Q&A: Maya Engen Wears Her Heart Out on Her Sleeve on “Just My Luck” EP
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
FOR MAYA ENGEN, WEARING YOUR HEART ON YOUR SLEEVE ISN’T A WEAKNESS — it's the foundation of Just My Luck. Across six tracks, the soulful pop powerhouse explores the emotional risks that come with love, heartbreak and healing. Blending soulful pop melodies and a smoky jazz edge, the debut EP examines the dual meaning behind its title, capturing both the thrill of finding something worth holding onto and the resilience required to walk away from what no longer serves you. Bound together by vulnerability, Just My Luck is a celebration of taking chances and trusting that every experience shapes who you become.
At its heart, Just My Luck embraces the duality behind its title. The familiar phrase can signal extraordinary fortune or the sting of heartbreak, and Engen leans into both meanings.
“‘Just my luck’ as a phrase can represent how lucky something is, or it can be the worst thing to happen,” Engen says to Luna. “The project explores both sides of that coin.”
Some of the songs revisit relationships that demanded more than they gave. Instead of dwelling in heartbreak, Engen frames these stories as acts of empowerment where those moments allowed her to heal.
“Some of the stories are about relationships that I've had that have really not served me well and are that moment of realization of taking that first step and walking away and wanting better for myself and re-instilling a new level of self respect,” she says. “Other songs on the project are about finding love for the first time and feeling really confident in yourself and that vulnerability.”
While the EP reflects on endings, it is equally invested in beginnings. Sometimes, opening yourself to joy can be the greatest leap of faith.
“These songs are a testament,” Engen says. “On the opposite side of the spectrum with love, I feel like there's a different vulnerability that's so delicate. When you finally have found love or a healthy relationship for the first time, it's really hard to let your guard down and accept that trust and place all that trust into that person and allow yourself to surrender. Vulnerability is the throughline of all of these songs and how to harness it.”
With her debut EP, Engen is redefining vulnerability as a source of resilience.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
MAYA: I am the most inspired by big female powerhouse vocalists, and some male as well. I grew up listening to a lot of Adele, Amy Winehouse, Aretha, Etta James and Miley Cyrus. I feel like those big powerhouse female vocalists are the center of their brand with their voice and are always what inspired me the most. I grew up falling in love with singing covers of their songs. I feel like as I started to make my own music, I was so inspired by their individuality and their artistic license to let their voice and their soul navigate the world around their art, and that's what I've been trying to do for myself, and just being as authentic as I can be, and in my lyricism and in the visuals that I create around my music. I'm a big picture girl, so I like to always think about the entire world around the art I make.
LUNA: You just released your debut EP Just My Luck and huge congratulations are in order! What emotions or inspirations did you feel compelled to explore for your debut?
MAYA: Just My Luck is an EP that is a celebration of wearing your heart on your sleeve and taking chances and risks. “Just my luck” as a phrase, the reason why I picked that phrase for the title of the project is because when you say “just my luck,” you can mean it literally, being like “how awesome is that?” or “just my luck, I'm having the worst day of my life.” This project explores both sides of that coin. Some of the stories are about relationships that I've had that have really not served me well and are that moment of realization of taking that first step and walking away and wanting better for myself and re-instilling a new level of self respect. Other songs on the project are about finding love for the first time and feeling really confident in yourself and that vulnerability.
I would say that the general across those two sides of the spectrum, the common theme and emotion is vulnerability and the way that we as humans harness vulnerability. I think that in situations where you've been wronged, or the songs that are more angsty and sad or upset and angry, I think there's a vulnerability in accepting that you've been wronged. I think it's really hard to admit that sometimes. I have been criticized for having that vulnerability and accepting that about myself.
These songs are a testament. Those songs on the project like “Fool” and “Mercury” are a testament to that and reclaiming that vulnerability. On the opposite side of the spectrum with love, I feel like there's a different vulnerability that's so delicate. When you finally have found love or a healthy relationship for the first time, it's really hard to let your guard down and accept that trust and place all that trust into that person and allow yourself to surrender, and so on that side of the spectrum, the vulnerability is spoken about in the way that it's very hard to accept. Vulnerability is the throughline of all of these songs and how to harness it.
LUNA: I would love to touch more on the creative process behind Just My Luck. What did a typical songwriting / recording session look like?
MAYA: Because this was my first ever project, “Fool” was the first song I ever released. I'm very new to all this, and I'm still very much in the process of finding my sound. I was super privileged to work with so many different people in writing this project. I also am even more lucky that I was able to actually finish and record the project with the same group of people. In terms of songwriting, I mainly wrote this project with Tor Miller and Shy Kid was the executive producer, and Tor Miller is one of my co-writers. The other songs on the project filtered different songwriters in and out, and so the songwriting process was always different because it's always different with every person you work with.
Sometimes we would start with a concept that I had been thinking about for a while and wanted to flesh out, and then sometimes we would start with a sound idea and a production idea. “Midnight Blue” was the most interesting of the writing processes because I felt like at that point in my writing I had been really diving into production as a big part of the writing process. “Midnight Blue” was the first time that we really took a step back from that and turned the computer off, and just sat in front of a piano and wrote the song. That was a really raw and vulnerable way of approaching it. I think that emotional integrity is what allowed the song to be so beautifully written. I'm so proud of that songwriting. We took it to the production process, and we went through probably at least 20 different versions of the song in different production routes.
