More... an interview with Maila Gibson

The title track "More" is awesome. What's the story behind it?

Maila: "More" is the first song Ben and I ever officially wrote together. He played me the guitar hook and said, "You've gotta write something to this." It wasn't long after he played it for me that I came up with lyrics and a vocal melody. The lyrics came from an idea that I had been thinking about for a long time. A friend of mine once said that the person you're with should make you "more." I wrote it from that perspective and also from a Christian perspective. As Christians, we are driven to be better and more like Jesus. His love definitely makes us "more."

Click to hear More.

You Are Home

"You are home" reminds me of the beginnings of a relationship... that initial puppy love feeling when first meeting a significant other. Was that the direction you were going for?

Maila: It's kind of funny...I wrote half of the song at the end of a relationship and the other half at the beginning of another relationship. I was going through a break up with someone I had been with for a long time and I hated the thought of leaving him. I thought of how comfortable I was with him and how it felt like home. The song sat on the shelf for a while, incomplete. Then, I fell in love again, and yes, you're right, the inspiration for the rest of the song came from that puppy love feeling. I was indeed going for a light hearted, fun loving direction. I also really liked Faith Hill's song "The Way You Love Me" which kind of runs along the same line.

That bridge section is amazing! The backing vocals against the lead sound great. Was that hard to come up with?

Maila: The bridge WAS hard to come up with, that's why Ben wrote it! I call on Ben whenever I need a bridge section because he's a master of writing bridges. He's so good at taking a song in another direction. His command of chord changes and creativity is so unreal. However, we came up with the lyrics together.

Click to hear You Are Home.

I Love You

Being good friends with Ben Vegas, I have heard this song somewhere before... Tell me your take on this song.

Maila: Ben wrote "I Love You." He's had it on the back burner for some time now. Originally, it had more of an R&B feel. He and my producer Aaron felt it was a strong song and I liked the song as well. It has a great hook and the melody really lends itself to the lyrics. Of course, he wrote the song about his wife, Josie.

The song has a very laid back feel to it and really brings out a different side to your voice... a more gentle and almost lullaby... "sing me to sleep" sound. Did Ben have a lot to do with the direction or was that something that you came up with on your own?

Maila: I didn't feel that I could sell the song in its original form, so I asked Ben if we could change the chords to make it sound a little more modern country. I wanted it to sound more like "You're Still The One" by Shania Twain. I wanted my vocals to be a little more mature or sultry sounding. Michael Grande actually produced the vocals for this song and did a great job bringing that side out of me. The cool thing about the song is, it can go in several different directions. As a matter of fact, there's some talk about Keahiwai recording it in its original form.

The counter melodies at the tail end of the song are killer! It reminds me a lot of Vannessa Williams "Betcha Never" (which you probably never heard before).

Maila: I love the counter melodies. They're my favorite part of the song. Ben and Mikey did a great job creating them. I guess I have to check out that Vanessa Williams song!

Click to hear I Love You.

Say What You Want

Your lyrics are very personal... unlike say someone like Lisa Loeb who in her early songwriting days would write cryptic/metaphoric lyrics, I like the fact that I can relate to what you are singing about right off the bat. How do you get to the point where you are able to write about something so personal such as love, hurt, and relationships?

Maila: I think my biggest obstacle as a songwriter was letting go and being vulnerable. I was afraid for so long to let people know what I was truly feeling. Initially, songwriting was more like an outlet or a journal, meant only for me to see. Then, I finally realized that some of the best songs ever written were based on true experiences. I knew I needed to let go of my fears and share my heart with the world, because maybe someone would hear my songs and say, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who's ever felt that way."

Say What You Want is my second favorite song on your CD because I can relate to it. Lyrically the song could even be from the viewpoint of Christ. Does the song have any basis on real life experience you have gone through?

