“Down With the Clean Girl! Up With the Diva!”: Sit Down & Lez Out with the Bay Area’s Rising Star, mayday mae!!
Date of Interview: 06/02/2026
Date Published: 07/24/2026
Written by: Nico
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MAYDAY! MAYDAY!
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Album Review!:
Andrue: 6.7/10
“this album is a very cute listen; I placed it somewhere in the realm of beach twee. it was very reminiscent of Peach Kelli Pop's "Peach Kelli Pop II" with shoo-wop Teen Beach Movie nostalgia. I was charmed both by the sound and the lyrics, bringing a refreshing queer twist to the sound. I will definitely be listening this summer ⋆☀︎.”
Déesee:
“dreamy pop with a little 60s feel so cute music to have a good day to”
Carry: 8.6/10, cover is 10/10 i cannot lie.
“first off i LOVE her name and the cover and the album name! everything works perfectly together! the shoo-wop interlude, dump your boyfriend, california dream girl, and like you like that are my fav tracks! i think there’s something very endearing about the themes of yearning with retro elements. the album sounds reminds me of driving on the pacific coast highway when i was like 17 and yearning. i also love the production as well! i like the layering that happens through the album in the background with different vocal melodies! very cute concept! excited for more!”
Thaddeus: 10/10
“My favorite song from the whole album was ‘dump your boyfriend (lets lez out)’ for the lyrics being upfront while being catchy also reminds me of a pre-teen angsty coming of age theme song for a movie. Love the album 10/10”
Nico: 9/10
“This is an incredible debut for Mayday Mae. It manages to balance a lively, fun, and irreverent tone, with its authentic, heartfelt, and relatable content. The style and associated visuals are a huge boon to the overall experience, and just makes me excited for more! Favorite songs: ‘California Dream Girl’, ‘NEPO!’”
Overall Friendcities Score: 8.86!
listen for yourself HERE
SONG: dump your boyfriend! (let's lez out) by mayday mae!
Intro!:
Sometimes you just find an artist that you click with and makes you immediately go “oh, I’m a diehard now”; for me, mayday mae! was that. A loud and proud lesbian with rowdy performances, a 60’s pin-up silhouette, and a love for a stylistic exclamation point? It seemed like something made in a lab to appeal to me! But it turns out she was not an experiment, she was a lovely, gracious artist
who we at Friendcities were lucky enough to secure an interview with! Hot off the heels of her debut album MAYDAY! MAYDAY!, you can tell how serious she is about her art, style, and impact. I had suuuch a good time talking with her, so I hope y’all enjoy it too! And please check out our Friendcities album review after the interview, as well!
Interview!:
Nico: Hellooo-oo this is Nico Eponine, coming at you from another Friendcities Interview! Today I’m here with the California Dream Girl herself, mayday mae!! How are we feeling, how are we doing today?
mayday mae!: I’m feeling good, all the way over here in sunny California, it’s good to meet you Nico
Nico: It’s good to meet you and I’m really happy that we get to do this today. This is a pretty big interview for me, so thank you again! But without further ado, let’s just get into it and can you tell me a little bit about yourself: who is mayday mae!?
mayday mae!: Okay! Sooo mayday mae! is an indie music project that is based out of San Jose in California and a lot of the mayday mae! sound includes a lot of 50’s and 60’s pop and rock mixed with indie surf and 2000’s and 2010’s alternative rock and yeah that’s how I would describe myself– I describe myself as a lesbian pop princess
Nico: Yesss, that’s how I discovered you and I was just so into that vibe and I just love your band and the aesthetic and everything so I was like ‘no we neeeed to get her on Friendcities’. But your album MAYDAY! MAYDAY! came out about two weeks ago?
mayday mae!: Yes, it was on the 23rd, yes
Nico: Congratulations, first of all, we love the album! How has the reception been for you?
mayday mae!: The release has been pretty fun. As I mentioned earlier, I’m from San Jose and we have a pretty small and tight-knit music scene down here in the South Bay and I had an album release show party on the same day at this really lovely community garden venue in downtown San Jose called SoFA Pocket Park. I’ve been having a couple shows at SoFA Pocket Park recently and it’s been a little bit of an unconventional music venue as there aren’t many “official” venues in San Jose, just because of how the city is structured and because of gentrification and things like that, and I had to get a bit more creative with, like, where we were gonna have the show, but nonetheless it was a really great turnout and, you know, I feel really grateful that I get to surround myself with the amazing community here in the Bay Area. So, album release has been going very well and I’m very lucky to be supported by my local and regional community
Nico: For sure, that’s beautiful. Well, congratulations again! So with the album, you had released several singles leading up to it, but as a whole was there a story you wanted to tell with the album or what was the inspiration behind it?
