MAZIE Story By Lauren Sarazen P hotos By Meli Ulkumen Design By Sophie Gragg
FROM CLASSICAL TO JAZZ TO ELECTROPOP - Artist Mazie has ventured
through it all to craft the sound she has today. Drawing on a depth of knowledge from her Music Industry Studies degree at Drexel University, Mazie creates deep and distinctive tracks. Mazie, born Grace Christian, enjoyed classical training singing opera from the time she was nine years old. At 12, she expanded her repertoire to include jazz. Inspired by free-form scatting, Christian began composing her own songs. “I love it. I love jazz so so much. Classical is pretty rigid and jazz is the exact opposite of that,” she said. “Then I starting writing my own music and I recorded my first album when I was 15 and finished it when I was 17…[which] got me into school.” From there, the 18-year-old musician confidently embraced electropop, bringing her extensive vocal training along with her. Though she arrived at Drexel determined to focus on the business side of the industry, she was quickly scouted and signed by the university’s student label MAD Dragon. Instantly, it clicked—this was exactly what she wanted to do. However, recording a full-length EP in six weeks mid-semester is no picnic. Inspired but stressed, she relied on her strong work ethic to balance songwriting and recording on the weekend and acing her classes during the week.
“I went to school and then I would take a train home, write a full song, record it, go back to school for the week. When you have finals and midterms it’s just like ‘This is hard,’” she said. “I was the first pop act signed to the label so the student body was kinda drawn to it because they hadn’t heard very similar things coming out of Drexel.” The result is her EP “omw,” providing a fearless soundtrack to the Millennial experience. Though electropop has roots in 80s synth bands like New Order, Depeche Mode and Devo, there’s nothing dated about her sound. Blending the best of electronic beats and pop’s catchy hooks, electropop is incredibly marketable and on the rise. Noting its popularity among friends, Christian imagines these electro-heavy songs are the future of Pop. “When I was like 12 or 13, I was like ‘No, I won’t make music out of a computer,’ and now it’s like ‘Oh my gosh why are we using an instrument?!’” she said. “It’s like an electronic track with a little bit of a drop in the chorus. It’s not like a true electronic house track.” With “omw,” Christian focuses on navigating modern dating—a landscape fraught with landmines like handling ghosting in “ghost” and the nebulous space between a hook-up and defining the relationship in “me & u.” She even dips her toe into the #metoo movement with her
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