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[0:08] Robert Bannon: Well, everybody, welcome right here to the round table. My name is Robert Bannon and I love singers. Like I'm obsessed with singers. I'm obsessed with people that sing on stage, write music, put out music, and you could be listening to Maisy's music right now, plus new music, plus she's on tour. She's like leaving in two minutes to go to Europe and be in sold-out shows and living it. We stole her from rehearsal. The reason she's not rehearsing right now is because she's spending time with you and me. Maisy Kay, welcome to the round table.

[0:38] Maisy Kay: Hello, thank you for having me.

[0:40] Robert Bannon: Oh, are you kidding? You can s— you sped her sing, Maisie.

[0:46] Maisy Kay: Sings.

[0:48] Robert Bannon: Thank you. So has the United States temporarily stolen you? Do you now consider yourself a Los Angeles person?

[0:56] Maisy Kay: No. And I get very offended when people say that to me. They say, "Oh, you've lived in LA so long, you're practically a native." And I go, "Don't you dare say that to me." I'm British. I've maintained the accent. I worked very hard on it. So no, LA is not my home. But it is where I need to be right now for work. So yes, I love it. I have a husband who's obsessed with Britain, and he looks at real estate in Britain all the time and says, "When we retire, we're gonna go buy an old house, and I'm gonna have to learn how to be classy because I'm from New Jersey, Maisie, and I don't have a classy bone in my body." So you'll have to teach me.

[1:35] Maisy Kay: I can do that. I'll teach you how to put your pinky up when you drink your tea and everything.

[1:39] Robert Bannon: See, I'm already doing it. You're halfway there. What is this show? You're on tour. You've toured with a lot of artists. If you were with Tori Kelly, you're with people around the country, you've sold arenas and venues and stadiums and theaters and wherever. How do you describe the experience when people come see you or listen to your music?

[1:59] Maisy Kay: I've been describing it as whimsical pop because I have a big butterfly rhinestone microphone and I wear these fairy princess outfits, and it's very flamboyant and very dramatic. I like to put on a show. So yeah, I think it's like stepping into a little fantasy universe for a little bit. And as someone that genuinely loves fantasy in her personal life, it's cool to be able to bring that to a live show and to bring that into music.

[2:27] Robert Bannon: Absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. A little bit of a moment outside of our— the world is crazy, so let's escape to your music. So when did you discover you had this talent to not only sing but write?

[2:39] Maisy Kay: I always knew I could sing. I was singing before I could talk. I would dress up as Disney princesses and serenade my dogs as a kid all the time. So no one ever questioned what I was gonna be when I grew up. But I didn't start writing until I was a little bit older. I started writing musical theater and I would write my own musicals. And when I was 10, one of them got featured in my local paper, and then a recording studio saw me and asked if I wanted to come in and try recording my songs for the first time. I believe I was 12 when that happened when I first went into the recording studio. So that's when I really fell in love with the process of writing and recording.

[3:20] Robert Bannon: You're 12. You were a baby. Out of your writing, I can't even write a thank you letter, and you're out here writing songs at 12 years old, and songs now that have become anthems and have streamed millions and millions of streams, including a brand new song that's coming out like in a week, like literally, called "Bitter." Can you tell us a little bit about it? What's the sound? What's the story about how you wrote it or how you made it happen?

[3:45] Maisy Kay: Yeah, so "Bitter" is all about looking back at the way you used to feel when bitter and sort of being glad that you don't feel that way anymore, and that you've moved on and you've sort of found acceptance and left it in the past. And it was very funny because when we wrote that song, I did not feel that way at all. And I told my co-writers as much. I said, "But I don't actually feel this way. I still feel pretty bitter, actually." And they were like, "Okay, but just try and imagine if you didn't. Just try and imagine a world where you have moved on and you do feel good about it." And I was like, "Fine, but I just need everyone to know that I don't actually feel that way." And then it was so funny.

We wrote it last year. Now, as it's coming out, I actually do feel that way. At the time when we wrote it, I thought I would never feel this way. And I think it's really cool that now, by the time it's coming out, I actually very much emotionally connect with the lyrics in a way that I just did not at the time when we wrote it. So it's cool and it makes me feel proud personally to be able to feel the way I do now as the song is coming out and stand behind the lyrics and be like, "Oh, I really mean that." Because at the time we wrote it, I did not mean it at all.

[5:09] Robert Bannon: What did you? I wanted you— God, I was gonna be bitter forever. Congrats on personal— look, I'm old and married now, but if I still look back in the past, I could be 20 years ago and I'm still bitter and angry. So I need— we all need to listen to the song and woo-sah, heal ourselves, get over our bitterness. I like don't get bitter, just get better. When you put your shows together, you have a couple of singles now, a bunch of singles. If you take a song like "Technicolor Honeymoon," a number one hit pop record, or you take songs from the early stuff that you did, like "In Your Car," and songs that your career has evolved and started, what's it like to go back and perform these songs and hear the audience sing along to your music and walk down your own memory lane of the songs that you've put out?