mayday mae!: Yeah! So I would say that when I was releasing some of the singles last year– the ones that are on the album right now– I feel like at that point in time I wasn’t really thinking about putting out an album just yet, but it wasn’t really until last year, 2025, around August or September I think– it was around the time I released “California Dream Girl”– I was like ‘I think I want to make an album!’. And I feel like overall, the story in the album can be summed up as a collection of little stories that make up a bigger story about me kind of finding myself in my very rowdy lesbian identity and kind of about breaking free from the expectations of those around you and the expectations of the world. I like to think of the first half of the album as being this more nervous, more sheltered version of myself because I wrote those songs when I was a lot younger. And then the second half of the album was songs that I wrote a lot more recently, so I feel like it’s kind of this story of coming out of one’s shell and really I think especially you can hear it with, like, “dump your boyfriend! (let’s lez out)” and “MANHATER!” and I feel like by the time you get to those songs if you’re listening in chronological order I feel like you can kind of see by that point it’s like ‘Oh! Well, she just doesn’t care what anyone’s gonna say about her and she’s gonna make some people mad’. Because like I remember when I released those two songs as singles I got a lot of interesting feedback from peers and people in my life and what they thought about the song and it wasn’t exactly positive, but I was like “Well… maybe that’s the point”, so I would definitely say overall it’s a story about coming out of one’s shell and not caring about what other people think of you!
Nico: I love that. And definitely like, listening to the album I can totally see what you’re saying about it kind of progressing in terms of that “rowdiness”, like you said, and I really like that. And definitely, for me: very relatable album
mayday mae!: [laughs] Thank you, I’m glad you feel that
Nico: So a big part of your brand is your style, your fashion, your aesthetic but how have you developed that?
mayday mae!: Ooh, this is fun… I was a COVID high schooler, I graduated high school in 2022 and around 2020 or 2021 my father brought a box of old records from his childhood, and also his parents’, my grandparents’, so I started listening to a lot of 70’s and 80’s rock from that time, so like REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, a lot of things like that. And then I kinda branched into my own music tastes after that and kinda went down the oldies route of like 50’s and 60’s pop and rock– I was really, really into The Beach Boys in high school and I feel like that was a very– that was like “mayday mae! Ground Zero” [laughs], that was during COVID of just me listening to The Beach Boys on my record player that I got for Christmas in like 2020 and I feel like those years, those months were a very formative period for me, cause I think once I started getting into the music from that time period I often found myself wondering what the queer scene was like in those years, as well. And you know, I’m no expert on queer history but I’ve always found myself really fascinated by like, specifically the lesbian community– ‘cause I am a lesbian– so like the butchfemme culture from back then and kinda how it’s found its way to persist today, so things like that are where I feel the overall style comes from. There are some inspirations from there and that time period and also just, you know generally, I’ve always been alternative in my style since like middle school, high school, so I would say those were some pretty formative years for me in terms of my style
Nico: Wow okay, that’s really cool that it started with your family. If you don’t mind me asking, is your family involved with your music now; have they been listening to it and seeing the growth of your career?
