Mae Stephens discusses summer Delapré Park gig, new single Make Me Your Mrs and global success

This summer, singer-songwriter Mae Stephens will perform in front of thousands of fans in her home county when supporting James Arthur at Delapré Abbey.

Last year, Mae’s life changed when her track If We Ever Broke Up went viral on TikTok, becoming the second most played track globally on the social media platform in 2023.

And, despite a year which included performances at Latitude, Glastonbury and The Great Escape festivals, she can’t wait to walk out on stage in her home county.

“I’m buzzing,” she admits. “James Arthur's music got me through a lot of stuff and having an opportunity to perform on the same stage as him is incredible. It’s Northampton, my home county. I can’t wait.”

When Arthur’s gig was announced last month, Mae immediately set to work to see if she could perform. Three weeks later, her name was added to the line-up.

“Seeing my name next to James’ was amazing, it was one of those moments,” she explains.

“This is the first festival which has been announced for me this year and it means so much to me because it’s home.

“There’s going to be a lot of people there I've known for years and a lot of friends and family.

“I feel I will be a little bit more nervous because there will be lots of people I know there.

“Other than that, I'm so excited, especially to have a place to perform where I can bring my family to, because places like Glastonbury are too far away for people like my grandma and my grandfather.”

While Mae’s viral hit propelled her overnight to global fame, for years she has been performing across the county, at pubs, open mic nights, venues and at the Northampton Music Festival in 2022.

“I think it’s fair to say I’ve paid my time,” she says. “I’ve done so much across Northampton, I’ve gigged at venues like The Black Prince and The Garibaldi.

“I’ve done a lot over the years and each time it brought me closer to the confidence of finally feeling like an artist.

“I feel like all of that was prep for everything that's happening now.”

It was Mae’s decision to upload a clip of If We Ever Broke Up to TikTok last year which changed her life.

On Spotify alone it has clocked up 280 million plays since February last year and globally it’s been played nearly a billion times.

For Mae, who at the time of uploading it was working in Asda in her hometown of Kettering, the success of the track and her singles which have followed, has been a challenge to get used to, stressing she’s still just a ‘normal person’.

“I still sit there and think how this came about and whether I earned it, whether I feel like I truly deserve what I've been given.

“I don’t think you get used to people coming up and asking for photos.

“I have an addiction to mac and cheese and I watch too much of The Office – I’m a normal person.

“I still feel like I’m in a coma, like I got knocked on my head and then magically woke up in this dream, but eventually you start to understand the work you put in for it.”

Despite how much her life has changed in such a short space of time, Mae says she’s not someone who enjoys being waited on, joking it comes from growing up having parents who have both served in the military.

“My mother always said you still ‘have it’ if you know how much a four pint of milk is,” she says.

“I will always help someone before I help myself - that's my code of conduct, that’s my family code.

“For me, it’s about helping the people around me and making sure they feel comfortable before myself.

“I'm still applying that in this industry and I hope it's opening other people's eyes to the kindness that should be brought instead of the expectancy of deliverance.”

When asked to choose her favourite performance last year, Mae pics the Latitude Festival, where she performed on the Sunrise Arena stage which also featured acts including 86TVs, The Mary Wallopers and Girlpuppy.

Describing the crowd as “phenomenal”, Mae adds the tent was also packed for the performance – aided, she jokes, by the rain outside.

Yet, despite playing at some of the UK’s biggest festivals last summer, when asked to pick her highlight of the last 12 months she instantly picks the day she went with her dad to EMI’s headquarters in London to sign her record contract.

“It was such a significant moment for me and my dad,” she explains.

“Working for years and years, going through so much blood sweat and tears.

“We both couldn't hold back tears and we had to give each other the cupcakes that were in front of us to stop each other from crying.

“If felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off both of our shoulders because it was something we were striving to achieve for so long.”

Sat in front of record executives, Mae recalls the silence as she signed the contract page by page, joking by the end of it her handwriting was terrible.

“It was a weird moment, but it was the most significant day of my life,” she says.

Mae, who will celebrate her 21st birthday this month, grew up in a house surrounded by music. She describes her mum as a “Kerrang! girl,” her brother as being into electro pop and her dad, trance – adding her grandparents were also classically trained.

It was that melting pot of genres which she says is the reason she finds it hard to pinpoint a genre or artist as her favourite, other than citing Freddie Mercury as an influence on her.

In terms of new music she says, “I'm obsessed with Teddy Swims at the moment.

“His voice is absolutely out of this world. I covered one of his songs for a BBC Maida Vale performance.

“He has the most insane voice. I’ve been loving him at the moment.”

Continuing on the topic of her family, she said none of her success would have been possible without their support.

From around the age of five, Mae would spend hours each day playing the piano, bonding with her father particularly over their love of music.

When she told him she wanted to be a musician, she says she expected him to guide her towards an academic job to “make an income,” however what happened couldn’t have been further from that.

“He put his heart and soul into it from the moment I said I wanted to be a musician,” she explains.

“He’s spent almost a decade learning everything about the industry.

“He was there at every gig, every opportunity, every festival, every open mic, carrying my keyboard through London Underground, taking me to gigs.

“If there is ever a representation of the perfect parents it would be my mum and dad.”

Mae recalls she was about 12-years old when she wrote her first song on guitar – a track about a mother wolf and her cubs.

“When I came downstairs to my dad I had a scrappy piece of paper, covered in felt tips because that's all I had.

“I played the song and he said, ‘I think we finally found what you're good at,’ and those words solidified my entire personality.

“That’s there every day as a reminder of how much he's done for me.

“Some kids, go ‘urgh, I’m so much like my mum or dad’. That’s pride for me.

“I want to be like my parents because I think they are such outstanding and incredibly kind people.”

Mae’s latest single, Make Me Your Mrs was released at the end of last month, and follow’s January’s single ADHD.

She describes the track as a “song for people who are saying ‘I’m waiting’,”.

“It’s a jokey sort of nudge to my partner because we've been together for three years,” she says.

“I’ve had a history of terrible relationships that ended in flames and fire and for the first time I’ve finally found someone who makes me feel like literally the only girl in the world.

“I keep making the joke if you don't get down on one knee and ask me, I'm gonna do it myself.”

The demands placed on musicians to find success and then replicate it isn’t lost on Mae, who acknowledges the challenge of trying to follow a global viral hit isn’t straightforward.

Given the unpredictable nature of how and why songs ‘go viral’, it meant following If We Ever Broke up was never going to be easy.

However, Mae explains EMI have been open to her decisions and her choices about the music she wants to release.

“You're always chasing the next big sparkly diamond, there’s always the pressure of the next hit,” she explains.

“That (IWEBU) was such an out of the ordinary success, it could never happen again. Or maybe it could. I’ve just got to work hard and persevere.

“EMI are very open to my decisions, my choices and what I want to put out and that's such a beautiful thing.

“They’ve listened to me and they take in my opinions, my thoughts and how I want to be perceived as an artist. I’m really lucky to have that.”

That pressure of success also extends to social media and in particular TikTok, the platform that gave Mae her success.

The singer admits when she started out as a musician, she didn’t imagine she would have to be an ‘influencer’ at the same time.

Explaining, people are slowly realising how much time and effort goes into building content to promote music across any given platform.

She admits, “I was never the girl who put her lunch on Instagram every day.

“It can be very much out of my comfort zone, especially going from such a low level of exposure to If We Ever Broke Up blowing up. Social is a love hate relationship.”

With new music already released this year, when quizzed about the possibilities of a larger collection of work she replies, “Hell yes, we’re definitely thinking about an album,” adding an EP and mixtape are also being discussed.

“Last year I didn't release as much music as I wanted to, but this year we’re changing the game,” she adds.

“That's my soul focus. I feel this year is a year for me to really find who I am, find my biggest message and who I want to be as an artist.

“Being able to experiment with new sounds, new songs and new styles.

“It’s the pick and mix year for me to really curate who I am.”

Finally, turning to her fans who will be at Delapré Park this summer, Mae explains she has a few messages for people.

“I was always the weird kid, always the kid that never had a solid friendship group,” she admits.

“I got told the majority of my life I was never going to make it as an artist, I was never going to be anything or end up something.

“My biggest message is the weird kids will always win. Being weird is not a bad thing and I feel like that's something that should be embraced.

“The second thing is if you love something enough, go and do it – I went from working at an Asda to being able to travel the world.

“The third is positivity. I'm an adult with ADHD. I’m a neurodivergent human being.

“I'm determined to say to people, it's not a disorder, it's a superpower.

“ADHD is creative, it's beautiful, it’s who you are and I feel that should be brought to light a lot more.

“I want to bring a little bit more fun to the game because I feel everyone's too serious.

“If that means walking on stage in a rainbow dress, with bright neon pink hair to welcome a crowd – I’ll do it.

“I can’t wait for the show because it’s fun – and to me that’s what music is supposed to be.”

Mae Stephens will join James Arthur at A Perfect Day festival at Delapré Park on Sunday, June 16.

Tickets are on sale now at https://aperfectdayfestival.com

For more information about Mae Stephens, visit https://linktr.ee/maestephens