The Sit Down with Mariya Stokes
Having released her first single in 2019, Alberta, Canada native Mariya Stokes this week releases her debut album - Mood Ring. In 2024, she earned national recognition across Canada as a semi-finalist in SiriusXM's Top of the Country, in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association, further solidifying her reputation as one of Canada's most promising rising artists. With over 800,000 streams across platforms, Stokes is also a three-time CMAB 'Songwriter of the Year' nominee and Female Horizon Artist of the Year winner in 2019 and 2020-21. We caught up with Mariya this week to find out more about her debut album
Hey Ian, how you doing?
Not bad, yourself?
I'm doing great. Thanks for making the time to chat today.
No, any time. I'm loving the recording cave you've got going on there in the room.
Yeah, it's definitely a vibe. It's funny, the windows are blacked out too, so you can't even tell what time of day it is in here, which is nice.
Do you have a favourite guitar in there? I can see like 10 or so behind you right now!
For sure. Actually, my favourite guitar isn't in this room. I have a 61 Martin 0018 that I play on stage a ton and I love it, there was a gal who bought it in, it was second-hand for her in like the early 70s and she played it. It was interesting when I got it, it wanted to play Joni Mitchell, which sounds super funny. It loves open tunings. She's a little bit older than me, this guitar, but when I got the guitar, it smelled like cigarettes and the strap that it came with is a really cool leather strap that had coffee stains all down it! I was like, this is perfect, cause now I don't have to worry about spilling my coffee! It's like a little bit of a road dog.
It's got just enough wear on it that I don't feel bad taking it out of the house and it sounds beautiful - so that's my favourite guitar.
Hopefully it's going to get played quite a lot more now with release of the new album coming on Friday.
Yeah, definitely. It's my main stage guitar, but it's definitely getting used to some of these newer songs and I think loving it, maybe not as much as the Joni, but doing pretty good on the songs.
Hey Ian, how you doing?
Not bad, yourself?
I'm doing great. Thanks for making the time to chat today.
No, any time. I'm loving the recording cave you've got going on there in the room.
Yeah, it's definitely a vibe. It's funny, the windows are blacked out too, so you can't even tell what time of day it is in here, which is nice.
Do you have a favourite guitar in there? I can see like 10 or so behind you right now!
For sure. Actually, my favourite guitar isn't in this room. I have a 61 Martin 0018 that I play on stage a ton and I love it, there was a gal who bought it in, it was second-hand for her in like the early 70s and she played it. It was interesting when I got it, it wanted to play Joni Mitchell, which sounds super funny. It loves open tunings. She's a little bit older than me, this guitar, but when I got the guitar, it smelled like cigarettes and the strap that it came with is a really cool leather strap that had coffee stains all down it! I was like, this is perfect, cause now I don't have to worry about spilling my coffee! It's like a little bit of a road dog.
It's got just enough wear on it that I don't feel bad taking it out of the house and it sounds beautiful - so that's my favourite guitar.
Hopefully it's going to get played quite a lot more now with release of the new album coming on Friday.
Yeah, definitely. It's my main stage guitar, but it's definitely getting used to some of these newer songs and I think loving it, maybe not as much as the Joni, but doing pretty good on the songs.
Are you in final countdown mode for Friday now?
Oh my gosh, I can't believe how quickly it's coming. I feel like it's interesting because I'm in the creative process still and now chatting about the record, but I'm having these moments where I come up for air and I'm like, this is happening. This is wild.
Some of the tracks actually date all the way back to 2019. Is that a little bit more surreal going that far back to add those songs to this album?
Definitely. It's a 14 song record and there's seven brand new ones on it, but I wanted to include my earlier songs because they laid the foundation for this project and what this album is and they're how I introduced myself. I think it's important to include them for the whole spectrum of this journey and what Mood Ring is for sure.
Does it feel good to kind of now give them a home?