mayday mae!: Oh my goodness, this is so funny because I’ve been doing the mayday mae! project since fall of 2023, I think? And for the longest time my family was not aware that I was doing that because I grew up in a you know very traditional Asian household where that kinda stuff was not really supported, unless it was like a hobby. You could do that kinda stuff on the side, but it wasn’t really supported if it was the main thing you were trying to do in life. So I actually kept it under the radar for like a really long time, until August of last year [laughing], so this is semi-recent and it’s kinda crazy, but my father looked me up on ChatGPT, like he looked up my actual, government name on ChatGPT. I think the thing is that he knew that I was involved in the music scene, but all that I would tell him and my mom was that ‘Oh, I just, you know, go to other band’s shows and I, you know, help out setting up and breaking down shows’– which is true, I used to do that, you will see me out here in San Jose and San Francisco even if I’m not playing that show I’ll usually be helping out or supporting another band– so it was only kinda half of a lie there, not entirely lying, but I think he just got really curious one day because I might have mentioned being in other people’s bands or something like that… I don’t know, I was just trying to lie my pants off. And I think he got really curious so he put my name into ChatGPT and he basically kept tailoring the prompts until the mayday mae! stuff came up and then it would hyperlink stuff to songs and all that, so that’s kinda how they found out. I think the whole thing about it being a lesbian music project was ehhh, you know, not the best conversation, but I think generally the consensus now is that, like ‘Okay, this is a huge digital footprint that’s just not gonna go away’ [laughing] and they can’t do anything about it, so lesbian stuff aside, they might not agree with that, one cannot deny that– I don’t know, not to toot my horn– I feel like I’ve gone pretty far with it. Especially [laughing] considering that I’m calling someone from a different state right now to do an interview! So I think they kind of were able to put that aside and quietly support from the side, even though they might not ideologically agree with the content of the songs and the visuals and the stories they tell– they might not agree with it or resonate but I think generally they are supportive of like, music as a concept [laughs], if that makes sense
Nico: No for sure! And obviously, I’m sure that was a stressful process…
mayday mae!: But honestly it’s like ‘hey, I’ll take it’, I’ll take it if that’s the best it’s gonna get, then that’s cool with me
Nico: Yeah, no, like fierce is fierce [laughs]. There’s a point that they can’t deny like, you’re big, you’re talented
mayday mae!: That’s what I’m saying, thank you, thank you
Nico: Of course! So as you said, we are in a different state, we’re based in Arizona. And so this is kinda a selfish question but your first EP is called my post-desert hearts renaissance, right?
mayday mae!: Yesss, oh my gosh, yes, I’m so glad you asked me about that
Nico: So, as an Arizona girlie, where does this desert inspiration come from?
mayday mae!: Oh my goodness, sooo my post-desert hearts renaissance is a reference to an era of my life after I broke up with my first girlfriend at the beginning of college; her favorite movie was Desert Hearts, so it’s kinda like my “post-Desert Hearts”, this person and “renaissance” being everything got better after that relationship ended [laughing]. So there’s a song called “ms. desert hearts”, it’s not the title track, it’s like the fourth or fifth one on the EP, and I was gonna release it as a single, but I chose not to because I think at that point I had three singles out– it was “bound!”, “pin-up revolution”, and “girls into music”– and I was like ‘I dont know if I wanna release “ms. desert hearts” as a single because I don’t wanna give away the whole EP’. But yeah, I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Desert Hearts, but it’s a classic lesbian movie about two women, one of them is a university professor who’s going through a divorce and then the other woman lives on a ranch in like, Reno or somewhere in Nevada, and then the professor is trying to escape all of the stresses of her divorce and her job and the big city and stuff like that and they kinda intertwine at some point
Nico: No, I’ve never heard of it but now I wanna check it out, that’s really cute
mayday mae!: Yeah, but it’s my ex’s favorite movie– my ex from like 2022– so it was a long time ago [laughs]
Nico: [laughs] Okay, so sorta a possibly sensitive subject, but maybe a good movie
mayday mae!: No, yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s a good movie. I watched it on my own a couple years after we broke up and I was like ‘It’s actually a good movie, this is cute, I like this’
Nico: Right, that’s always terrible when something that’s actually good kinda gets ruined for you by somebody [laughing]
mayday mae!: No honestly, it’s kinda crazy because like she’s the entire reason why I’m like, a Letterboxd junkie; I have a Letterboxd account now because of her, so [laughing] shout out to my first girlfriend from 2022!
Nico: [laughing] Is the Letterboxd public, is that for your fans? Or is that just for your own enjoyment?
mayday mae!: It’s honestly for my own interests but I feel like I’ve probably posted a couple of videos just for like hee-hee-ha-ha’s in the past and I think some people have found it, so it technically is public I just don’t really post about it. But if you find me on Letterboxd, it’s fine if y’all wanna follow me, I don’t really care about that, but yes, I am an active Letterboxd user
Nico: So what’s your favorite movie? Whatcha been into recently?
