On the Rise
Maggie Rogers

“I think the goal was to maybe play a small stage on a festival next year. I never in my wildest dreams thought that things could’ve gone so incredibly well.”

Maggie Rogers is chatting to us from her back garden, coffee in hand, over a crackling telephone line. It might be 2017, but clearly no-one told either of our network providers. The singer-songwriter and producer is set to play her first ever festival set at Firefly and it’s bound to be special for so many reasons.

“I’m really excited because it’s thirty minutes from where I grew up [rural Maryland], so it’s a pretty great place for me to do my first festival” she explains. “I get to sleep in my old bed and all my friends from high school are going to be there and then I’m playing Glastonbury which is going to be a whole other level.”

"I think it’s like studying French your whole life, but never visiting France ... I knew the rules, but still really didn’t know how to do everything."

It’s been a whirlwind of a ride for Rogers thus far, from a viral video clip to the official release of her astounding single “Alaska”, countless TV performances and months of touring, culminating in her breathtaking debut major label release, an EP called Now That The Light Is Fading. “Alaska” and its counterparts started off as another project which would count towards Rogers’ degree at NYU, where in a masterclass presided over by Pharrell Williams, the world was to become overwhelmed by her distinctive and timeless sound.

While studying music production at college may seem like the prime time and place for the acquirement of such technical knowledge should take place, it’s the real world as a post-graduate that really pushed Rogers to her limits.

“I think it’s like studying French your whole life, but never visiting France,” she explains of her experiences now school is out. Nothing really compares to the complexities of the application of your craft after all. “Or being a house-trained puppy,” she says. “I knew the rules, but still really didn’t know how to do everything.”

"People always say the crowds in London are unbelievable, but it was really just overwhelming and wild. That show was just magical."

In many ways Maggie Rogers is still a very new artist, but she does have a back catalogue. In fact, her still active Bandcamp page is full of hidden gems, such as a Felix Snow (Kiiara, Terror Jr) remix of “Resonant Body”, the opening track of Blood Ballet - a pre-fame independent album release. “Alaska” and Now That The Light Is Fading mark a new chapter, if not an entirely new book, in Rogers’ musicianship, though. While not entirely leaving behind her folk roots, which were rich in layered vocals and adorned with cellos and the odd banjo, the new releases feel like more of an arrival than a departure. “I guess this was just for me to try out pop music and to see what my music sounded like in that space. I think the goal was to maybe play a small stage on a festival next year,” she explains of the EP. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that things could’ve gone so incredibly well.”

Rogers quickly sold out her debut U.K. headline shows in a matter of minutes. Taking place at Omeara in London Bridge, the intimate shows were, as Rogers herself explains, an experience that many artists can only dream of: “The day leading up to the [first] Omeara show I was having a really rough day, all the travelling was starting to wear on me and I was really really tired. Playing that show was the most recharging, re-energising, rejuvenating experience. People always say the crowds in London are unbelievable, but it was really just overwhelming and wild. That show was just magical.”

Exactly one week after our first conversation, it’s the aftermath of another - much larger, equally hot ticket - bill topping gig at Electric Brixton. Teasing new material, showcasing the EP, older tracks and a couple of covers, Rogers’ dynamic stage presence had the sold out crowd hanging off every word. There’s a rare connection which she shares her audience. She explains how her friend is selling merch and had texted her beforehand to say how she wish she could be friends with all the amazing fans buying everything up. Her reworking of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” into a melancholic pop floorfiller proves a real highlight. Young’s team had previously declined to allow a studio version release, however Rogers understands their decision based upon the sentiment and prestige engrained in the song.

For so many artists the transition from independent releases to the major label league means giving up control, creative freedom and often relying upon team members to steer the project. This is something Rogers had been reluctant to consider, but she quickly realised upon signing - with Polydor in the U.K. and Capitol in the U.S. - that not things were different from the horror stories she’d imagined.

“I think the biggest surprise of all was actually a really nice surprise,” she says. “I had all these meetings with all these record labels and I wasn’t really sure what to make of them. I come from a culture that isn’t very sure of what to make of record labels, but what I came away with from the process was that people who work at record labels are really good people who really love music.”

With her Glastonbury set this weekend, a moment which is certain to be pivotal for the young star-in-waiting, the anticipation of a follow up track or project from Rogers to better Now That The Light Is Fading is skyrocketing. Knowing Maggie Rogers beautifully measured approach to winning people over, online and on-stage, she won’t disappoint.