[5:57] Maisy Kay: It's really cool. And the last tour, we performed a song called "Almost Touch Me." I've never performed it live, but it is technically, I think, my highest streaming solo song. So I said to my team, I was like, "We should probably actually perform this. People probably know this one." So that was really cool. And then yeah, I mean, this tour, we're doing a few new ones that are new. We're doing a few songs that I've not performed live that are actually a bit older. And it's very cool to get to revisit them. We're looking at like pre-COVID, I believe. No, no, that might not be true. Actually, I may have just lied to you. That's okay. What I don't know what time is anymore, to be honest. Ever since 2020, I feel like I'm in a new dimension.

But at the very least, we're looking at songs that are over five years old. So it's really cool to revisit it. And yeah, I feel really proud of my older stuff. I see where I am now, and I'm in a different spot, but I still have so much love for the older stuff.

[7:00] Robert Bannon: Yes. Absolutely. Like older stuff, like "The Storm." When a song like that goes in millions and millions of streams happen, you've worked with a lot of very, very high—

[7:11] Maisy Kay: This is Freddy. He was screaming in the background, so I thought I'd just bring him in.

[7:14] Robert Bannon: You're beautiful, Freddie. Is Freddie hitting the road or did Freddie stay home and bring in your mail?

[7:20] Maisy Kay: Freddie goes to a very bougie caterer every time I go on tour where he is spoiled and he always comes back a little chunky.

[7:31] Robert Bannon: I've never— a catery? Is that what you see?

[7:36] Maisy Kay: I'm learning how to be fancy and British already.

[7:38] Robert Bannon: I've never heard of that.

[7:40] Maisy Kay: It's not a kennel, it's a catering.

[7:43] Robert Bannon: I'm stealing that word. I'm putting it in my phone right now.

[7:48] Maisy Kay: You should. We may have just inspired the next hit song for Maisy.

[7:51] Robert Bannon: It might be. When you look at Timberland, Ties Do, Dark Child, all these people that you have worked on, do you get intimidated to work with producers and songwriters and people? Or do you just know like, "I'm Maisy. I got my own vibe and style, and I'm gonna walk in the room." How do you navigate those relationships?

[8:09] Maisy Kay: Yeah, I think I definitely was very nervous at first. And I think from doing those sessions with Timberland and with all of these icons I've worked with, I really learned that, you know, even though they are these industry legends, they really do appreciate your ideas and what you have to bring to the table and your own uniqueness, and they really like it when you speak up. For me, I think in the past I'd feel a bit afraid to suggest my own ideas because I'd be a bit like, "Well, who am I?" You know what I mean? Like I didn't feel like a good enough writer to just speak up in rooms like that for a long— wow, just lost my voice. It's fine. No, for a long time. So I think I was really pleasantly surprised to see just how much they really do value what you have to bring.

And you don't have to be a huge name to have respect in the writing room. And I thought that was really cool. And it helped me really believe in myself and be able to voice up my own opinions and my own ideas, even if I'm not convinced that they're great because people really love the collaborative process.

[9:24] Robert Bannon: But you're like an artist, artist too. Like you're not just a singer and a songwriter. Like you're design— your EP covers are by you. Even your web store is like— you are— you just are a vision.

[9:38] Maisy Kay: Oh, thank you so much. I really love design. I love— like I said, I love creating a whole universe. And for me, that involves the merch and the videos and the single artwork. So anywhere I can add a little bit of whimsy and fun, I try to do that as much as humanly possible.

[9:55] Robert Bannon: So look, everybody, homework assignment. The music's coming out, "Bitter" is coming out. You're gonna go to MaisyK.com, you're gonna go to the store, see the stuff she's designed, see the album covers, look at it, find the whole process, go in the deep dive, go back to the COVID days where we didn't even know our name and we gained a lot of weight, and then listen to those songs and just take the journey all the way up to today and see the evolution that is Maisy Kay. And then you're gonna be in the— you're going to Europe.

[10:19] Maisy Kay: Yes.

[10:23] Robert Bannon: And then I'm sure there'll be more dates, more concerts, lots more to come the rest of this year.

[10:30] Maisy Kay: There will definitely be more. I'm very excited to get to announce a whole lot more coming.

[10:35] Robert Bannon: Okay, I'm ready. When you come to the States and we're ready for a concert— I know you just did a tour in the US, but when you're back here, I'm coming. I'm ready. I'm gonna put my dog in the doggery.

[10:46] Maisy Kay: Is that a thing?

[10:48] Robert Bannon: In the doggery. You know? See, why are we discriminating against dogs? Why do the cats have a caterery and the dogs don't have a doggery?

[10:57] Maisy Kay: I don't know. I think you should complain.

[11:00] Robert Bannon: Okay, I'm gonna send a tensely worded email when I hang up with you, and I'm gonna listen to the song "Bitter" to get over it right now.

[11:06] Maisy Kay: Listen to "Bitter." Get yourself together, everybody. I'm so excited. Thank you for being here. Congratulations. Have an incredible tour and have a great rehearsal, and I'm so grateful to spend some time with you.

[11:16] Maisy Kay: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I had a blast.