“From my experience I’ve learned to stay true to myself and stick to who I am in my music. There’s always a certain demographic available for a specific art. ” – @marwanmaurice

Listen to the Interview:
Episode #289 : A.V.A Live Radio Behind The Music with Jacqueline Jax : http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2016/01/14/episode-289-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax

GETTING TO KNOW MARWAN MAURICE
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
Marwan (mar-waun)

The music business is unique…
It can be an oxymoron. For example, it’s both challenging yet easy to get your music heard or to book a show. It’s sometimes challenging being the new guy who plays original music to get someone to give you a chance, but at the same time there’s people who are looking for exactly that and would love to give you an opportunity. From my experience I’ve learned to stay true to myself and stick to who I am in my music. There’s always a certain demographic available for a specific art.

Social media…
For 1, it can be a free marketing tool and fans love it so it’s great! You can promote anything anywhere and almost everyone has it. Even my grandma has Facebook! It’s kind of weird to be honest! lol.. True story!

Singles vs an album…
Releasing a single vs. an album kind of reminds me of a relationship. With a “single” it’ like your just dating, having fun getting creative with your dates maybe pizza and bowling? Then the album is like when you meet each others family. Meaning “this just got real”. With a full album(meeting the family) you have now committed or considered committing to share your life with this person. That’s how I feel when I release a full album, I’m sharing my life with the world. With singles we’re just dating and we decide after each date if this is worth continuing and moving forward.

I got into music through poetry..
which I began writing while living alone in Europe. I didn’t have family there or know many people. I was there playing basketball for a living and though it was the dream job, at times it would stressful on top of being alone so I would use poetry and music as my outlet.

Angel…
is a very intimate song. It was written while sitting in the living room one evening with a special someone. It was just me and her discussing life at the height of our relationship. We spoke of amazing things from the past and what’s to come in the future. During our conversation she had to go check on some things around the house. While she was gone my mind was deep in thought about her and about us. I picked up my guitar and began singing. When she came back I had a pleasant surprise waiting, which was “Angel”. It was a perfect ending to an already amazing night.

From my music you can expect a more organic sound…
There’s a laid back delivery with a soulful edge in the sound. A radio host once called it “feel good music”. I’m not sure what all that entails, but the label sounded good to me!:) Be sure to follow all social media accounts for music updates. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all @MarwanMaurice

Columbus Ohio…
The music scene is pretty decent. You can pretty much find live music on most days. I’m more into the live acoustic scene and the live reggae scene myself. I love all types of music and trying new and random things! What I also enjoy is “thrifting” and some of the best vintage stores are also in the same areas of my favorite music scenes! Double bonus for me!

I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
My past self! This way I could knock some sense into him about what he should have or should not have did! This way we’d both be better off in the future!:)

Do you find that there is to much emphasis on being current and trendy…
I think I find more of a balance. In my opinion being unique and true to your art is trendy.

I am most afraid of…giving up

My personal definition of success is.. Name one success story that you are particularly proud of.

My definition of success is…
never quitting. I believe more people would find themselves accomplishing what they seek to accomplish if they would have just continued to try at it for a little longer. Sometimes doubt gets a hold of people or they listen and start to believe the words of others who don’t want to see anyone else succeed. In the long run though it’s only hurting those who quit and satisfying those who want to see you “fail”.

Before music came into my life..
basketball was my life. At a young age people would doubt me or tell me I’d never make it due to being a severe asthmatic. I kept pushing and doing whatever extra work I had to in order to accomplish my dream. I not only got my asthma under control but I excelled to playing both college and professional basketball. Since that point I truly believe that anything is possible, but you never can give up on yourself and listen to the “haters” in today’s world.

My over all goal for my life & career is…
happiness and to expand and share my music with the world. If that involves traveling all over and playing live, that’s a added bonus.

3 Ways that I challenge myself and how each one moves me forward towards my goal.
1) Practice at least 5 days a week if not everyday months before a show
-I find that the creativity juices increase tremendously whenever
I’m able to do so.

2) Never waiting for someone to do something for me later that I can do for myself now. If you are not willing to make contacts, market/promote yourself, how can you expect someone else to. Thankfully the music business and technology today makes it possible to do a lot of things on your own.

3) Never stay idle. I always want to do better and better in anything that I do whether it’s music or life. Every so often I look at my life and ask myself, “Am I doing better today than I was on this day a year ago?” If the answer is “no”, then I know I have a lot of work I need to do!

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6w1Z9IK6sc