Review Fix Exclusive: The Stray Birds Singer Maya di Vitry Talks ‘Best Medicine’

Review Fix chats with The Stray Birds female lead singer Maya di Vitry, who discusses the band’s new album, “Best Medicine,” as well as the band’s creative process and goals for the future. The band’s second release following their critically-acclaimed debut, the female-frontman breaks down the band’s unique Folk-Americana sound and tells us what makes this journey a different one for the group.

Review Fix: What do you think makes this band special?

Maya di Vitry: Our roles are fluid, and we have some real mutual respect. We are all capable and willing to yield to whatever best serves a song. We are all comfortable leading and following, sometimes within a single song. We all grew up in the same county in Pennsylvania, so we share speech patterns that make singing harmonies feel effortless sometimes. And we are also all the oldest sibling, so we have an unhealthy (but special) collective amount of drive and occasional perfectionist streaks. 

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

di Vitry: The most ideal creative process of the trio is to get together in a room somewhere, one of us plays a new song, and the rest of the band is magically moved by the song and excited to arrange it on the spot. This usually only can happen when the band is well-fed and well-rested, with little outside interruption. It honestly doesn’t happen very often, but these moments of working up a new song together have been positively some of the best moments in the band. Oliver and I write most of our songs individually, so it’s really great to feel them come alive in the hands of our bandmates when we bring a new song to the table. Sometimes songs are arranged on the spot, but often it takes weeks for something to settle, to find the right groove, or the right instrumentation.

Review Fix: How was “Best Medicine” written? Is there a story behind it?

di Vitry: I started scrawling down some lines and ideas after wandering around Schenectady, NY one day. I had spent some time talking with Kurt, a man who has a record shop called The Re-Collector on Jay Street, and my mind was swirling with images of boarded up windows, the General Electric plant, neon signs, and the characters I’d met and passed on the street that day. Someone called it an anthem recently. Sure, it’s an anthem for the small shops, for the small towns, for anyone who believes music and art are essential parts of culture, and for used things that still bring joy, like an old vinyl record with a worn cover and a story to tell. We returned to Schenectady with the song, shared it with Kurt, and made a music video starring him. That was a great day. 

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

di Vitry: I’m a listener and a lover of music. I’m just happy to be alive and be able to be affected by music. The sensations I’ve had, the memories and dreams that are triggered, the joy and energy I am consumed with when I am listening to music– these are the same things I often feel while I am playing, and when any of that is being channeled to the audience or the listeners, it is hugely humbling and hugely empowering at the same time. Music is connection, and elation. And I really do believe that it is medicine.

Review Fix: What musicians inspire you guys that we wouldn’t expect?

di Vitry: Tupac Shakur, Tchaikovsky, Adele 

Review Fix: What makes this album different for you guys?

di Vitry: Everyone is featured as a lead singer for the first time. There’s a co-write (Feathers & Bone). Oliver came up with the gorgeous melody and the first verse and chorus, told me who he was thinking about while writing it (our friend Ana Egge), and that was all I needed to know to get into the creative space of that song and help him finish it. We wrote the last two verses together, in a seamless and delightful process that included a late night in the studio at a writing desk, and then text messages from the front to the back of the car while on a bridge in New York City. There is piano on the album, too. I love that much of this album was written or inspired on the road, in the context of traveling in this band.