mayday mae!: Girl, I was looking at my Letterboxd right now as you said that [laughs]. I am a huge fan of musicals– I really, really like Chicago, in fact Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago was lowkey my gay awakening, in like early high school. I really like that movie, and kinda in a similar vein there’s another movie with Christina Aguilera and Cher called Burlesque. It's kinda like a similar concept to Chicago, but I really like that type of movie. I feel like the showgirl type of movie is something that I’m really, really attracted to, for some reason. Maybe because it has these like, remnants of 50’s and 60’s burlesque and drag and stuff like that, and I feel like that’s really attractive to me as a queer person, and also as someone who’s, you know, a drag show frequenter out here in the Bay Area. I know a lot of drag performers and overall that style of performance is very attractive to me, so I think that kinda shows up in the movies I enjoy watching too
Nico: No, for sure, just hearing the movies you’re watching I’m like ‘No, yeah, that’s like perfectly in line with your image’– you are true to this, to who you are
mayday mae!: Aww, thanks. Yeah, I try to keep it consistent! [laughs] All the streams of inspiration are pretty consistent
Nico: Well, I guess changing gears a little bit, looking through kinda how the project has developed you can definitely see how your style has developed too and right now we’re in that post-album drop, we’re in that MAYDAY! MAYDAY! era, but looking towards the future are you interested in trying other things in a future era?
mayday mae!: Oh yeah, absolutely! I like to think that the way I release the music has a huge “lag spike”, for lack of a better word, where it’s like I will write stuff but then I won’t release it until like a year to a year and a half later. I was actually just talking to one of my friends about this because at the album release show that I had recently I kinda started to get a good lay of the land of, you know, the demographic of mayday mae! enjoyers and where they come from, and it’s, at least right now, usually people who are graduating high school and entering college, which I thought was really interesting because I wrote a lot of the early mayday mae! songs when I was in that era of my life. So even though I’m almost 22 at this point and I’m not in that demographic, I think it’s interesting because I like to think that maybe with the new songs that I’ll release at some point down the line after the album– and I’ve already started writing stuff [laughs]– I think it’s definitely gonna be more about the young adult years, instead of the older teenage years. I think something I’ve been wanting to try like that is I kind of wanna go into a power pop or a disco, even, kinda direction. Because I’ve been getting into a lot of disco music lately, especially considering that disco has always been a really, really liberating genre for a lot of queer people back in the 70’s, and things like that. It was this really interesting time period where, and I feel like there’s a lot of points in human history where, being queer and being trans is sooo close to being normalized, if that makes sense, at least in the pop culture sphere. But then something will happen and then it’ll all fall apart and it’s like a pendulum. Because then in the 80’s it was all of this macho and you know, “man and woman la la la la la”. You got all these movies in the 80’s like The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, all this stuff that is very, very heteronormative, in contrast with the 70’s which was following after the Civil Rights Movement and Stonewall, and all those movements. So I think definitely power pop and disco, because I find myself interested in those eras. Also now that I’m 21 [laughs] I’ve found myself going out to queer events more, like 21+ queer events, where there’s a lot of drag, there’s a lot of burlesque, there’s just a lot of things going on that I never got to experience, so I really think you honestly might see some gay club influences in the next cycle of mayday mae! music, in terms of pop influences and stuff. But that’s kinda what I would imagine is gonna happen for the new stuff after this album
Nico: No, yeah, that’s so cool, and especially talking about disco, just the way it’s maligned a lot, like people are like ‘oh disco’s terrible’ and I think that’s just because of how queer it was and how Black it was
mayday mae!: Oh yeah, definitely! I definitely believe that
Nico: But yeah, the revival of it– if that’s what you’re interested in, I think that’s gonna be an awesome look for you
mayday mae!: Oh, thank you, yeah I was really interested in disco, and I feel like this love of disco started some months ago when, originally, I heard through a local drag queen in San Jose– her name is Manang– she said that, because I was putting on a loosely-themed disco event at my university when I was in college and we had booked Manang as a drag performer host for that show, and she was talking kind of about how disco was a really queer genre and how we could probably lean into that with, like the outfits and the decor and stuff. And then later on I actually was in a Shakespeare in film class in my last quarter of university and our professor had us watch the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo + Juliet, with a young Leonardo DiCaprio, and in that film the character Mercutio basically has “Young Hearts Run Free” by Candi Stanton and I got really into that song– which is so funny because that was literally a few months before that song got popular on TikTok [laughing] so I was like ‘Not to be that person or sound pretentious but I was here before everyone else’– so I got really into that song and then I got into a bunch of other disco songs, and it was kind of this landslide that happened where it’s like ‘Okay, now I’m just consuming so much disco’. And honestly, I feel like “Young Hearts Run Free”, the reason I resonated with it a lot is because it felt like it was just the disco and non-lesbian version of “dump your boyfriend! (let’s lez out)” [laughing] like, I don’t know if you’ve heard or read through the lyrics intently, but if you do you’ll see, you’ll see the influences!