Maila: Every single word of "Say What You Want" is true and based on a real life experience. I went through a messy break-up full of people pointing fingers, lying, and spreading vicious rumors. I also lost a friend which was the most devastating part of it all. After lots of crying and talking to the Lord, it was revealed to me that sometimes it doesn't matter what "they" do. What matters is what YOU do. It's so freeing to get to a place where you can forgive someone even though they refuse to do the same. In the end, God knows the truth and that's all that really matters.

Say What You Want is by far the most KCCN friendly track on this disc. I love the attention to detail that has been added, like the great guitar lines during the chorus and the intricate background vocals. Even the little shaker/highhat/pulsing sound between the chorus and verse give the song character. Most people wont notice these things but would notice if they weren't there.

Maila: Thank you for that. It was important for me to make this song a local friendly, even kid friendly song because of the ministry. I really wanted the song to be entertaining and fun in hopes that it would reach a broad scope of people, but at the same time, deliver a powerful message. Kids have it hard when it comes to all the drama they go through from the 6th grade on, especially girls. If this song empowers at least one young girl, I've done my job.

Click to hear Say What You Want.

Behind

"Behind" has a great Contemporary Country feel to it, theres a hint of Shania in your voice. How much has country music and singers influenced your style?

Maila: Country music has been a huge influence to me. Country singers like Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Martina McBride, Faith Hill,and of course, Shania Twain are among the ones I enjoy the most. I grew up in Missouri, thus the country influence. When I was very little, I enjoyed Crystal Gayle, Lorretta Lynn, Alabama, Olivia Newton-John, and the Carpenters. However, throughout my early adolescence, I was very resistant to country music because I was living in Hawaii and country just wasn't cool enough. That enabled me to be exposed to other types of music including rock, reggae, Hawaiian, and R&B. However, country has remained the music of my heart.

Another reason I say "Country feel" is the classic love triangle situation in the lyrics which many country songs are based on. I take it you had or knew of an experience like the one you sing of?

Maila: One of my favorite attributes of country music is the passion and truth of the lyrics. "Behind" definitely sounds like a classic "cry in your beer" type of song about love gone wrong. The minute I got the idea for the song, I thought of Deanna Carter's "Strawberry Wine." That song also has a 6/8 feel, which gives it that obvious country flavor. "Behind" was the first song I ever wrote on my guitar. Of course, Ben helped me with the bridge because my knowledge of guitar chords is very basic. Once again, this song was written from a very real situation. I had just gotten into a huge disagreement with my boyfriend and I couldn't sleep. At 2 in the morning, I got out a piece of scratch paper and a pen and wrote down everything I was feeling.

Let's talk influences. You already mentioned some female country singers. Who else has influenced you and who have you admired as you were growing up?

Maila: I loved the 80s. My sister who is 9 years older than me was my idol. She had the coolest parties - you know the kind you see on all those 80's movies. I guess they were typical mainland parties. Sometimes she and her friends would hang out in the basement and listen to records (on vinyl) such as: Journey, Boston, Steve Miller Band, REO Speedwagon, Toto, The Police, and Blondie. She was a cool sister because she'd always let me hang out until my mom called me to bed. I was probably only 6 or 7 years old during that time. I really loved Michael Jackson, Madonna even Disco music. I remember my dad buying me disco 8-tracks. I had a pretty good stack of 45's too from Billy Joel, Juice Newton, Paul McCartney, to Prince. Hard to believe huh? I listened to so many types of music. Even growing up in the mainland, my mom made sure I was exposed to Hawaiian music. When we moved to Hawaii, I gained more interest in rap and R&B. My sister had a pink Volkswagen Bug with sounds. She'd pound Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, and all those great club songs of 1986. It's hard to say exactly which artists influenced me most.

Do you have an all time favorite band or singer?

