Maxine Scott’s beautifully evocative compositions blend a hybrid of ‘90s inspired sounds drawing on R&B, soul, and Nujazz. Her soft, speak-easy vocals combined with her honeyed, scrapbook-style production compliments her quirky ‘90s pop aesthetic, while the level of maturity in her lyrical content belies her 22 years. Now, Scott is set to join Ramrock Blue Records with her seductively soulful ‘Eryka U Bad’ EP.
As Maxine Scott joins Ramrock Blue Records with her ‘Eryka U Bad’ EP, we caught up with her to celebrate the milestone and learn more about the Russian-British artist.
EG: Hi Maxine, what’s your real name, and where were you born?
Maxine Scott: Hello! My name is Maxine Scott and I was born in Margate, Kent.
EG: Describe your music in 3 words?
Maxine Scott: I would describe my music as smooth, sexy, and just vibesssss man.
EG: Where are you based?
Maxine Scott: I’m currently based in Ramsgate, Kent, in the UK, but I’m all over the place. I spend a lot of my week in London at sessions.
EG: What labels have you released on in your career?
Maxine Scott: My first solo release, ‘Erykah U Bad’ EP was just released via Ramrock Blue Records, which is super exciting! I’ve also featured on ADR (UK)’s ‘Back to Dance’ EP which was released on VIVa MUSiC.
EG: Can you tell us 3 artists you aspire to / have influenced you?
Maxine Scott: Wow! Ok. So, my tone was definitely influenced by Sarah Vaughan. She was the first jazz singer I ever listened to when I was back in school, and her timbre just made me melt. I would say an old friend is also a huge inspiration of mine, Lola Young. I met her during the early days of her career and now she has blown it out of the park. We met when I was about 15 and her lyrics were just insane (they’re even better now!), she’s such an amazing storyteller and she’s definitely influenced my approach to songwriting. I literally can’t tell you just 3 artists that have inspired me because there have been so many, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, J.Cole, and so many more.
EG: How long have you been producing music?
Maxine Scott: So it was actually funny, I’ve sung all my life and I went to Uni ‘expecting’ to find a producer and that one would just fall in my lap. I realized how naive I was and moving to London really woke me up. I only had GarageBand, but I was living with some really cool producers at the time who used sample packs, so I just watched what they did every night and it all started there really.
EG: Three things you can’t live without on the road when touring?
Maxine Scott: I would say headphones for sure, I can’t travel anywhere without them. My phone.. obviously. I love sharing positive energy with people so just a good network of people does me.
EG: Can you tell us about your next releases?
Maxine Scott: I have several in the pipeline. I’ve got the follow up to ‘Erykah U Bad’ – a collaboration with brilliant new talent + beats maker, Alf.E – that’s on Ramrock Blue and then I’m working on a track with the legendary Black Science Orchestra + Ashley Beedle – that’s huge – I’ve been in the studio laying down the vocals. Then there’s a track out of Australia with Andrew Sant on F*CLR, and then….I have a song that I produced during lockdown. I wrote it during my time at Tomorrow’s Warriors, which is an amazing jazz organization started by Gary Crosby. So I was really involved with such talented individuals and we had regular sessions and open mics. One session a guy walked in and he just totally blew me away.. no pun intended but he did play the sax, and he was also one of the tutors, so no luck for me. This song is about him. Shit, I hope he’s not reading this. So I’m busy!!
EG: One piece of advice you can give to other aspiring producers?
Maxine Scott: Just learn your craft! And don’t take it all so seriously because life is short and meant to be fun. Enjoy the process, as soon as you forget about the outcome you begin to enjoy every aspect of it, even the 3 AM finishes and the 6 AM starts.
Maxine Scott’s ‘Erykah U Bad’ EP (incl. North Street West Mixes) is out now via Ramrock Blue Records. Purchase your copy here.
Follow Maxine Scott: Soundcloud
