Creative GradFest21: “USW Cardiff is a great place to flourish”

Popular and Commercial Music student Emma Greaves is already making waves in the pop music scene. As part of Creative GradFest21, the 21-year-old from Leicester, who performs as Emma Mae Music, tells us more about her latest projects.

Why did you decide to study at USW?

I really wanted to be based in Cardiff and be part of its music scene. It’s a lovely, friendly city, and seeing the Music courses and facilities here at USW was the deciding factor for me.

Have you always wanted to study music?

Yes – I did GCSE and A Level Music at school, so it was never a hugely conscious decision – it’s just something I’ve always enjoyed, so it was a no-brainer when it came to deciding on a degree.

Do you play any instruments?

I sing, play the guitar and write my own songs.

What kind of music do you love to make?

When I started uni, all I ever used to write was sad acoustic songs, so I didn’t find my own sound until second year. Then it changed completely; now I would describe it as ‘bitter pop’ with catchy choruses. It’s upbeat pop music with a little punk. A lot of it has been down to the people I met – my producer, Ollie, who’s also on the course, has always performed in punk bands, so he’s definitely injected that side of it into my material and I feel as if this style is the most accurate representation of me, and who I am now.

What has been the best part of the course?

Definitely the songwriting lectures with Matt [Evans, Course Leader in MA Songwriting and Production]. I always used to write songs using the same process every single time – sat with my guitar – but after being taught these different methods, I’ve created new sounds that I wouldn’t have found if I hadn’t come here, because I’ve been introduced to new ways of writing that I never would have thought of.

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your studies?

It was a strange time to be in uni! We were in the middle of our second year, in the recording studio working on songwriting projects, when we were told USW was closing and we had to go home. Fortunately I have a studio set up at home in Leicester, so I went back and wrote an EP which I released in July last year. So in some ways it was a positive as it gave me the time to work on that material, which I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

The EP is called What It’s Come To, and has four songs on it which were really fun to write. The whole thing took me about two weeks, and the songs are me reflecting on what I was missing, as a way of making this weird time a little more bearable. I’m really happy with how it’s been received – it was the first record to get me on BBC Introducing, so I was interviewed by Dean Jackson for the BBC in the Midlands, and ever since then he’s been super supportive of every single one of my releases.

What music have you produced since that first EP?

I made a follow-up single to the EP, called Deadline, which is featured on the vinyl that has been produced for GradFest21. Then I decided to write a Christmas song called ‘Tis the Season, which was a collaboration with a few friends from the course.

Since then I’ve been working on an album, and released the first single, called Boys in Bands, at the end of April. That one ended up in the iTunes charts, which still blows my mind! I’m hoping to release more music from the album throughout the year.

And I’ve just released a collaboration called She Knows with DJ Yess (real name Nilesh Champaneri), who is my old Music Tech teacher from college, and Sane, an electronic music artist.

How has USW helped you to shape your future career?

The lecturers have all been amazing, and form such a close working relationship with their students. They have become friends who I can talk to about anything, and with such a breadth of knowledge about the industry to pass on to us. USW is a brilliant community to be a part of and it’s a great place to flourish, especially in the creative industries.

Emma’s music is available to stream and download on Instagram @emmamaemusic_.