Yeah, definitely. They're the foundation of this record. They were the start and where all the other songs came from, I guess. They helped me define my sound and figure out who I am. Even though maybe I don't focus on them quite as much, I still play them live all the time and it’s been really fun because I get to build my show and have these new songs that nobody's heard, but we get to kind of reinvent some of the older ones from 2019, 2020, 2021, and figure out new ways to make them fresh and connect with audiences and fans. I love that process.
When it came to putting everything together, were you ever tempted with an EP of just these seven songs already out, or was it always your aim go for that full 14-track LP?
I've always wanted to do an album. I've always wanted to do 47 albums, but you've got to do the first one before you can get through the other ones. The thing is, like you said, some of these songs were released a couple of years ago and with this album I wanted to make sure there was something new and fresh for people to grab onto. This is how I'm introducing myself to my audience and also to all the country music fans out there, so we wanted to make sure that there was some fresh stuff and also the foundation of where we started.
Was it tough to get it down to a final 14?
Yeah, holy man. I spent a lot of time co-writing and writing for myself. There's a song on the record that's not out yet called Chantelle. I was in the studio with my production team and we were going to do the last three because we did them in chunks because I was writing the whole time and we were trying to find the best songs. I was going to do the final three and one of my producers and I got into an actual argument because I was fighting for a song called Taken, while he was like, we have to do Chantelle - I've said that since day one. I have a vision for this song! So, I was like, OK, what we're going to do is we're just going to record both of them! We're going to do four songs today! Chantelle was the very last song that we recorded and it was funny because some of the other ones took some time to figure out the instrumentation but for that one, the band sat down and it was like, boom, it knew exactly what it wanted to be. So, my producer's vision was pretty excellent! Yes, it did take some blood, sweat and tears and a few verbal altercations with love and respect.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe how quickly it's coming. I feel like it's interesting because I'm in the creative process still and now chatting about the record, but I'm having these moments where I come up for air and I'm like, this is happening. This is wild.
Some of the tracks actually date all the way back to 2019. Is that a little bit more surreal going that far back to add those songs to this album?
Definitely. It's a 14 song record and there's seven brand new ones on it, but I wanted to include my earlier songs because they laid the foundation for this project and what this album is and they're how I introduced myself. I think it's important to include them for the whole spectrum of this journey and what Mood Ring is for sure.
Does it feel good to kind of now give them a home?
Yeah, definitely. They're the foundation of this record. They were the start and where all the other songs came from, I guess. They helped me define my sound and figure out who I am. Even though maybe I don't focus on them quite as much, I still play them live all the time and it’s been really fun because I get to build my show and have these new songs that nobody's heard, but we get to kind of reinvent some of the older ones from 2019, 2020, 2021, and figure out new ways to make them fresh and connect with audiences and fans. I love that process.
When it came to putting everything together, were you ever tempted with an EP of just these seven songs already out, or was it always your aim go for that full 14-track LP?
I've always wanted to do an album. I've always wanted to do 47 albums, but you've got to do the first one before you can get through the other ones. The thing is, like you said, some of these songs were released a couple of years ago and with this album I wanted to make sure there was something new and fresh for people to grab onto. This is how I'm introducing myself to my audience and also to all the country music fans out there, so we wanted to make sure that there was some fresh stuff and also the foundation of where we started.
Was it tough to get it down to a final 14?
Yeah, holy man. I spent a lot of time co-writing and writing for myself. There's a song on the record that's not out yet called Chantelle. I was in the studio with my production team and we were going to do the last three because we did them in chunks because I was writing the whole time and we were trying to find the best songs. I was going to do the final three and one of my producers and I got into an actual argument because I was fighting for a song called Taken, while he was like, we have to do Chantelle - I've said that since day one. I have a vision for this song! So, I was like, OK, what we're going to do is we're just going to record both of them! We're going to do four songs today! Chantelle was the very last song that we recorded and it was funny because some of the other ones took some time to figure out the instrumentation but for that one, the band sat down and it was like, boom, it knew exactly what it wanted to be. So, my producer's vision was pretty excellent! Yes, it did take some blood, sweat and tears and a few verbal altercations with love and respect.
