MAEDON has built her identity around the tension between machine precision and human vulnerability.
Photo credit: Marie Staggat
Fusing hardware synths, drum machines, and effects into a direct live experience, she has carved a path from Baltimore to New York and now Berlin, where she holds a residency at Tresor and runs her Rant and Rave imprint. Her collaborative album with Adam X as Maedon-X on Tresor marked a defining milestone, affirming her voice within industrial-leaning techno.
Beyond the studio and the booth, her recent chapter has been shaped by personal loss, growth, and renewed clarity. In this conversation, Maedon opens up about grief, healing through sound, gender imbalance in the industry, and the intention behind her evolving sonic language.
EG: Hi Maedon, Welcome to Electronic Groove! Before we dive in, where are you today, and what kind of headspace are you arriving in right now
Maedon: Thanks for the invite. If you had asked me this a month or so ago, I would have said that I was in a very good headspace. Everything that I have been working on over the past two years was coming to fruition. My release on my imprint, Rant & Rave, was released and is receiving good feedback, and I have just finished another 8 tracks. During this time, my Mother passed away, and I’m grieving. My mother was the only one in my family who was both supportive and understanding of my music. To say it hit me hard is a major understatement.
As I am writing this, I just returned from my first tour of the year. Before leaving, I wasn’t sure that I was fit to go. Now that I am back, I feel rejuvenated. The music, the friends, the parties, the dancers … it all helped me heal and find my grounding again. This is what my Mom wanted for me. I now feel like I’m on the verge of breaking through to a larger audience. I’m ready for takeoff.
EG: When you look back at your earliest relationship with music, what is one moment or feeling from those early years that still quietly informs how you create today
Maedon: I discovered in my early years of producing that I really loved exploring themes much like in Counterpoint or Contrapuntal music. I’m a classically trained pianist, and when I was in college, I discovered that I really loved Bach. To this day, I put a lot of attention to the musical lines or sequences; it’s all about creating a good hook or a good groove.
EG: Your work carries a strong sense of intention and control. At what point did you realize you wanted your music to feel deliberate rather than instinctive, and what triggered that shift
Maedon: It was the moment that I realised that in my personal life, I was living on instinct and feelings. It was the moment that I claimed autonomy for myself. It was when I came to an understanding that I needed to heal from toxicity. I was instinctively making music that was an expression of my inner turmoil. I decided to turn my life around. This brought about a change in not only my personal life direction, but also a change to the sounds I create. I was on a personal journey, and continue to this day, of healing, growing, and evolving. So I consciously decided that I wanted to make music whose ethos embodied healing; my music went from being harsh and hard to deeper, hypnotic, and more mental styles.
Everything is literally frequency, and some frequencies have a positive impact on us, while others do not. Growth and healing are my intention; to heal myself through music and hope that it serves positively to those dancing and listening. My intention from the beginning of my journey, when I made the decision many years ago to dedicate my life to music, was that I wanted to help heal the world, to serve as an inspiration. This journey will never end.
EG: Every artist has people or moments that push them forward. Do you remember the first time someone you admired showed belief in your work, and what that moment unlocked for you?
Maedon: I’ve had many people help me along the way, but the biggest breakthrough was when two amazing women wanted to take me on and work with me: my manager and publicist Carola Stoiber, and my agent Tina Panitzke. As a female artist, having other females believe in you and support you is truly the most validating and inspiring.
“Music is really what keeps me grounded; creating is the ultimate grounding”
EG: When you sit down to start something new, what are you actually listening for in yourself before the first sound takes shape
Maedon: I ask myself what I want to express. It all starts with a simple idea, one word usually. Each of my tracks starts in my drum machine, where I have limited characters to name the drum kit, so I find a simple word that grasps the idea, concept, or emotion that I want to convey.
EG: As a producer, how do you recognise the difference between a track that is technically finished and one that feels complete on a deeper level
Maedon: For me, a track that is fully complete has a very human touch or feel to it. An element that isn’t perfect. To be quite blunt, a track is never finished. There is a point when I decide to set it free.
EG: This latest chapter feels more focused and self-assured. What part of yourself became clearer during its creation
Maedon: Finding more confidence in my abilities and embracing the childlike aspect of discovery.
EG: Touring often shifts the way artists understand their own music. What are you most curious to discover about your work as you bring it into different rooms across the US?
Maedon: I look forward to taking risks and improvising. Most of my upcoming live sets are longer; I get two hours instead of one. I look forward to discovering how deep I can go and how stripped back I can take it in some moments. Most live sets are one hour long, and during the peak time of a party, so I usually play accordingly and go full on for the hour. I look forward to being able to take my time, read the room, and tell the story of the moment that the dancers and I are experiencing.
As I am writing this, I just returned to Berlin from Medellin, Colombia, where I played my first big festival, Freedom Festival. During my set, I discovered that having a huge crowd didn’t make me nervous; it gave me more confidence to take risks and do things I usually wouldn’t do, like improvising on my sequencer.
EG: The electronic scene moves fast, and expectations are louder than ever. What do you think is the hardest pressure artists face right now, and how do you personally keep perspective
Maedon: The hardest pressure is the amount of work in multiple areas one must do. As DJs and curators, we have to keep on top of new music; as producers, we must constantly be producing and releasing new music. Keeping on top of social media is perhaps the most challenging because it alone feels like a full-time job. We have to constantly be engaging our fans and growing our audience.
From another angle, there is also a very frustrating aspect to bookings. As a woman in this industry that’s still developing, it’s quite hard seeing how most promoters book the same women over and over. The number of them is really small, and there is no room for up-and-coming female artists. From my perspective, promoters are more keen to take a risk on up-and-coming male artists rather than women. This turns the women who do get booked everywhere into tokens, and as a woman, this is very dehumanising.
I keep perspective by stepping back and taking moments to just breathe. I also do my best to shut off media and social media feeds and instead stay focused on my music and growth.
“Growth and healing is my intention; to heal myself through music and hope that it serves in a positive way to those dancing and listening”
EG: If you had to describe your creative journey so far in a single word, what would it be and why
Maedon: Fortitude, because it’s taken a great amount of courage to persevere and move forward.
EG: Outside of the studio and the club, what is something that grounds you and helps you stay connected to yourself
Maedon: Music is really what keeps me grounded; creating is the ultimate grounding. But if I had to say something outside of music, honestly, it’s the most mundane. Leaving my flat and going for walks to do errands, and grabbing dinner alone at one of my favourite restaurants. Taking time for myself. Going to the nail salon or getting my hair done. Taking a moment of pause from music and sometimes going shopping to find an outfit I feel fabulous in. My advice to all is do what makes you feel good and what makes you happy.
EG: Looking ahead, what new questions are you excited to ask through your music next
Maedon: How can we get the whole world to start dancing so we can shift the current energies of division and fear to love, acceptance, unity, and growth? If only we could all just dance, I think that the nonsense of the world would have no fuel to continue.
Maedon’s ‘Matter & Form’ is out now on Rant & Rave Records. Stream and download here.
Follow Maedon: Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram
