Feeling the love at Glastonbury and beyond with this ever-humble and going-places artist
“My entire mission is to distribute love,” Mauvey tells me, minutes after coming off stage from his Glastonbury 2024 show and still glowing with energy. “I really care about positivity and so each of my songs is about distributing different messages of love.” The mood at tonight’s festival show at the Bimble Inn tent was certainly giving love in all the right places as the audience joined the artist in an addictive dance routine not once but five times. With each iteration, hundreds of limbs all moved as one sexy beast, the crescendo coming during Mauvey’s new single and soon-come anthem, ‘Pray For You’. “I don’t want any drama in my life so that song is saying that I want to be real, to be face to face. And I will pray for you, even my enemies,” he adds with a smile.
There’s more to the dance than simply inducing smiles and sweat, though. As with everything Mauvey undertakes, it comes from the heart. “It’s a simple dance that people can grab hold off, participate in and get a feel for where I’m from – Ghana,” he explains. “I want people to understand what my Africa sounds like, which isn’t the same as other afro fusion artists. The music I’m making now, more than ever before, feels like home.”
Mauvey was born in Accra and grew up between south London and Southampton in the UK. “We hardly spoke English at home – I was taught Twi, Fante and Ga.” He then moved Vancouver while studying Law to further his career as a professional basketball player but a tragic event changed his path. “My best friend was murdered. That made me think about the type of impact I wanted to make with my time on Earth. So, I quit basketball and moved home. There was a year and a half when I was just writing and by 2015 I decided that music was my path. I taught myself production and wrote over 5,000 songs.”
“My story is not true unless Africa is at the centre of it”
By 2019 he’d come up with the world of Mauvey and began releasing music with an electro alt pop leaning, receiving a string of accolades in Canada as well as recognition from BBC Radio 1, Amazon Music and more. And as his artistry has naturally evolved, he’s learnt to fully lean into his heritage. “It became clear that my story is not true unless Africa is at the centre of it. It’s always been the centre of me but now it’s at the centre of my music as well.”
Earlier this year he released ‘Before The Album 2.5: The Remix’ EP and following ‘Pray For You’ will come the autumn single ‘No Digital’. With each release, we move deeper into his sparkling, uplifting and groove-laden sound. And with the music comes poetic storytelling in manifold forms including poetry, fashion and film, all threaded together through a purple colour palette. Mauvey’s trad-meets-future costumes (designed by Mauvey, made with the help of his mother) give off pure, healing vibrations as they evolve throughout each show from vintage kente bubus through to deconstructed ensembles topped off with pearls.
The stage show is constantly evolving too. Whether joined by a flautist and drummer at Glastonbury or by an all-Black choir at Surrey Fusion Festival, this summer has seen Mauvey warm stages around the world with his infectious offerings of gratitude and joy. The Real Life, No Digital tour continues to a full set of UK dates this November and come December he’ll be making his Ghana homecoming debut. “I’ll be crying the whole time I’m there,” he jokes. With a year-long audiovisual rollout of his debut album all planned out for next year, Mauvey’s magic touch can only continue to spread far and wide. And best of all, his family are fully along for the ride. “My parents have always given me grace, and they aren’t getting any younger, so I’m happy that with this new music, I’ve made them proud.”
Read our full Glastonbury 2024 review here.
Read our Glastonbury interview with Bob Vylan here.
Read our Glastonbury interview with Sabiyha here.
Visit Mauvey
Words Helen Jennings
Photography Giulia Spadafora
and Bree Laryea
Published on 19/08/2024