You have a songwriting credit on every single track, was that quite important to you this time around to get that to ensure this debut release was your sound?
You know, I am not opposed to taking songs from other songwriters. Actually, You Want Me, which is on the record, was actually co-written by Devin Cooper and Robyn Dell'Unto a few years ago and I heard that song. Devin had shown it to me when he came out of this writing session and I was like, buddy, if you don't cut that, I'm going to record it someday. He kind of thought I was joking, but when we were deciding on songs, I told him that I wanted to record that one. Some of the lyric didn't quite work with what I wanted to say but the melodies in that song, which I can take no credit for, are absolutely fantastic. I reached out to him and to Robyn, and they were gracious enough to let me rewrite some of the lyrics so that it fit me. I’m also super gracious they gave me a little bit of publishing on that. I love songwriting. I am so proud that I'm a writer on every track on this record, but I think the best song wins. That is not me saying that, oh my gosh, my songs are the songs, it's just especially for this project, I wanted to say what I wanted to say. I was lucky that that one almost outside cut, they let me make my own.
What was Devin and Robyn's reaction to that when you sent them your version of it?
They were super stoked. They had no feedback and they knew that I was in love with it. They were like, if it feels good to you, it feels good to us. The other thing with that song is it is such a melody focused song and I really tried to stick to the original melodies that they wrote, and it was only a few mods. It wasn't like a huge change but they were really kind and supportive about that. It's super awesome that they let me do that.
Were you nervous that there was going to be some feedback coming from them?
A little bit. Robyn's a monster songwriter, so is Devin. Devin and I are quite close, but I was a little nervous there would be feedback. I think if Robyn hated it, I'd like to think she would have told me, but she might have also just been okay getting a song cut that maybe would have never got cut otherwise. I'll have to have a conversation with her about it someday, I think.
Take the win of no feedback, I say.
A hundred percent. It's a win for me, for sure.
With this album being almost a six year process now, it's got so many different sounds. Does that just add that little extra element to you that it blends across genres?
Absolutely. All the songs are rooted in country storytelling. If you strip any song on the record down to an acoustic guitar and a vocal, that's how 90% of them were written or over a baseline. Hands on My Body was written over a baseline. Break My Heart was written over a baseline. In the studio, it was really cool to just kind of let go of genre restrictions and get to dive into some of those outside influences. While it lives in country musically, it explores and I think I really like to explore. That was one of the coolest parts of making this record was just being able to see where the songs were going to take us. My first four singles are completely different. They're all on the record and I was really, really fortunate - I'm still fortunate - that my fans kind of expect that now. They want to hear something different every time I release a new song. The cool thing is, I think that my vocal ties everything together and then on the record as well, there's a couple different producers, but Justin Kudding, who's one of my producers, played bass on every single song on the record. Spencer Cheyne, who's one of my producers, mixed every single song on the record and then Brock McFarlane from CPS Mastering mastered the whole thing as well. Even though they were recorded at different times and in different studios, sometimes with different bands and producers, there's still that through line throughout the entire record.
People in Alberta will probably have known you for a couple of years with your success at the Alberta Country Music Awards. So how important is this now to get yourself out wider across Canada?
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is having this full body workout means I can do a full 60 or 75 or 90 minute show with a couple covers that resonate with me and tell the stories that I want to tell. I can actually do a full show of songs that people can listen to - that's super exciting. It opens up touring opportunities for us as well a little bit. We're doing a Western Canadian tour to promote the record and then also, I'm really hoping to get over to the UK for Americana Fest next year. We did Americana Fest in the US last year and just had an incredible experience - the UK is next on the list. I am so excited to get over to you.
Each year we are getting more and more Canadians make the trip over to play here, especially the Albertan like Dan Davidson, Aaron and Tenille have all been over in recent years. Have you reached out to artists about making the international moves?
