More Eaze: The ‘Monday Is OK’ Mix

This continues on her contribution to our Monday is OK series. Full of wintry, autumnal sounds, from airy ambient and bubbling electronica to experimental folk and grungy guitars, the mix reflects the musical medicine that More Eaze would be administering on her Monday…

Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you, what are you?

Hi I’m Mari Maurice aka More Eaze. I’m in Austin TX. I am a girl who is a musician/composer/producer.

Tell us about the Monday mixtape you’ve put together for us.

This mix goes a lot of places. It very much feels like the songs that have soundtracked most weeks for me lately. Things that are kind of autumnal and meditative but also a lot of music that’s deeply emotional and cathartic. To me it’s reflective to how I generally listen to music while working and easing my way into the week.

If it were to be drawn what would it look like?

It would be a continuous line that breaks off into vibrant shapes and characters at intermittent points. I could also envision it as a smear of burnt oranges, yellows, greens, and blacks that resemble leaves.

If it were a food what would it be?

I think it’d be a smattering of sides at a soul food restaurant. Some sweet potatoes, buttered carrots, fried okra, etc….

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

Walking your dog in a scenic neighborhood at dusk in crisp weather and getting comfortingly lost.

What should we be wearing?

Something comfortable that also makes you feel stylish and represented.

Where was it recorded?

In my partners living room in the mid afternoon.

Are you on the same wavelength as the boomtown rats or do you actually like Mondays?

Generally a boomtown rat.

Who got you hooked on music?

There are so many factors that led to me getting hooked on music and so many people who were foundational. Seeing wilco at age 13 during the yankee hotel foxtrot tour was monumental for me – I had never seen a live show that took into account the types of atmospherics and electronics that are on that record and it really planted a seed. Sharing music with my friend Zack as a teenager was also huge as was the guidance and help from my friend Joe Reyes.

What was the first record you heard and how did it make you feel?

I think the first non-greatest hits albums I remember hearing growing up were Paul Simon’s Graceland and Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell. We would listen to them a lot on family road trips. Graceland felt exotic and bittersweet – it would conjure images of big cities not yet seen in my head. bat out of hell felt scandalous and energetic. I felt excited whenever we listened to it.

What were the first and last records you bought?

First: Astrolounge by Smash Mouth. Last: The Best of Taylor E. Burch.

What are you obsessed with at the moment?

The sound of warm dry guitars, vetiver based perfumes, playing the violin, crackles, the smell of my dogs’ feet, all the songs on this mix, vegetables.

If you could travel in time…where in time would you go? Why?

I think I would honestly just want to go back to the late 90s/early 00s but as the age I am now. I am so excited by all music from that time and it seems like there was a sense of infinite possibility that came with the turn of the millennium. Would have loved to experienced that as a fully cognizant adult who could fully engage with all of that as it was developing.