Generally, the creative process was always so much fun because I just had such a level of trust with the people that I was making it with, and it always all the songs came so organically. Sometimes we would start with something more production-based, and sometimes we would start with something more lyric-based and find our way from there. It was never the same, which I love because there's no right way of making a project.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on Just My Luck — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Maya Engen is right now?
MAYA: The song that is closest to me is “Midnight Blue.” I feel like it's the most revealing songwriting-wise about who I am, that was definitely the most vulnerable song on the project. Generally speaking, that's such a hard question because I love all of them so much, and I'm so lucky that I really do love all of these songs, and it's so difficult to pick. It's so difficult because I feel like I have my more angsty songs or Amy Winehouse-inspired, sassy songs like “Fool” and “Vinyl,” and then on the other side of the spectrum I have “Spend My Love” that’s more angsty. “Spend My Love,” “Jade,” “Midnight Blue” and “Mercury” are somewhere in between. “Vinyl” is such a good encapsulation of my vibe as an artist. In my music that I will continue to create, there will always be two sides to that because one side of me, as a person, I'm super emotionally vulnerable and I wear my heart on my sleeve, which is what the whole project is about. But I also exude confidence in the way that I carry myself, and I think that comes across in my music as well. “Vinyl” is a really great representation of that, and has the sassy, bad bitch energy vibe. “Midnight Blue” is a more emotional look into my artistry.
LUNA: What is the ideal environment to experience your music? Is there a particular setting, mood, or time of day that enhances the listening experience?
MAYA: Depends on the song because they're all so different. My favorite way to listen to music is when I am spending time with myself. I feel like a walk through New York City is such a great way to experience my music because a lot of it was written in New York as well, and I also just think that being from New York is a really integral part of who I am as an artist. The only really correct way you could listen to my music is in New York. Maybe you're pre-gaming on a rooftop with a spritz in your hand with a view of the skyline. You're walking alone at night safely in a busy area. You're like walking alone, specifically in a busy area, and you're so lost in your own world listening to the music.
LUNA: How did you celebrate the EP release?
MAYA: I celebrated the EP release with my friends that night. We were all hanging out and I wanted to organize a party. I just had such a great night with them, and they were all so excited. We all left the bar at midnight so we could all play it in the street, and we all tried to sync our phones up. It was really cute. The reason I didn't do anything more formal that night is because I really celebrated the release of the EP when I played Baby’s All Right. I played my first ever sold-out headline show, which was such a huge milestone, and the night was just one of the best nights of my life. Truly, it was the most fun I've ever had on stage. The performance was incredible. My band was incredible. My whole team was there. Everyone I love was there. We celebrated at the after party a few blocks away and we danced all night. I could never have asked for a more perfect way to celebrate than dancing because that's my favorite thing. It was a week out of my wildest dreams.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
MAYA: I'm also a queer artist, and I feel like a lot of people don't know that. I really hope that queer women can find some solace in my music and give them strength and confidence to love fearlessly, specifically in “Jade” and “Midnight Blue,” and I only hope that the way that I've been vulnerable in my songwriting would inspire another woman to be unafraid to express that emotion and that vulnerability. I'm a very feminine person. Everything I do is for the girls. When it comes to my merch, my visuals, it's all for the girls and the gays, of course. I hope that every girl that listens to my music feels like the most confident version of themselves when they listen to my music, whether it's “Midnight Blue” or “Fool,” I hope that they can take that strength and that confidence from whatever song they're listening to, and be inspired to to put an extra pep in their step and and strut down the street or wear a bold outfit that they've been a little nervous to wear and take that risk.
LUNA: What is your wildest dream as an artist? If you can have one thing happen (a milestone or dream collaboration you hope to achieve in your career), what would that look like for you?
MAYA: The dream is obviously an arena tour. There's nothing I love more than performing, and I think that my audience will not truly be able to understand who I am as an artist until they see me live. My live show gives so much insight into who I am as an artist and what my music is about. I'm also very theatrical, and I can't wait for the day that I have a budget to make a set and design all of that. I'm very hands-on with all that design stuff, so I'm so excited about that. Selling out MSG is a dream. Another dream of mine is to work with Bob Mackie and have custom outfits for my shows, basically what Olivia Dean is doing right now, but in a more Cher way. I dream of the day that I can really collaborate with a designer to bring my sense of style to life in the most bold and glamorous way on stage possible.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
MAYA: I'm feeling amazing right now. I've just completed my first project rollout, so this was a huge milestone, and I've just sold out my first headline show, which to my brain I can't wrap my head around it, so I'm feeling so amazing. I feel like a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders, not in a burdensome way, but a weight is lifted off my shoulders in the sense that I feel like I can now move on and really focus on this next project. I've had the concept for it for over six months now, and I'm just so excited to start writing again and put the pedal to the metal and just go full throttle. I've learned so much from this first project and getting it done that I'm so ready to apply what I've learned to this next era. I'm so excited to create a new era with a new vibe, new colors and new visuals. I'm opening for Niina Soleil at Gramercy Theater on August 28, which is going to be the biggest venue I've ever played. I'm excited about this next project and to just keep performing and see where the music takes me. People can just definitely expect more from me, and expect for me to raise the bar for the standard of my music, and keep building a world around myself and my music.