Maila: Gosh, it's hard to narrow it down to just one. Martina McBride is my favorite country singer. Celine Dion is my favorite pop singer. Natalie Grant is my favorite live singer (she's amazing). My favorite male singer is Stevie Wonder. I also love Susan Ashton.These people are "singers' singers." My favorite band would have to be the Corrs.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what CD's would you HAVE to have with you? Pick 10. :)

Maila:
Shania Twain - The Woman In Me
Garth Brooks - Greatest Hits
Bob Marley - Legend
Hillsongs - All Things Are Possible
MTV Party to Go - No. 2
John Mayer - Room For Squares
Hawaiian Style Band - Vanishing Treasures
Madonna - Immaculate Collection
Celine Dion - If You Asked Me To
Sting and The Police

Click to hear Behind.

When Will I Be Loved?

This is the only cover on this CD. That says a lot to me! A lot of local singers or bands rely heavily on covers to Supplement their albums material but you chose just one. To me it shows you are focused on the strength of your own original material. Why Linda Rondstadt's version of When Will I be Loved?

Maila: I've always liked this song. I really gained affection for it in the mid-90's when the movie "8 Seconds" came out. It was one of those movies my friends and I watched over and over again, quoted all the lines to, and bought the soundtrack for. "When Will I Be Loved" is in the movie andis a great classic country song that people like to sing along with. We also get a lot of roars when we perform it at our gigs, so I figured it would be fun to record it.

I realize that you doing club gigs, means lots of cover tunes. Do you have any favorites and ones you wish you could do?

Maila: I love singing "Breathless" by The Corrs and of course, disco stuff.I'm always trying to update our material, therefore, there are lots of songs I'd like to do. I'm really picky about the songs I perform. It's important to me to sell the song andbe there for the audience. Ben and I try to stay away from "B side songs." I try to find a happy medium between doing songs I like and doing songs that please the audience. One of the best things Ben has taught me as an entertainer is that it's not allabout me.

How do you feel about performing your own material live? I know some artist who finally are on the verge of breaking out feel a sense of freedom when finally able to do their OWN material instead of cover tunes.

Maila: It's a great feeling to do my own material live. Sometimes I can't believe it because I was once so afraid of sharing my material even with my own family. I do feel a sense of freedom, however, I enjoy singing covers as well. I've never felt like a prisoner to cover tunes. I love music, I love singing, and love seeing people enjoy themselves.

Click to hear When Will I Be Loved.

The Fall

"The Fall" is my next choice for Hawaii Radio airplay. Very very contemporary and it has a nice groove. This is a cruise in your car with the windows rolled down kind of song.

Maila: I'm so glad you said that because that's exactly what I was going for!!

I really love the way the bridge changes the entire feel of the song... it is almost like a mini song in itself. Background harmonies are tight and it feels like i've known this song my whole life after only hearing it a few times.

Maila: The so called bridge section of the song was Mikey's (Mike Grande) doing. I loved working with him on this song. I wrote this one on my guitar and as you can tell, it's very simple. However, Mikey took it to a place I didn't expect. Originally, this was meant to be a filler type of song, but now, it's one of my favorites.

Does "The Fall" have any particular significance to you? Maila: When I let my sister listen to this song, the first thing she said was, "What's that song about anyway?" I wrote "The Fall" in like 10 minutes on my guitarafter a fun day at Waimea Bay. I had some friends in from the mainland and of course, we jumped off the rock. I thought about how scary it can be right before you jump and I asked myself, "What's there to be afraid of? The fall?" Then I realized that's the best part of it all, so why be afraid? I compared that feeling to falling in love. Falling in love can be scary, but that's the beauty of it. I really love this song. It's different from a lot of other songs I've written mainly because of its simplicity, yet lyrically, it's a littledeeper.

Click to hear The Fall.

Thank You For You

This song is just beautiful. I love the "Keep it Simple" approach to the lyrics and music. This is one of those songs that will sound awesome with just you and an acoustic guitar.

Maila: My original idea for this song was that it would be simple with just piano and voice. This is another one of those songs that came to me very easily. I played around with it a little on my keyboard. I'm by no means a prolific piano player, so I brought it to Ben. We finished the arrangement on a bus while we were in Japan in 2001 with his acoustic guitar. That was a real memorable experience.

