Maisie Peters: “Maybe love and writing about love are more similar than I thought”. Photo / Sonny McCartney
Maisie Peters: “Maybe love and writing about love are more similar than I thought”. Photo / Sonny McCartney
Stabbing voodoo dolls with sewing pins, swinging butcher’s knives, and practicing black magic with a ‘coven’ of besties.
Your average Friday night.
Or, if you’re Maisie Peters, your latest music video for the Body Better bop which is eliciting toe-tapping and tune-humming across the globe.
Frolicking across a graveyard with a Californian sky above her, the British songstress oozes a cute-yet-chaotic charm while simultaneously lamenting heartbreak and aggressively dismembering a cake in the song’s short film.
A complete contrast to the girl sitting opposite me, speaking to the Herald, at a table for two.
Despite the fame she has conquered along the way, the Sheeran-founded, Brighton-busking star seems like your average girl - no witches in sight.
This is probably why her music is more often than not accompanied with a party of pent-up fans who know every single word - the girl is relatable.
“I have my own book club”, says Peters as she giggles. When asked if she had any recommendations, the singer didn’t even flinch while listing off her literary favourites: “Secret History by Donna Tartt. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan.”
Just like your average 22-year-old, Peters makes TikToks in her spare time - her Lay All Your Love On Me parody has hit viral status - worships Taylor Swift, is a self-proclaimed, terrible cook - bar a fried egg here and there - and loves a good latte.
What perhaps is a little less relatable about Peters is the fact that she has over 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, brushes shoulders with the likes of Ed Sheeran and James Bay, and has played at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
The singer reflects on the “crazy” moment, referencing it as a pinnacle in her career: “You take a look at that and you think, ‘Well, if this is the best it gets, I’ll be so happy’.”
Speaking of the places she had performed, the singer couldn’t help but gush over Aotearoa.
“I love the people here. I really think we are kindred spirits - the Brits and the Kiwis. I think we have a real special bond. I love the energy here - it feels very calm and positive.”
In fact, she seems rather smitten with New Zealand and our iconic scenery.
“I love the people here. I really think we are kindred spirits - the Brits and the Kiwis. I think we have a real special bond. I love the energy here - it feels very calm and positive.” Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
“I drove with some friends to Piha Beach the other day. It was beautiful. The drive there was just so gorgeous. It was the sort of landscape that I’ve never really seen before.”
Seeing as the popstar spends a lot of time on tour with the legendary artist, I picked her brain on what the Shape of You singer was really like behind the scenes?
“A movie buff” she claims, “and truly the most liked man in music”.
“Nobody can say a bad word. He’s so kind, so generous, and so smart. I really admire the career that he’s had and the way that he’s done it. I think it’s really inspirational.”
Peters was signed by Ed Sheeran’s label Gingerbread Man Records in 2021 and released her album You Signed Up For This soon after.
Maisie Peters on Ed Sheeran: “Nobody can say a bad word. He’s so kind, so generous, and so smart. I really admire the career that he’s had and the way that he’s done it”. Photo / Instagram
A tribute to the trials and tribulations of girlhood, the album covers all facets of femininity. When asked what the best part of being a woman is, her reply: “The sisterhood”.
“The connection I have with other women, the relationships I have, are so important to me and some of the greatest in my life.”
Those gal pals have inevitably stood with the star through some defining times in her life, such as touring, stardom and falling in love.
“How does writing about love differ from being in love?,” I ask.
“Oh, it’s very different”, the singer quickly replied. She describes the two things as apples and oranges.
Maisie Peters' music is more often than not accompanied with a party of pent-up fans who know every single word. Photo / Instagram
“I think that there’s so many different types of love. I’m somebody who believes, which is kind of funny because I’m cynical, that you can be in love with someone you met three days ago and can also not be in love with someone you’ve known for five years.
“I think it really is so dependent on the two people. And I like to believe that love is so much bigger than hate,” she continued.
“The idea that being in love is exclusionary and that you can only feel it if you have these experiences with a person, I don’t agree with that.
“There’s so much love and there’s so many ways to love somebody.
“I think that writing about it to me is a sort of vast experience. There’s so many corners of it that you can explore and express,” she added.
The singer paused, before ending in a full circle moment: “Maybe love and writing about love are more similar than I thought”.
Maisie Peters: “To be able to write songs about your own life ... then get to sort of share that and pass it along to other people who are feeling the same. I think it’s a remarkable thing”. Photo / Getty Images
The songstress has the ability to create immensely profound and intimate music that can be heard, felt, and related to in the same breath.
That magical quality that balances between authenticity and shared experience comes together as a diary entry sung at the top of her lungs.
“To be able to write songs about your own life and really chronicle what you’ve been through and who you’ve been through it with, then get to sort of share that and pass it along to other people who are feeling the same. I think it’s a remarkable thing,” she shared.
Maisie Peters: “The connection I have with other women, the relationships I have, are so important to me and some of the greatest in my life”. Photo / Getty Images
“When you do that, the experience becomes so much less about you and more about the ‘we’, the people in the room you’re singing to. It really wonderfully changes how you feel about a lot of situations and things from your past time,” the singer concluded.
Her concerts, you can guess, feel like a much-needed therapy session with upbeat music in the background or a big hug after a really hard day. It’s a comfort to know you’re not alone when Peters is in the room - whether that is physically, emotionally or musically.
