Maya Delilah talks “The Long Way Round” and Fan Interactions

Maya Delilah has made a name for herself with her guitar wizardry and songwriting that feels like a warm embrace. The singer-songrwriter announced her debut album The Long Way Round will be released on March 28th, and fans are incredibly excited to see what she brings to the table this time. In a recent press conference, Delilah stated that she can’t just stick to one sound because she loves so many genres— so needless to say, we’re all beside ourselves to see what she has come up with.

Being named ‘Spotify Artist to Watch’ for 2025 is a huge recognition, how does it feel to be spotlighted in that way?

Oh my god, it feels incredible. Very surreal. I started releasing music on Spotify when I was 19, and it feels like it’s taken so many different turns to get to this point. When you start out, you want to get on playlists and have people listen organically, it’s just such a journey to get to a point where people start to know who you are. I’m a Spotify listener, and I love making playlists and listening to curated playlists. It’s a very big honor.

You once considered becoming a surgeon, what led you to fully commit to music instead?

I realized I wasn’t that good at science and that I should maybe stick to what I know better. I wanted to move to school so I applied to this performing arts school in London. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do there, and the thing that pushed me to go there was my mom asking, ‘What would Prince do?’ I was such a big Prince fan at the time, so she said that and I had to go to the music school!

What led you to your guitar playing style and mostly using your fingers as opposed to using a pick? Was that something that came naturally or a gradual evolution?

When I first started playing, it was solely finger style acoustic guitar, and for that, you don’t use a pick. From there, I moved onto banjo, and you use five picks for that instrument. I decided instead of that, I’d grow these five nails really long and do it that way. With using my fingers, I find the emotion comes through so much more.

Your guitar skills are a significant part of your artistry, how did your unique approach learning guitar by ear shape your playing style?

Learning by ear helps me connect with the music so much more. When I started learning it in that way, it took away the academic side of music for me and brought in so much more passion. It’s the same with making music, it’s about the care and really listening. I find it really hard when I get into a session and people are talking in really technical terms or about theory, it sort of takes me out of the room.

What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from your music?

With my album, I really hope that it feels like home to people. When I wrote it, I was listening to a lot of records I listened to growing up, so for me it sounds really nostalgic, of course, because that was my life. There’s a lot of themes of simplicity of life and coming home to yourself. I hope that it feels emotional and comforting, like music you’d play on a chill Sunday morning.

What is your favorite song on the new album?

I would say, at the moment— it really does change quite a lot, actually— but right now, “I’ll Be There In The Morning,” which is not out yet.

What was the hardest part about creating this album?

When I started making it, I was really in the mindset that I had to be consistent and have a consistent sound. The industry sort of tells you to pick a lane. I am so not that kind of person, I feel inspired by so many different genres. I couldn’t pick a sound, and in the end I didn’t pick one. There’s the worry that people won’t like it because it’s not all one sound, and that was definitely the hardest part.

What inspired the song “Squeeze?”

It kind of came out of nowhere, I was on a writing trip in the countryside in England, the trip was with six other musicians, and we’d write in the day and record in the evening. My drummer and bass player, Aaron and John, while we were having dinner, went into the room and started playing the main line in the song. We were like, ‘Hold up! The day is not done, we have to write to this.’ So it just came from a jam. We all had so much fun, we’d all had tequila and pizza, that’s kind of where the silliness of the lyrics came from too.

Do you have fan interaction stories that really stick with you?

I think the best possible thing that’s been said to me at a show was that I inspired them to play the guitar, and that’s happened a few times. Those are always the ones that really stick with me because it just seems absolutely insane to me.

If 2021 was breakup season, was season are we in for 2025?

I am gonna say nostalgic season. I’m really in a nostalgic way at the moment, I’m doing a lot of looking back and looking forward. In a grateful way, not a sad way. A lot of the time I’ve forgotten to go back to my roots and upbringing, and I’ve really dug back into that recently, and it’s making my life better.