Absolutely. Dan is a pal of mine and we've done some writing together and he speaks so highly of the touring experience over there. I think my third or second biggest listener base in the world is in the UK. So it just makes sense. I've heard that it's a pretty wild experience, but I also want to make sure that I take a little bit of extra time and just run around and do touristy stuff too. That's also part of the dream, play the shows and then actually like see the sites for sure.
Does it surprise you when you see those streaming numbers coming from European countries high up the list? Especially coming from small town Alberta ultimately.
It is a little surprising, but it's also something that I hope for. My dad, when I was a kid, worked on a dude ranch, so they'd have a lot of Europeans come to get the Alberta cowboy experience. There were a lot of people from the UK and from Germany that came over and he would take them on trial rides and mountain trips and stuff. I've always known from a young age that there was an interest in cowboy culture and in country music, but I think it's just growing and growing and growing right now. It'd be pretty special to be part of that.
German country music fans are a whole nother level as well and totally different to what you would find elsewhere.
I've heard that. I think that would be super interesting to get over to Germany too, for sure.
We will definitely be welcoming you with open arms when you do.
That would be wicked.
You know, I am not opposed to taking songs from other songwriters. Actually, You Want Me, which is on the record, was actually co-written by Devin Cooper and Robyn Dell'Unto a few years ago and I heard that song. Devin had shown it to me when he came out of this writing session and I was like, buddy, if you don't cut that, I'm going to record it someday. He kind of thought I was joking, but when we were deciding on songs, I told him that I wanted to record that one. Some of the lyric didn't quite work with what I wanted to say but the melodies in that song, which I can take no credit for, are absolutely fantastic. I reached out to him and to Robyn, and they were gracious enough to let me rewrite some of the lyrics so that it fit me. I’m also super gracious they gave me a little bit of publishing on that. I love songwriting. I am so proud that I'm a writer on every track on this record, but I think the best song wins. That is not me saying that, oh my gosh, my songs are the songs, it's just especially for this project, I wanted to say what I wanted to say. I was lucky that that one almost outside cut, they let me make my own.
What was Devin and Robyn's reaction to that when you sent them your version of it?
They were super stoked. They had no feedback and they knew that I was in love with it. They were like, if it feels good to you, it feels good to us. The other thing with that song is it is such a melody focused song and I really tried to stick to the original melodies that they wrote, and it was only a few mods. It wasn't like a huge change but they were really kind and supportive about that. It's super awesome that they let me do that.
Were you nervous that there was going to be some feedback coming from them?
A little bit. Robyn's a monster songwriter, so is Devin. Devin and I are quite close, but I was a little nervous there would be feedback. I think if Robyn hated it, I'd like to think she would have told me, but she might have also just been okay getting a song cut that maybe would have never got cut otherwise. I'll have to have a conversation with her about it someday, I think.
Take the win of no feedback, I say.
A hundred percent. It's a win for me, for sure.
With this album being almost a six year process now, it's got so many different sounds. Does that just add that little extra element to you that it blends across genres?
Absolutely. All the songs are rooted in country storytelling. If you strip any song on the record down to an acoustic guitar and a vocal, that's how 90% of them were written or over a baseline. Hands on My Body was written over a baseline. Break My Heart was written over a baseline. In the studio, it was really cool to just kind of let go of genre restrictions and get to dive into some of those outside influences. While it lives in country musically, it explores and I think I really like to explore. That was one of the coolest parts of making this record was just being able to see where the songs were going to take us. My first four singles are completely different. They're all on the record and I was really, really fortunate - I'm still fortunate - that my fans kind of expect that now. They want to hear something different every time I release a new song. The cool thing is, I think that my vocal ties everything together and then on the record as well, there's a couple different producers, but Justin Kudding, who's one of my producers, played bass on every single song on the record. Spencer Cheyne, who's one of my producers, mixed every single song on the record and then Brock McFarlane from CPS Mastering mastered the whole thing as well. Even though they were recorded at different times and in different studios, sometimes with different bands and producers, there's still that through line throughout the entire record.