Opening yourself up via lyrics can often be a release whether its something happy, angry or sad. How hard is it for you to write a love song?

Maila: Love songscan be difficult for me to write.Sometimes I say my songs are "life" songs. Often, I write songs about more than one person."Thank You For You" is a perfect example of that. A lot of people came to mind while writing it. I thought of Ben, my mom, the Lord, and others who have influenced my life.

Do you ever have writers block? I tried to keep a little book with cool lyrics that i would jot down as ideas every now and then but they never materialize into anything that would become a song... what is your writing process like?

Maila: I get writers block all the time. I find that writing music isn't something I can schedule in. I've tried that before. I'd sit down with my guitar, pen, and paper only to be disappointed that nothing would come to mind. I notice that I get ideas for songs when I'm washing dishes, driving, or in the shower. The worst is when I dream a song and wake up the next day knowing that I dreamt a really good song but can't remember anything about it. My writing process usually starts with a title or an opening line. Melodies and lyrics come to me at the same time. I used to carry a tape recorder with me, but it broke. That's a really good tool to have. Now, I try to write the lyrics down immediately which means a lot my lyrics end up on napkins, receipts, newspapers, whatever I can find. Because my instrument is my voice, I sing the song as I write, ingraining the melody in my head. Then I sing it to Ben, who I call my ghostwriter, and he translates the chords.

Keep on jotting your ideas down. Someone told me when I was in high school never to throw any ideas away. You never know when you might use them.I was also told by Michael Ruff, a great songwriter, that there's no such thing as writer's block. He feels that even though you're not writing, you're experiencing things everyday that end up affecting you in some way or another. You're reading books, watching movies, people watching, laughing, crying - all these things and the feelings that accompany them lend themselves to your creativity.

Click to hear Thank You for You.

Good Ol Days

This is my favorite track on the whole CD. When I first heard it I was floored. At first I thought I had the wrong CD in my car but then I realized it was you and you had adapted your vocals to the style of the song revealing a totally different Maila Gibson.

Maila: I'm so glad you like this song! Ben wrote this one in hopes that I'd explore a sassier side of my singing. I kind of got to be an actress on this song which was really fun.

The sound and feel of the song brings back the essence of old Hawaii, back at the aloha tower docks and girls in hula skirts... slide guitar. Even the track length lends to that 50's feel where no song was longer than 2 minutes 30 seconds... was that intentional?

Maila:We call it a "ditty." It's fun, it's cute, it's sassy, and it's fun to take that quick trip back to old Hawaii. I'm not sure if the shortness was intentional or not. I think the song just naturally goes there because there's not a whole lot more that needs to be said to capture the essence of that era.

Again, great job on those background vocals... the oooo wahs were exactly what the song needed. I end up singing along with them all the time!

Maila: The background vocals were all Ben's creation. This is totally Ben's song, although he wrote it with me in mind. It's really fun to sing and snap your fingers to.

What did you have to visualize to put yourself in the song? After hearing how eclectic this album is I realize you must have had to really think and feel what you were singing to convey the message each song has.

Maila: I visualized everything in this song. I even pictured myself singing in a showroom with a hairstyle from the 40's, red lipstick, and a sassy, satin dress. I pictured black and white films, beach boys at Waikiki, people throwing flowers as a ship sailed away. It's very important to me sell a song well. I always try to really get into the lyrics, the feel, and the era of a song. I feel that I owe it to the listener to tell a great story and not just show off my voice.

Click to hear Good Ol Days.

The Reason

This song really hit me the hardest. The message is very powerful and its so direct. The first few times I heard it I couldn't help but cry because of its powerful and humbling message.

Maila: Thank you. It even makes me cry sometimes. I know that sounds weird since I wrote it, but I almost don't feel like I wrote it. I really believe God wrote it andused me as a vehicle to get it across.For that, I'm so thankful. My hope is that it touches lives andencourages others to trust in the Lord.

Whats the story behind this song?

