Yesterday afternoon, indie pop singer and California native mxmtoon ventured into the hilly landscape of Athens to talk to students and fans during Ohio University’s Music Industry Summit, charming the audience with her holistic and personal views on the music industry.
The singer’s musical origins began in 2013 after she began posting videos on YouTube and Vine, slowly integrating her original songs onto the platforms. After gaining attention on music platforms such as SoundCloud, mxmtoon became not only an online persona, but a musician known for making relatable bedroom pop songs revolving around nostalgia and loneliness.
Acting as the one of the main artist keynote’s throughout the two-day long conference, the singer sat down with Stereogum’s managing editor, Chris DeVille, to discuss her rise to fame and experience in the industry. With many in attendance, Baker Theater was fixated on mxmtoon’s musical journey, making it a memorable end to Thursday’s array of events.
Elaina Kolv, a high school student from Chillicothe, said that she has been a fan of mxmtoon since 2018, inspiring her to go to the summit. Before the start of the keynote, Kolv expressed her excitement for the singer.
“I'm really excited to hear her experience in the music industry, her experience of music writing, process,” Kolv said.
During the keynote, DeVille dived into questions surrounding mxmtoon’s overnight success with her song, “prom dress,” which went viral in 2019, and how she navigated fame at a young age. With anecdotes about her middle school days and love for YouTube and social media, the 22-year-old singer appeared calm, relatable and down to crack a few jokes.
The event attracted all different kinds of people, including aspiring music artists.
“I want to learn more about other artists, specifically in my age range, ones that have already emerged through their processes and have gotten more popularity through social media and TikTok,” Ashlyn Elkins, a sophomore studying music production and the recording industry, said. “I feel like that may be the way that I will progress in my career, and a good way to get other people that I work with in the future to progress their careers.”
Elkins found comfort in mxmtoon’s honesty in terms of music production, telling the audience that she wasn’t an expert at using software such as GarageBand.
“I really liked when she was talking about just how she didn't really have a ton of experience with a lot of different DAWs and not with a ton of instruments, but she just had the basics that she knew and she made it work for herself,” Elkins said. “I think that's really important to know.”
Additionally, the singer mused about her inspirations, admitting to having an immense love for artists such as Rina Sawayama and Lizzo. Like mxmtoon, there were people in the crowd who viewed the singer as she viewed her favorite artists, proving the widespread love shared amongst her growing fanbase.
Many aspiring musicians took her advice to heart.
“She mentioned that you need to stay authentic and stay real because people can tell through that real quick,” Benji Wolf, a high school senior from Michigan, said. “I think that’s true. I try to make my music as authentic as possible.”
Wolf mentioned having seen mxmtoon prior and was hopeful to get the chance to speak to her.
“I actually saw Maya (mxmtoon) perform in New York last summer,” Wolf said. “Since then, I've written a song inspired by her. Hopefully, I will try to find her to see if I can pitch it to her.”
Since seeing mxmtoon live, Wolf found her musical advice insightful. Admiring her hard work and success from a young age, the attendees sitting in Baker Theater were instantly in awe.
“I love her music,” Wolf said. “This was great as an artist, just hearing someone build their career from the ground up at a young age is very inspiring.”
