by St. Mary is an L.A. transplant who has been in love with music for her entire life. Starting out as a classically trained pianist in Cyprus at age six, the passion never wavered, leading her to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. From there she became excited by production and DJing and fell in love with creating electronic music. Her sound is right at home for FUXWITHIT fans mixing trap and bass with elements of wave, melodic and future bass. From collaborations alongside Reo Cragun and Drowsy to official remixes for Dave East and SHIMA x Sumire, she’s been making major waves in the scene.
With her debut EP on the horizon, we felt it was the perfect time to showcase the rising talent with a guest mix + interview. The mix showcases her own work plus music from FUXWITHIT favourites like capshun, JAWNS, Juelz, msft., Mr. Carmack, Whyte Fang, and more. In the interview we discuss what it was like growing up in Cyprus, making the move to America, her musical background, what drives her to create, what brings her joy, and much more. Check the mix and interview below.
Tell us about the mix. What should listeners expect when they press play?
This mix includes some of my favorite tracks that I’ve been playing live this year as well as some of my own released & unreleased tracks, mashups, and edits!
What was it like growing up in Cyprus? How did it shape you as a person?
Cyprus was such an amazing place to grow up in. Life there is easier and more stable than any other place I’ve ever lived in. It’s a very small island, so I feel like you develop a stronger connection with the people around you and you’re able to rely on each other a lot more. Moving to the US has definitely given me a lot of perspective and made me appreciate that more than ever.
What was the biggest surprise about relocating to the United States?
Everything! Everything is so different here, it probably took me about 3 years to really get used to it all. People are definitely a lot more career-driven here, which makes it a great environment to push yourself and grow as an artist. It also still surprises me to this day how casual it is to bump into some of your biggest influences when living in LA.
How does your experience as a classically trained pianist influence the way you write music and produce music?
I’d say it wired my brain to prioritize harmony and melody over anything else. Drums and bass are typically the key elements when it comes to making dance music, but coming from a more traditional musical background, it feels almost impossible for me to move forward with a track if the musical part of it isn’t sitting right for some reason.
What’s the most important thing you learned at Berklee College of Music?
It showed me just how much being in the right environment can speed up your progress as an artist. The influence you get by simply being around talented and hard-working people proved to be far more valuable to me than any Youtube tutorial I’ve ever watched. It was a great midpoint between life back home and the insanity of living in Los Angeles.
How did it feel to land remixes for Dave East and SHIMA x Sumir? Are there any other artists
you dream of doing official remixes for?
These remixes were so much fun to make, it made me completely re-conceptualize these tracks. There’s so many artists I’d dream to remix one day, the list is endless, but a few names would be Flume, Fred Again, Alison Wonderland and of course, the King Henry, RL Grime.
What drives you to create?
Real-life experiences are definitely a big part of that, just like with most artists, but another main source of my inspiration is very visual. Whether that’s an entire movie or the view off my car window, I feel like an aesthetic or a strong, impactful visual concept is enough for me to get inspiration and draw ideas for my music. Going to shows and feeling the energy of a live environment has also made me fall in love with creating heavier tracks, so that’s definitely a big one as well.
Your branding has a lot of religious themes. Do you see music as a religious experience?
It kind of feels that way sometimes. The music that influenced me the most and got me into this career path felt like an out-of-body experience or something very spiritual in that sense. There’s something intangible there that you can’t really explain, but feel and I think that ties in with the religious concept perfectly.
What makes you happy?
This question was harder to answer than I thought haha. It’s the small things. Solo road trips, a glass of wine while making music, social media breaks…
How’s the EP coming along? When will fans finally get to hear it?
It’s going great! I honestly feel like this EP might be my best work to date. Everything from the lyrics to the production is very intentional and I’m so happy to have combined all the things I love from all types of music into this body of work. We are starting the rollout this fall with the EP’s singles and will release the rest of the project soon after that before the end of the year.
Any final words?
I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone that has ever supported my music in any way. It means the world and constantly fuels me to keep going <3>
Tracklist
St. Mary & Misdom – Blind w/
RL Grime – Era (Shadient & WAVEDASH Remix)
Black Carl! & saka – Rush Hour
SMITHWORKS – Goin’ Round
NGHTMRE – BRXCX LXX x REDLIGHT (SLICK Edit)
Skeler, Deadcrow – ADRENALIN
RL Grime & ISOxo – Stinger (HaZo x Tanfa Flip) w/
Kendrick Lamar – Humble (Acapella)
Saka – False Angel
Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek (GRAIL FLIP)
Habstrakt – Libre (with IMANU) w/
BIA – SIXTEEN (Acapella)
EPROM – HOPE (HELLBOUND! Remix)
Apashe – Witch (Nitepunk Broken Remix)
FROSTTOP – ECHO (leemoo Remix)
JAWNS – Sleepers
Msft. – Alley
St. Mary & GRAIL – RELIGION
Juelz – ID
Capshun – Lost
Lord Genmu – TRAP-EIGHT-SIX (Jon Casey Remix)
Flozone x Estelle – Pump That Freak (bd noises edit)
Boys Noize – Go Hard (Guild Chip & SUAHN Flip)
Blvk Sheep, SuperAve, Dorrough – Ice Cream Break Job (bd noises edit)
Mr. Carmack – Remember to Remember w/
Whyte Fang – One Million (Acapella)
Rewind x Sweet Nothing x Cinema (Juelz Flip)
QUIX, Nevve – Gunning for You (St. Mary Remix)
WAVEDASH & Shadient – Get Wicked
Hollaback Girl (Netgate Edit)
St. Mary &. TWSTD Zoo – ID (ft. ALLEYCVT)
Heimanu – Slumber