Maila: I wrote this song shortly after Sept. 11. I think that day had an affect on all of us in America. As the tourism industry took a beating in Hawaii, I lost a lot of gigs. My sister was layed off from Hawaiian Airlines and needless to say, we were totally depressed. A lot of our luxuries had been taken away since we had to be more concious of our spending habits. Then it hit me as I was watching Oprah: I had nothing to complain about. There were countless children, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers who were abandoned by people they loved because of that horrible tragedy. Suddenly my troubles were minimized to nothing. I was extremely moved by those who found the strength to be positive and to move on with their lives. That strength could only come from God. However, there were also those who were bitter over the ordeal. Who could blame them? That's how this song became a ministry to not only myself, but to those who were left doubtful. I hope this song brings comfort to anyone facing a challenge, a loss, or a hardship.

Trusting in God that there is a reason for everything is sometimes the hardest thing to do as a Christian. How have you come to trust in your daily walk?

Maila: Making this CD has been a testing of my faith in itself. So many things have gone wrong. It took so long to get it done. People have asked me since I started the project 2 years ago, "When's your CD coming out?" I finally started telling people, "Don't ask me that anymore! It'll be out when God wants it out!" I just read the other day, "God is never in a hurry, but he's always on time." My life has been pretty adverse. My parents split when I was 9, I have family members who struggle with drugs, and mental illness. I moved around quite a bit. I've held 3 jobs at one time while going to school. Neither of my parents could afford to pay my way through college. Both of my parents struggle financially. Heck, I struggle financially! I've had quite a few people put me down and say that I'll never make it as a singer. I've entered contests and lost -- BIG TIME! I entered one on Kauai this summer and didn't even make it as a finalist. I'm not trying to have a pity party or anything. I don't consider my life hard until I see others whose roads seem much easier, but that's why the bible says, "Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load" (Galatians 6:4-5).

Nevertheless, I'm grateful in everything. There are always lessons to be learned and that's why I believe so strongly that there is a reason for everything.I've written some of the best songs as a result of some not so great circumstances and I've always experienced some kind of growth. I carry a verse around with me on a 3X5 card that reminds me to leave everything up to God, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Believe me, I've whined and cried a lot in the past year, especially during the making of this CD. The only way to get through anything without cracking under pressure is to trust in God.

It's one of the strongest vocal performances on the CD. You really let loose at the end! It gives me goose bumps.. i can't wait to hear you perform this live!

Maila: I couldn't help but let loose on this song because the message deserves that. The first time I sang it live was at the 2003 Easter services at New Hope. The halau choreographed it, we had a huge choir...it was really beautiful. I think you can see it at www.enewhope.org.

Click to hear The Reason.

What If It's True

Well we are just about done with this interview... just one more song...

What If It's True was actually something I had seen on TV in commercials the past year when New Hope was doing a media push. Whats the story behind the song and how it tied in with what New Hope was doing?

Maila: Ben and his wife Josie wrote this song. He was given the topic, "What If It's True," by PastorWayne in congruence with the2000 New Hope Easter service. Someone gave a great testimony about how he always wondered whether God was real or not. After surviving being robbed, shot, and left to die, he actually heard the Lord confirm that his job on Earth was not yet finished. The song tied in perfectly with the entire service. Many people gave their hearts to Jesus that year. The song was never intended for recording, but because so many people were touched by it, there was a demand for it. We recorded it shortly after Easter and sold the single for just $5.00. Inside, the liner notes offered an invitation to get to know Jesus. The song was purely intended for outreach and ministry. It's a special song. Having it on my CD is more of an opportunity to reach people for Jesus.

Click to hear What If It's True.

I know your album is gonna do great! I can't wait to get the entire packaged CD, along with everyone else thats been reading this. Thanks for doing this interview with me. It's been so much fun learning about where you come from, what you are interested in music wise and how the Lord has touched your life.

Maila: Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me and for allowing me to share my heart. It's been so fun!!