Mae
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
Website
Bio
“Instead of limiting yourself and trying to put music inside a category, try and put yourself inside the music. Melody, harmony, dynamic fused with moments. Moments are the individual times that you have and remember, cherish and save for the rest of your life.” Mae, of Norfolk, VA, for the last two years, have been making memorable moments of beauty and substance in the face of a music scene wrought with momentary bands and fads. Their debut album, “Destination: Beautiful”, establishes them as a precious resource, a few-and-far-between career band, capable of creating hits as well as a loyal following. Much like the bands and records that they aspire to, including the Beatles’ White Album, U2’s Joshua Tree and The Police’s Synchronicity, Mae seem bent on growth and expansion, evident on the spanning mood and dynamic of “Destination: Beautiful” “In our music, there is a carefully constructed co-existence of hard and soft. I think that balance is part of what sets us apart musically and, hopefully, our listeners are never trapped in one musical dimension.”
There’s a frailty and delicacy in Mae’s original arrangements and delivery, a musical spirituality reminiscent of U2 and a melodic, instrumental grasp harkening Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity, that speaks maturity beyond the age of chief vocalist and songwriter Dave Gimenez, age 21. “Mae's mission is to create songs that people of all interests, cultures, demographics, and loves can identify with. [We want people to] be part of the moments themselves through the music and the lyrics.” Their accessible melodies and everyman tales of romantic and relational plight immediately resonate within anyone who has warm blood circulating in their veins.
Pop music by definition is a musical genre most characterized by its accessibility and broad appeal. Though a genre most often scorned by the elitist fashion, Mae’s songs fly under the up-turned-nose radar and showcase their duality of credibility and radio-ready sound in brilliant tones and depth. Songs like “Summertime” and “Embers and Envelopes” weave their way around the heart and lodge themselves in the memory effortlessly. “We write all of our songs to be hits. We are excited to see people sorting through them to pick their favorites.”
Mae’s full-length, “Destination: Beautiful” hit stores in February of 2003 on Tooth & Nail Records, which they have been promoting and touring around non-stop. You may have seen them on nation-wide tours with bands such as Elliott, Brand New, Ozma, and Piebald.