Nico: [laughing] For sure, for sure. And no, oh my god, that Romeo + Juliet, that Mercutio drag scene, that did something to me in high school for sure
mayday mae!: Absolutely, like it puts a whole different spin on his character and like– dude, I wrote a whole paper on this [laughing] I wrote about how one can interpret his death as being more of like an intersectional thing where like, okay he doesn’t have a last name, right, he’s not a Capulet, he’s not a Montague, he’s kind of in this weird, in-between space, and I feel like a lot of queer and trans people can kind of relate to that, of just kind of being thrown in the middle, where the Capulet-Montague feud can just represent heteronormative society and we’re kind of in this weird limbo spot where it’s like we’re forced to pick a side. And I think the way that scene was blocked when he died in the Baz Luhrmann film, I argued in my paper that that concept really shone through
Nico: I loveee that, that’s so smart… Wow! The mayday mae! literary analysis in the interview, I was not expecting that [laughs] But I think this is also a perfect segue into the next question: you are obviously, very loudly and proudly– oh, happy Pride, by the way–
mayday mae!: Happy Pride Month! Cause you know you’re gay and stuff
Nico: [laughing] So what has it been like being so open with your sexuality as part of your image?
mayday mae!: Honestly, I feel like I’ve been really lucky because I was born and raised in the Bay Area in California– one of the most liberal places on Earth! [laughs] and I feel like, you know, having that be a prominent thing in the music I haven’t really gotten any overt backlash from anyone in the music scene? I think the thing is that there’s a lot of gay and trans people in the music scene here, like there are in any music scene, like in literally any other American city. But because San Jose is kind of small it’s more like this thing of like okay, there are gay people but not a lot of them really– at least at the time when I was creating the mayday mae! project– I didn’t really know of anyone else who was being so open about it. Because I think it’s such a like ‘oh, you’re gay?’, you know it’s like another Tuesday afternoon for us in California, you know what I mean? The Bay Area has such a huge, high density of gay and trans people all in one spot, like it’s a little bit more spread out in San Jose because of the urban sprawl, but if you go to places like Oakland, and especially San Francisco, like obviously in San Francisco there’s a huge density of all these gay people packed together, even in little neighborhoods, like The Castro, for example. So I think like generally I’ve had a good reception and things like that, but like sometimes, and I don’t take offense to this I just think it’s super funny, when I’m like doing a show or someone sees me on the street they’re like ‘Yo, you’re mayday mae!, you’re like the lesbian from San Jose’ [laughs] And I think it’s just because there aren’t many personalities like that online, like if you were to go to a place like Los Angeles or New York City, you’re like oversaturated with people like that, but because I’m based in not only the Bay Area, but specifically San Jose, it kinda makes me stick out like a sore thumb a little bit, but not in a particularly negative way
Nico: Okay, but that’s cool– you’re like, filling a niche that needs to be filled
mayday mae!: Yeah! It’s like filling a niche
Nico: So, I’ve definitely seen a lot of your shows online, like I saw you were the ring girl at lesbian wrestling
mayday mae!: Ohh my goood, bro, that was a dream come true, I loved that
Nico: What have those shows been like? What is your community like? Let us know a little bit about your fanbase, and that kinda thing
mayday mae!: I love the Bay Area queer community and no matter where I move in this godforsaken country of the United States of America, I will always be repping the Bay Area and I will always be repping San Jose, no matter where I love. I really love, really, really, really love my community because they are just so open-minded to any kind of music. Like the San Jose music scene is mainly a lot of hardcore and thrash shows, but I think there is a pretty sizable amount of people around here who do like listening to indie music, so I feel like people are very open generally. And you know, to your point earlier about lesbian wrestling, just to hammer that point home about being open, I was a little bit nervous being the ring girl for Lez Wrestle Bay Area because they wanted me to sing a couple songs, so I did “dump your boyfriend! (let’s lez out)”, I also did “MANHATER!”, but I was also the ring girl, so I was walking around the ring doing a little lap with the like, Round 1, Round 2 signs being pretty. All I wanted to do was be high femme eye candy, like this is just what I want in my life, but anyways I was a little nervous for that because it was a slightly different crowd than the DIY show crowd. The organization that puts it on is “Lez Wrestle”, right, but then there’s a parent organization called “Lesbeaux”, and