and maybe loathing outwardly and toward herself too. Her band matches the roller coaster ride of emotions with strident downbeats and fanning ascensions of sound.
Maita-Keppeler's lyrics are gut wrenching and heart breaking all at once. It is without question brutally true that when relationships fall apart (or are pulled apart) usually one person in that equation is hurt the most and often times it is the better half. It is sad and the video and song bring that point to mind so when Maita-Keppeler (pictured on her knees) outside a closed door sings, “I never could forget but I’ll forgive like a dog.” it is so powerful. I mean, I think the first time I watched the video and took in that hard truth, I uttered the words, "holy shit..." under my breath.
My reaction was simply the cold splash of reality in my face. Bold honesty told within the melodic artistry of an indie rock song still cuts deep especially to those of us who just might share in that loyalty thing (like our beloved dogs).
“I have always had this desire to make sure everyone is happy and no one is dissatisfied or hurt. Music has been a place for me to demand the free space to say what I want to say.”
- Maita-Keppeler.
MAITA is Maria Maita-Kepperler (lead vox, harmonies, acoustic and electric guitar), Matthew Zelter (electric guitar and vocal harmonies), Nevada Sowle (bass) and Cooper Trail (piano, keyboards, drums, percussion and vocal harmonies).
A Beast is from MAITA'S upcoming debut album, "Best Wishes".
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Biography
“For me, songwriting comes from a place of wanting to find the truth in life. Sometimes that truth is so complex and nuanced that it requires a whole song to explain,” shares Maria Maita-Keppeler, the principal songwriter and front person for the Portland, Oregon-based indie rock band MAITA.
Maita-Keppeler’s bold vulnerability and literate flair is on full display on the quartet’s forthcoming debut album, Best Wishes. The album will be out on venerated indie imprint Kill Rock Stars (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, the Decemberists) which is a story in itself. Until recently, KRS was headed up by Portia Sabin, whose husband Slim Moon founded the label. When Portia played MAITA’s record for Slim, who retired from the label 12 years ago, he experienced something of an epiphanic moment. “My love of MAITA, and my belief in Maria's songwriting, pulled me back into the record business,” Slim affirms. He has since returned to his original role as president of Kill Rock Stars.
Maita-Keppeler began experimenting with songwriting while soaking in the indie artists of the 2000’s such as Bright Eyes and Feist. She related to how these writers interweave reality and poetry, and resonated with their emotional candor, particularly in light of her tendencies toward emotional restraint while growing up.
“I have always had this desire to make sure everyone is happy and no one is dissatisfied or hurt,” Maita-Keppeler explains. “Music has been a place for me to demand the free space to say what I want to say.”
Best Wishes balances ethereal musicality with visceral expressiveness. This juxtaposition is mirrored in the arrangements through potent use of loud and soft dynamics and in Maita-Keppeler’s lyrics, which manage to be layered, literate, but also impactfully concise.
New single, A Beast, opens the album and showcases Maita-Keppeler’s sensual, lilting vocals. The song is a window into Maita-Keppeler’s arrangement prowess. It carries the listener through sparse, dreamy passages, to deliver them head-first into the driving indie-rock riffage of the chorus, and pull them back again. The evocative title references a primal loyalty best epitomized by the line: “I never could forget but I’ll forgive like a dog.”
Maria explains: “I have this extreme capacity to just to be there and wait for the other party to come back—almost like a pet—but there are still wounds that live underneath, hidden away by that surface of loyalty and forgiveness.”
MAITA is Maria Maita-Keppeler, lead vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitar, and electric guitar; Matthew Zeltzer, electric guitar and harmony vocals; Nevada Sowle, bass; and Cooper Trail, piano, keyboards, drums, percussion, and harmonies. Best Wishes was produced by Maita-Keppeler and Zeltzer and tracked at the 100-year-old Ok Theatre in Enterprise, Oregon, and at Room 13 in Portland, Oregon. Previously, MAITA issued the 2017 EP Waterbearer and a clutch of singles.
“For me, songwriting comes from a place of wanting to find the truth in life. Sometimes that truth is so complex and nuanced that it requires a whole song to explain,” shares Maria Maita-Keppeler, the principal songwriter and front person for the Portland, Oregon-based indie rock band MAITA.
Maita-Keppeler’s bold vulnerability and literate flair is on full display on the quartet’s forthcoming debut album, Best Wishes. The album will be out on venerated indie imprint Kill Rock Stars (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, the Decemberists) which is a story in itself. Until recently, KRS was headed up by Portia Sabin, whose husband Slim Moon founded the label. When Portia played MAITA’s record for Slim, who retired from the label 12 years ago, he experienced something of an epiphanic moment. “My love of MAITA, and my belief in Maria's songwriting, pulled me back into the record business,” Slim affirms. He has since returned to his original role as president of Kill Rock Stars.
Maita-Keppeler began experimenting with songwriting while soaking in the indie artists of the 2000’s such as Bright Eyes and Feist. She related to how these writers interweave reality and poetry, and resonated with their emotional candor, particularly in light of her tendencies toward emotional restraint while growing up.
“I have always had this desire to make sure everyone is happy and no one is dissatisfied or hurt,” Maita-Keppeler explains. “Music has been a place for me to demand the free space to say what I want to say.”
Best Wishes balances ethereal musicality with visceral expressiveness. This juxtaposition is mirrored in the arrangements through potent use of loud and soft dynamics and in Maita-Keppeler’s lyrics, which manage to be layered, literate, but also impactfully concise.
New single, A Beast, opens the album and showcases Maita-Keppeler’s sensual, lilting vocals. The song is a window into Maita-Keppeler’s arrangement prowess. It carries the listener through sparse, dreamy passages, to deliver them head-first into the driving indie-rock riffage of the chorus, and pull them back again. The evocative title references a primal loyalty best epitomized by the line: “I never could forget but I’ll forgive like a dog.”
Maria explains: “I have this extreme capacity to just to be there and wait for the other party to come back—almost like a pet—but there are still wounds that live underneath, hidden away by that surface of loyalty and forgiveness.”
MAITA is Maria Maita-Keppeler, lead vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitar, and electric guitar; Matthew Zeltzer, electric guitar and harmony vocals; Nevada Sowle, bass; and Cooper Trail, piano, keyboards, drums, percussion, and harmonies. Best Wishes was produced by Maita-Keppeler and Zeltzer and tracked at the 100-year-old Ok Theatre in Enterprise, Oregon, and at Room 13 in Portland, Oregon. Previously, MAITA issued the 2017 EP Waterbearer and a clutch of singles.
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