People in Alberta will probably have known you for a couple of years with your success at the Alberta Country Music Awards. So how important is this now to get yourself out wider across Canada?
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is having this full body workout means I can do a full 60 or 75 or 90 minute show with a couple covers that resonate with me and tell the stories that I want to tell. I can actually do a full show of songs that people can listen to - that's super exciting. It opens up touring opportunities for us as well a little bit. We're doing a Western Canadian tour to promote the record and then also, I'm really hoping to get over to the UK for Americana Fest next year. We did Americana Fest in the US last year and just had an incredible experience - the UK is next on the list. I am so excited to get over to you.
Each year we are getting more and more Canadians make the trip over to play here, especially the Albertan like Dan Davidson, Aaron and Tenille have all been over in recent years. Have you reached out to artists about making the international moves?
Absolutely. Dan is a pal of mine and we've done some writing together and he speaks so highly of the touring experience over there. I think my third or second biggest listener base in the world is in the UK. So it just makes sense. I've heard that it's a pretty wild experience, but I also want to make sure that I take a little bit of extra time and just run around and do touristy stuff too. That's also part of the dream, play the shows and then actually like see the sites for sure.
Does it surprise you when you see those streaming numbers coming from European countries high up the list? Especially coming from small town Alberta ultimately.
It is a little surprising, but it's also something that I hope for. My dad, when I was a kid, worked on a dude ranch, so they'd have a lot of Europeans come to get the Alberta cowboy experience. There were a lot of people from the UK and from Germany that came over and he would take them on trial rides and mountain trips and stuff. I've always known from a young age that there was an interest in cowboy culture and in country music, but I think it's just growing and growing and growing right now. It'd be pretty special to be part of that.
German country music fans are a whole nother level as well and totally different to what you would find elsewhere.
I've heard that. I think that would be super interesting to get over to Germany too, for sure.
We will definitely be welcoming you with open arms when you do.
That would be wicked.
How are you going to celebrate the release on Friday?
Well, we're doing a release show at the National Music Center here in Calgary, Alberta on May 30th. I'm really excited for everybody to hear all of the songs top down and then we're going on tour, which is pretty cool in Western Canada to start. I think for me, the reward and the biggest celebration is getting to play live and connect with people in person. That's the most exciting thing.
Have you had a chance to play many of the unreleased songs live yet?
Not a lot of the ones that are not released. I've done them in songwriter rounds, so all of them were tested in front of very small audiences, solo acoustic. That was kind of how we chose a lot of the songs on the record too, what actually resonates live but not with my full band. Getting to build the show and arrange the songs and figure out how to present them and how to connect with people live has been such a blast.
Thank you so much Mariya.
All right. It's been great chatting.
Can't wait to obviously welcome you over here.
Wicked. Well, thanks for your time, Ian. I really appreciate it and yeah, hopefully we get to meet in person one of these days.
Definitely. There is a beer with your name on it
Oh, heck yeah, buddy. Let's go.
WEBSITE | TIKTOK | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE
Well, we're doing a release show at the National Music Center here in Calgary, Alberta on May 30th. I'm really excited for everybody to hear all of the songs top down and then we're going on tour, which is pretty cool in Western Canada to start. I think for me, the reward and the biggest celebration is getting to play live and connect with people in person. That's the most exciting thing.
Have you had a chance to play many of the unreleased songs live yet?
Not a lot of the ones that are not released. I've done them in songwriter rounds, so all of them were tested in front of very small audiences, solo acoustic. That was kind of how we chose a lot of the songs on the record too, what actually resonates live but not with my full band. Getting to build the show and arrange the songs and figure out how to present them and how to connect with people live has been such a blast.
Thank you so much Mariya.
All right. It's been great chatting.
Can't wait to obviously welcome you over here.
Wicked. Well, thanks for your time, Ian. I really appreciate it and yeah, hopefully we get to meet in person one of these days.
Definitely. There is a beer with your name on it
Oh, heck yeah, buddy. Let's go.
WEBSITE | TIKTOK | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE
