Maude Latour is 2021's own personal Hannah Montana, and we're watching her rise to fame from the sidelines.
Her double-life? By day, she's an Ivy-League-educated philosophy major taking the streets of New York City by storm from her dorm room. By night, she's Maude Latour: an indie singer-songwriter with a sound and lyrics so revolutionary that she epitomizes the free spirit.
Exuberant and fervently in love with life, Maude is a creator with a unique sound and take on music that makes her connect to her audience in an extremely personal way.
Rising to fame on the popular social media platform TikTok, Maude's song "One More Weekend" reached over five million streams, and she amassed an impressive social media following of over forty thousand on Instagram. Her signature eccentrism, personal yet catchy ballads to lost love, and infectious laugh make her one of the artists to watch out for this year.
Her song "Walk Backwards" debuted on a live-streamed Zoom call with over 300 fans present, and the music video featuring her roommates has amassed over 100,000 views since premiering on March 18.
The Teen Magazine had the chance to speak with Maude on her life, music, and everything she hopes for in the future.
Exuberant and fervently in love with life, Maude is a creator with a unique sound and take on music that makes her connect to her audience in an extremely personal way.
- The Teen Magazine
Maude's Journey & How It All Started
Maude points to her city-hopping high school years as the formative years for her songwriting.
"I moved back to New York from Hong Kong and I was in an A-Cappella group, because all of my friends were doing it. I guess I just realized that the songs I was singing could be personalized, to me, and once I saw that I literally have not wanted to sing everything else."
When she first started writing songs, Maude was enamored by the way that songwriting became entwined with her own ability to grow, work through things, and develop. Songwriting became a form of personal rebellion, something that she did everyday.
"I wrote way more then than I do now. Like, I wrote an insane amount. It was at least a song a day." She laughs.
by @libbyy.edwardss
She's been working with music for much longer than that. Maude played the violin in her youth, much like her mom, but found herself longing to find a new way to work with music, finding that in singing.
"I joined a choir in second grade and I just, stuck with it. I've been singing ever since then."
She credits her mom and the Suzuki method for her jumpstarting her music career, but the defining moment of her career was when her friend from third grade tried to "train her" for the talent show and taught her songs at recess every day. "That's so weird, because she probably doesn't even know that, that's what I'm pointing to. As the start of, you know, all of this."
Musical Categories
One listens to Maude's music and you'll get the vibe that there's not really a streamlined way to describe her style.
Maude's music is defined by overly-lyrical ballads set to uptempo background rhythms to where you're trapped somewhere between reminiscing in your bed over a lost love to hopping around your room screaming.
"I would describe my music as...um...odes to pop...squirming out of your fingers all the details...and it's summer...and it's going to be okay." She laughs.
Balancing Student & Pandemic Musician Life
Evidently, 2020 was a weird year to blow up as an artist, especially when you're already trying to manage a full-time college education and find new and inventive ways to connect with your audiences over Instagram and Zoom.
Maude takes these challenges in stride, both surrounding maintaining a strong focus on her academics as well as managing her fanbase and making them feel seen even through her phone screen.
Upon releasing her latest single, Maude hosted an almost 300 person Zoom release call where she played a stream of songs leading up to the Walk Backwards release at 12AM EST.
"Honestly, my fanbase has grown more in the past year than it ever has, and I credit TikTok a lot for that. I just want to get it out to more people, so trying to let people hear it and get it to enough people has been super big. I started doing lives during the first three months of quarantine, making group chats, and I just felt like I had really found my voice."
Maude's connection to her fans stems from her feeling that they went through the pandemic and her rise to fame together, and that shared experience with her fans makes her feel closer to them.
Her major isn't super far off from what she hopes to do, though. As a philosophy major, she draws on her education to explore a mission greater than herself and her music, and to step away from the more personal aspect of her work.
"It's all just about, my relationship with being alive. All of the classes I take are just to keep me inspired."
Ideas and Influences
Maude's creative process is unique, in that it doesn't involve a sit-down writing session where she's forcing herself to put words on paper as she did at the beginning. Songwriting, instead, acts as a confessional: she needs it to be that way, she explains, because otherwise, she'll lose her love for making music.
"I made a promise to myself that I would only put out music I needed to exist. Like if it was something I really had to say, that's when I'd put it out."
by @mikaylakits
Six years of songwriting later, she feels like she understands her process and her style, and she knows herself well enough to be patient and give herself flexibility to just be ready to write whenever the inspiration comes. She feels like her music comes to life when the title is ready.
Maude's dream collab? Rock band the Strokes.
"They're, just, the sickest, ever."
Maude's Favorite
The self-proclaimed embodiment of Maude Latour comes in the form of the song "Superfruit," an upbeat anthem imploring listeners to fully experience life.
"I think Furniture is one of my favorites, but I also love Superfruit. I think it just sets the tone for what this whole journey is for me and it just, like, tricks the audience into screaming at the top of their lungs that they're afraid to die. That's just like, the coolest thing ever."
10 Quick Q's With Maude Latour
Get to know Maude better with these fun and random questions. Ready? Get, set, go!
Dream travel destination?
Portugal!
Favorite movie?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
What did you want to be when you were little?
President of the United States
Biggest pet peeve?
Cracking knuckles. I can't stand it.
Secret Talent?
Pogo-sticking!
Best way to pass the time in quarantine?
Sunbathing on my windowsill. I made a fake beach in my living room and would just, go to the beach. On my windowsill. Or maybe filling up notebooks.
Statement wardrobe piece?
My pink puffer jacket, it's literally a part of my body at this point. Or maybe plaid pants.
Favorite college memory?
My first time performing. I did one show at Columbia my freshman year, and it was probably one of my favorite shows I've ever done.
Fashion icon?
My roommate honestly. We've all stolen her style. It's also like, maybe a little Gwen Stefani vibes?
Superpower?
Flying. I dream about flying all the time.
Keep Up With Maude
Keep up with Maude on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @maudelstatus.