Lesbeaux puts on these monthly lesbian and sapphic parties at this really prominent gay club in The Castro called “Beaux”– so the event is Lesbeaux [laughs]. But yeah, it’s a little bit of a different crowd, because it’s like the gay club crowd and then the music crowd, and I know there can be some overlap, but I was just a little bit scared of like ‘uhhh, is it gonna be the right fit?’, ‘are people gonna be bumping that to mayday mae!?’, I don’t know. But I felt really welcomed, not only by the people at Lesbeaux, but also by the audiences and I feel like they were very, very open to seeing me perform, even though it was a little bit of a different type of performance than what they’re used to seeing, so yeah that’s been an interesting thing I’ve been navigating in the past couple months. So yeah, I would say generally I’m very grateful that I have a very supportive community that is super open, regardless of who they might be and what they like to do in their free time and where they like to go.
Nico: No, that’s perfect, and it sounds like you’re really entering smoothly into all those spaces, but then you’re also creating those spaces by having these performances, so it seems very symbiotic, you know?
mayday mae!: Yeah, yeah definitely
Nico: So like I said, yes, we are based in Arizona and I think a lot of our readers and listeners either haven’t been or aren’t from the Bay–
mayday mae!: They’re not tapped in… [laughing]
Nico: No, we’re not tapped in, we need to get on that, we need a Friendcities Bay Area Regional. But what are the best venues, and what are your favorite venues to perform in the Bay?
mayday mae!: Ooh best venues in the Bay Area? You know, I really miss The Art Boutiki in San Jose, it was a venue kind of close to downtown, like San Jose, Santa Clara area– it was really close to my university, actually– it was a really beautiful venue and I think it had been around since 2007, but it was just a thing of like, rising property costs in the Bay Area, and at some point they had to go out of business, so that was my favorite venue. But I’ve been to a lot of really cool spots: there is a dim sum restaurant, a family-run, mom-and-pop dim sum restaurant in San Jose called “Jade Cathay”, and there is this collective called “Heavy Lemon” that books a lot of bands to play in this corner of a dim sum restaurant, where they will clear out these tables in that section of the restaurant where they’ll put like the PA system and the drum set and all that other stuff, and it’s sooo cool because you have like you can literally sit down and eat food and watch a show at the same time. And I just think that is so cool and creative and that’s the thing that I really like about San Jose and the Bay Area is that because of gentrification and because of rising living costs there’s not a whole lot of “official” venues around here anymore. There used to be a lot more, but there unfortunately are not anymore, and the big ones that do still exist around here are usually very “pay-to-play” type things, so it’s not very supportive of smaller local acts, but I don’t know, I really like that San Jose people get really creative in the places where they can have shows, whether it be a community garden or a dim sum restaurant. It’s really just about if you know someone who works at an establishment and they’re cool with having a show there, great! Let’s put on a show! Like my guitarist is trying to turn their backyard into another house show venue, which I think is so beautiful, cause it’s like when one spot closes down, another one opens up. And it may not be the same as the spot that just closed but it’s something, but yeah that’s for San Jose. San Francisco, I’ve been going up to a lot more; I really like Neck of the Woods, Neck of the Woods is really fun, that one is like a slightly bigger venue, but I really like— like I like doing DIY stuff, but I also do enjoy the comfort of playing in actual venues because you actually have a place to put your stuff down or maybe have a little green room space, even if it’s a little closet because that’s something, which is different than putting all your stuff down next to the quote unquote “stage” in a community garden. Which like, no shade to that at all, it’s just a little more comforting. And I’m really excited to play at this venue that recently reopened in San Francisco called “Mabuhay Gardens”, it was a very prominent punk venue in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, so people like Blondie, Dead Kennedys, The Cramps used to play there all the time, and I think around 5 to 7 years ago they shut down– again because of high living costs– but they recently reopened this January and I think it’s volunteer-run, I think that’s how they’re doing it now, so they’re just now starting to book shows there, so I’m really excited about Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, just because of like the historical importance of it to the city– I feel like that’s gonna be a really cool space
Nico: Yeah, that sounds really awesome! Is that like a Filipino place?
