Story by Lindsey Coleman, Contributing writer
Photo courtesy of Haley Morecraft
Last year marked the beginning of an era for five men in Murray. On Feb. 24, 2018, after months of hard work, the band Maewyn released their first single titled “Growing Pains” across all platforms, which has since garnered over 1,000 streams on Spotify.
The “ambient midwest emo” band is made up of McCall Key, Kyle Morgan, Bryce Clendenen, Aaron Clark and Zach Orr, who are as sarcastic as they are talented. Drawing heavily from bands like Balance and Composure, Brand New and Movements, the men of Maewyn have been recording and performing live shows in the Western Kentucky area since September 2017.
Listeners can expect three demos this summer and shows on the weekends. On May 6 at 8 p.m., they will be playing a show at Terrapin Station.
I recently sat down for coffee with Morgan, guitarist and alumni of Murray State from Huntingdon, Tennessee, and Key, frontman and junior from Murray. They told me of their endless antics as a band, which is ultimately a group of people who love the music they make just as much as they care about each other.
Coleman: How and when did Maewyn form?
Key: We can honestly say when I was born was when the concept was really conceived. I was conceived and so was Maewyn.
Morgan: Maewyn was predestined.
Key: No, really, I was in a band in my senior year of high school into my freshman year of college. We were trying to do what Maewyn is now. We weren’t all on the same page. But in 2016, I started recording some stuff on my own and got Bryce, Aaron and Kyle on board. We started playing shows several months after that.
Coleman: What inspired you to start a band?
Key: I was always just so interested and captivated by the creativeness of making music. What all went into it, wondering how people made what they made. I was constantly amazed by all the genres and the creativity that people have. The way that not just through words, but chord structures and dynamics, how you can feel how the author of a song is feeling and how they can relate to you without knowing you at all. So many bands and people have had an impact on my life through music, and they will never know me. They will never know who I am and that that is what they did for me, but I think it is super cool to do that for and with people.
Coleman: Where did the name come from?
Morgan: We were going through a list of old philosophers and theologians, and when we’d see one with a cool name, we’d write it down. We narrowed those down. We checked on them to make sure they weren’t some heretic or something or racist–we didn’t want that. We found a guy named Maewyn Succat, who is also known as St. Patrick, and he seemed like a pretty cool dude. Ireland was real weird, but he came in and brought Christianity, but not like the forceful kind, but more like, ‘Hey, Jesus loves you,’ and now we drink in honor of him. Just like our band.
Coleman: Are you guys Catholic?
Morgan: We don’t do nearly enough good works to pretend to be Catholic. Don’t put that in there.
Coleman: What is the process like? Who writes your songs?
Key: Pretty much the first couple shows we played, I had written every song, just because I had a lot of downtime. But over time, I made a base for the songs and wrote all the lyrics, and everybody else kind of put their own influence on it and made it what it is. I don’t think it would be nearly as good or as special if they hadn’t done the things they’ve done and put their own little touches on it. Now though, I handle all the lyrics, but it’s not always just me writing the stories. I think our best songs are the ones we wrote together. It’s partially because it was a group effort, and it’s more unique that way, but also because everyone is more emotionally connected to the song when they help build it from the beginning. It’s more meaningful.
Coleman: What’s the main message you guys want to share with your listeners?
Key: I’d probably say that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is number one. I’m sorry, he’s number two. Dale Earnhardt himself is number one. The spirit of Dale has gotten us this far. Honestly though, we are not a Christian band by any means whatsoever. To be completely honest, most of us believe in God as the Bible describes him. For me personally, the main thing I want to get out there without being too ‘in your face’ is that we are very sad, but underneath it all, I have a joy. I have a hope. No matter how bad all these things in these songs are, no matter what I’ve gone through, God is there to get me through it.
Morgan: For most of us in the band, we want to take a less-conventional approach. We never wanted to label ourselves as a Christian band. We’re not the type to throw it in someone’s face, but we’d love to have those discussions with people and listen to what people have to say. Just because we believe in God doesn’t mean that we’re better. We have the same struggles.
Key: We get sad. We’re not perfect. We mess up all the time.
Coleman: What’s your favorite part of being in a band?
Morgan: The cuddle ‘seshes.’ McCall is the best little spoon this side of the Mississippi.
Key: Alright, well mine is I love the live shows and getting to go crazy and have a lot of fun. Seeing people sing along has been super cool. That is the first time that’s ever happened to me in my entire life. We’re getting emails from people we don’t know, saying they listen to us. Some lady named Lisa emailed us in all-caps, saying she heard it. I love the live shows, because I love the people. That’s really a big part of what it’s about – meeting people and being around people and just hanging out, but also I love recording. As a band, we can’t get away from each other, we all have to be there, so we just hang out and have a great time.
Morgan: Lisa, if you’re out there right now, we’re glad you heard it. My favorite part is the shows, although they give me crippling anxiety, because I have such stage fright. It’s cool to finally do something to overcome it. It’s really cool getting to go on stage and act a fool. You can just be yourself, and it feels like the world is quiet. For that 30-40 minutes, anything you were worried about disappears. Going to concerts is one of my favorite things to do. There’s no other experience really like it. The writing process and getting to learn new songs is fun too.
Key: When you’re on stage and getting to talk about the stuff we talk about in the songs, that’s really the only time that I get to say the things I don’t feel comfortable saying just in a normal conversation. You really get to let out a lot of aggression and emotion without being a whiny baby.
Morgan: I’ve cried at a show. The realness of it is something we’d never want to change. That’s something that even with people that are signed with labels, it’s pretty much synonymous with people across this genre.
Coleman: How do you describe your role in the band?
Morgan: I’m the mysterious one.
Key: I guess I’m the frontman, and I sing and play guitar.
Morgan: We balance a lot of roles. I play leads sometimes, and other times I play rhythms and ambience. We bounce around to keep each other humble, like Kendrick told us.
Coleman: That’s all the questions I have. So what do you think about climate change?
Morgan: Al Gore called it, man.
Key: Al Gore caused it.
Morgan: The bees are dying at an alarming rate, humans are depleting all the natural resources.
Coleman: Is it a lie from the liberals?
Morgan: Everything from the liberals is a lie. All newspapers are farses.