Musician to debut song off EP Friday

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SANDPOINT — Local musician Maya Goldblum aka “Queen Bonobo,” is releasing “Throw Me In,” the first song off her upcoming EP, this Friday.

The name Queen Bonobo came from a night with her roommate and boyfriend at the time, she said. One of them had shown her a video of a Bonobo, and the group had started joking she should name her band Queen Bonobo.

At the time it seemed ridiculous, she said, but a year later when she was playing, it felt “weird” to put her own name down for the band.

“We just threw that name out there and it stuck on and never went back,” she said.

Since then the name has also taken on another meaning for her, she said. Bonobos operate in a matriarchy, and so the name has taken on a special connotation for Goldblum.

“There's a lot of like feminist symbolism in it. The more I stick with the name, the more like what it stands for,” she said.

Goldblum, a Sandpoint native, has been singing and making music since she was young, often performing with her father, Arthur Goldblum, from an early age in his jazz band.

She hadn’t originally planned to be a musician, she said, but during her second year in college, she decided to lean into music, practicing six hours a day. After moving to Ireland for her studies, her career kicked into gear.

“Throw Me In” was written by Goldblum during her first year studying abroad, she said. The song encapsulates the loneliness, homesickness and feelings of being overwhelmed that she was going through at the time.

“The analogy is that I'm a fish and I'm in air, and I just — the air is too heavy, and I need to be thrown in the water because the water helps me breathe and, you know, reset. And then the chorus is, ‘my f- ups make me who I am. I'm proud to be when the air is heavy I’ll breathe the sea dive into my ocean,’” she said. “And it's all about believing in yourself.”

The rest of Goldblum’s EP is set to release in May, she said. Over the years she’s been influenced by the music and culture around her, leaning into Appalachian and bluegrass music during her college years in North Carolina, then jazz as she met numerous musicians in that genre during her time in Ireland.

Goldblum’s upcoming EP is a reflection of those experiences, with the independent release combining jazz and folk influences.

The music is the last she recorded from her time in Ireland, she said, and holds a special place for her. She’s a different person than she was when she wrote the song, but she can still relate to it.

“I kind of feel like I'm digging into that past self and story when I'm promoting it,” she said. “I think songs are kind of like that, though. They're just like memories that are, I don't know, brought to life in lyrics and melody, and I don't know, I can dive back into that moment in time.”

Releasing music right now is challenging, Goldblum said, in no small part because many labels won’t take new artists.

Further, musicians are encouraged to release music with tours, a strategy to try and make the most of what is for many artists a modest income. Musicians don’t make much money off their online music, she said.

Even though that’s not possible, Goldblum said she felt it was time to release her work — so in November she hired a PR company, and started working to release the EP.

“I just couldn't wait any longer,” she said.

Since things shut down, Goldblum said she’s taken the pandemic as a time to focus on growing and continuing to make music while hiding out in Sandpoint.

She’s started playing the banjo and is already planning a new project, all where her love of music first began.

Before Goldblum started seriously delving into music, she said, her father had taught her basic music theory as a young girl.

Arthur Goldblum jokes he played her music before she was even born.

“Even before she popped out of her mom, I was singing, playing music to her, playing my trumpet, playing my flute. She grew up around music her whole life,” he said. “I remember her like, skiing on Schweitzer and singing. I'd hide and she’d passed me and she'd be singing as she went down the run.”

Goldblum’s music is complex, he said. From a young age, he encouraged her to find her own musical voice, and it shows. He recalled her singing alongside him in his band, Bright Moments, around age eight.

“People were always amazed that this little girl was singing jazz songs because that’s pretty sophisticated music,” he said.

Her music is challenging to the listener, Arthur said, both musically and lyrically.

“They're not simple, easy songs to listen to,” he said. “It's not just basic three-chord [music] you know? Her words are deep, and they have meaning.”

Queen Bonobo’s song “Throw Me In” will be available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music and other sites. She can be followed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @queenbonobo.

"Throw Me In" can be pre-saved on Spotify here.