Monique Maion’s “Karen” draws from immigration, discrimination, grief and trust, with the song connected to the experiences that shaped her life and her new album. After more than ten years of work on the DIY project, the track arrives as part of a record built with old friends in Minas Gerais and Los Angeles.
The song comes from a life that includes epilepsy, addiction, loss, immigration and betrayal, but Maion does not separate those experiences from the music. They belong to the same story. The long process behind the album gives “Karen” a place inside something that has been developing for years.
“Karen” leads into Maion’s new album alongside “Tento”, with the record marking her first release on vinyl. Her work across music supervision, advertising, soundtracks, radio and teaching sits behind a song rooted in the things she has actually lived.
For those who might not know you yet, how would you introduce yourself?
My name is Monique Maion. I’m a Brazilian musician from Pirituba, São Paulo Brasil , and I’ve been living in Los Angeles for a while now. I started singing jazz in São Paulo more than 20 years ago, and since then music has taken me everywhere: music supervision, advertising, soundtracks, teaching production, working with kids. But I have also been an auditor for PwC, a babysitter, managed a homeless shelter for people on parole, I have done it all… life gave me a lot of material, and I put all of it in the songs.
If you had to bottle up your sound into just three words, which ones would you choose?
Raw, groovy and haunted. In a good way.
Which artists (not only music related) or moments have left the biggest mark on your music?
Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Davis, Tim Maia, Annette Peacock, Tom Waits, Funkadelic, Sly Stone, Big Mama Thorton, Portishead, PJ Harvey and much more.
When you hit play on your songs, what kind of feeling takes over?
Relief. It’s like I finally said the thing I couldn’t say in a normal conversation. And then my body starts moving, because even when the subject is heavy, I want people to dance through it.
If you could team up with anyone in the world, no limits, who would be that dream collaborator?
Tom Waits. I’d love to sit in a room with him, make some noise with whatever objects are around, and see what kind of creature comes out of that.
What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?
So much! “Karen” just came out, the next single “Tento” drops October 23, and the full album arrives November 13. And for the first time ever, my music is coming out on vinyl, I’m so excited about that. There’s a release party coming too, shows in Brazil and maybe Europe. I don’t knoiw what’s coming, I wear too many hats on this DYI project so I just need to let it flow sometimes. We produced a dope music video for “Pirarucu”… it will come out with the album release.
Can you walk us through the story or emotion behind “Karen”?
“Karen” was born from a discriminatory situation I lived with a neighbor. I was angry and instead of letting that eat me inside, I turned it into a song. It has humor, it has groove and a lit bit of poison.
I recorded it with my longtime friend Renato Cortez at Mato Record, in Carmo de Minas, Minas Gerais, with Peo Fiorin on drums, Fernando TRZ on keys, Gibi dos Santos on percussion, and Fernando Coelho on guitar. Mario Caldato Jr mixed it in his studio here in LA and Arthur Joly mastered it. The art direction is by Nemuel DePaula and direction of photography by Kilo DePaula.