mayday mae!: Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah I think it used to be a Filipino restaurant back in the day, kinda similar to a Jade Cathay situation, and now obviously they’ve renovated it and it looks like an actual venue, but it used to be a Filipino restaurant where the owner would let people play shows there
Nico: Mmm, see the Bay is lightyears ahead [laughs] y’all are having cool shows
mayday mae!: Yeah, and that was way back when in the 70’s and 80’s!
Nico: No likeee I need to go to a dim sum concert so bad
mayday mae!: It’s so peak
Nico: [laughs] Well, we are getting close to the end of our time together, which is so sad this has been very fun, but the last thing I do is a li’l rapid fire segment so I’m just gonna shoot these questions at you– we always get sidetracked in that rapid fire, so don’t worry, but I’ll start: What is your star sign?
mayday mae!: My star sign is Gemini!
Nico: Gemini, ohh so your birthday– has it passed or is it coming up?
mayday mae!: My birthday is on June 12th, it’s in 10 days and I’ll be 22!
Nico: Oooh, happy early birthday! What is your favorite food?
mayday mae!: My favorite food is mac and cheese, but specifically the kind that my best friend Angela makes cause it’s not box mac and cheese like, they’re actually making it from scratch and it tastes really good. Maybe that’s just on the front of my mind cause I had that yesterday [laughs]
Nico: [laughs] No that’s a good choice, that’s a good choice, homecooked is always the best. You kinda answered this already, but who was your gay awakening?
mayday mae!: My gay awakening was Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago [laughs]
Nico: What have you been listening to lately?
mayday mae!: I’ve been listening to this song by MARIS called SUPER F★CKING MEGA ST★R– I think that’s a really good song
Nico: Perfect! What was your favorite live show from this year?
mayday mae!: Ooooh, just like shows that I’ve gone to? Probably– oh gosh, I got the pleasure of playing at The Moroccan Lounge in April in Los Angeles for a Lesbian Visibility Day show I was putting on with a lesbian magazine in SoCal called “Chapstick Magazine” and I saw some really great performances by the two other artists on that bill: NAIE and Jaide Monroe, they were really, really cool
Nico: That sounds so cool! What is your dream collab?
mayday mae!: My dream collab? I don’t know, I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of my dream collabs [laughing] like, I honestly really like trying to bridge the drag world with the live music world, so any dream collab would just be with a drag performer that I think is really cool, so for example back in April I did a show in San Francisco called “Sapphic Extravaganza”, where it had all sapphic and lesbian-fronted bands. I booked two of my friends who are drag performers to be like co-hosts of that show and I feel like that was a dream collab– their names are Lapphi Sapphi and then Princess Capri, really cool people, really cool performers
Nico: That is really cool. So the last rapid fire question we ask everybody: what’s “in” for you right now?
mayday mae!: What’s “in”, like what’s cool for me right now? What’s in is… probably using more sparkly eyeshadow than I ever have before, because it’s so gender affirming for me [laughs]
Nico: No, sparkly eyeshadow is so in, you’re so right
mayday mae!: Nooo, down with the clean girl! [laughs] Down with the clean girl! Up with the diva!
Nico: [laughing] Blue eyeshadow! All! Summer!
mayday mae!: Uh-huh!
Nico: Well, thank you so much for coming on with us, it’s been awesome, I think you’re doing such amazing things just for lesbians in general, I just love your music. But is there anything, before we sign off, that you wanna tell the people? Anything you wanna plug?
mayday mae!: My album MAYDAY! MAYDAY! came out a couple weeks ago and you should listen, and also I want to shout out my internet friend, Holly, that I’ve known for many, many years now, who lives in Arizona– I believe she lives in Tucson with her girlfriend– I’ll probably send this to her, so shout out Holly! The one person I know in Arizona. But yeah, I would say that’s about it, thank you so much for having me, this has been amazing, I’ve enjoyed talking to you, this has been so fun!
Nico: It has! I agree, I’ve had a lot of fun too :)
mayday mae!: Yayy!
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