The University Pulse team recently had a chance to interview up-and-coming Boise musician, Maci Mattravers, about her new EP, To The Bone. She was interviewed by Abbie Alling, our Promotions Director.

Abbie Alling: Hi, this is University Pulse, we’re here today with Maci Mattravers. Hi Maci!

Maci Mattravers: Hi, thank you for having me!

Abbie: So, Maci is coming out with an EP tomorrow, February 10th, called To The Bone. So we’re going to talk to her a little bit about that. From my understanding this is your first music release. What kind of made you get into music and releasing this in the first place?

Maci: So, I went to an arts charter school, which definitely kind of pushed me in the direction of music. You kind of had to choose if you wanted to be more in the art direction, theater, dance, or music, and so I had some really amazing mentors and teachers there that really helped me out. Then, actually, there’s an incredible audio engineer who works at Idaho Arts, and I kind of got to collaborate with him over the years, and he’s who helped me record this. So, I’m really grateful for my school, and I think that that’s kind of how I am where I am.

Abbie: What were some of your biggest influences writing this EP, some artist examples?

Maci: My all-time favorite is Joni Mitchell, and I got to see Joni Mitchell when she performed at The Gorge, in Washington, in June. She played with Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford, Annie Lennox, and some other really amazing artists. So that was like my all-time dream concert, and I’m still kind of in awe that I got to be there. I also love Maggie Rogers, Madison Cunningham, but yeah, Joni Mitchell is number one.

Abbie: Do you have a favorite song off of your newest release, or like a little bit about it?

Maci: Yeah, um, so there’s five tracks on the EP. I think the first two are probably my favorite. They’re called “The Hill” and “Tastebuds”, and it wasn’t intentional, but the way they’re listed is in chronological order, so it’s newest to oldest. I think that the first two are my favorite right now just because they’re the most recent and I’m kind of resonating with them the most. “The Hill” is just guitar and vocals, and then “Tastebuds” is a much fuller arrangement, and it has lots of harmonies, drums, banjo, guitar, bass, all of that, so I’m really excited about those two.

Abbie: If you could open for any artist alive, who would it be?

Maci: Okay, that’s a really hard question, Joni Mitchell just played at the Grammys, which was amazing. I’m clearly on a Joni train, but probably Joni Mitchell or Brandi Carlile, I love those ladies. 

Abbie: What do you hope people are taking away from your music?

Maci: People, you know, like people will ask: When you listen to a song, do you listen to the music or the lyrics? And I’ve always kind of been a lyrics person, but it was really fun to experiment with the arrangement part too. But I also am proud of my writing and my lyrics, so I try to be very honest and I’m excited for that. I’m excited for people to hear that.

Abbie: Do you plan on playing any shows in the future?

Maci: Yes, definitely. I’m having kind of a little, smaller release part tomorrow, and I’ll play there- but I’m also hoping to play coffeeshops, downtown Boise, there’s lots of opportunities so yes, for sure.

Abbie: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the EP?

Maci: I do have To The Bone stickers, so if anyone would like a To The Bone sticker let me know.

Abbie: Thank you so much for your time, this was Maci Mattravers, and her EP release is February 10th, thank you!

You can listen to Maci’s EP wherever you get your music but here are a couple of links to listen on Spotify and Apple Music:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3u7bIfHRbs3dqkjq5ETq5k?si=f1bQizTOQtmCFUy-kTDOnw

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/to-the-bone-ep/1724597239

Interview transcript/blog post written by Elle Stephenson.

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