Boorloo/Perth-based electronic producer Maver, has released his debut EP, Dream Machine.

Maver has kindly taken the time to provide us with a track-by-track journey into his very own dream machine.

Immerse yourself into this spiritual journey by reading the meaning behind each song, while grooving out to the tunes!

The following text is a guest submission from Maver himself

Dream Machine is an EP surrounded by the stories of miscommunication between people, the brain, and a nightmare disorder. A majority of the EP was made on lockdown video calls over the last two years and heavily revolved around how mental health interacts with relationships, isolation and general wellbeing. The EP includes stories of how my nightmare disorder has affected myself and others, where my mental health has greatly impacted my relationships and the people around me. A big part of improving my mental health has been opening up to people and exchanging stories and own experiences to help each other with our own perspectives. 

A big part of my writing process is collaborating with other people and it’s something that I couldn’t really do music without. All but one of the tracks included a collaboration. This EP however, has allowed me to unlock other artists’ personalities and rebound on my own through my production. My own style and sound follow inspirations from past life experiences, and I feel the EP has a large variety of genres, rather than just being defined to one sound. Each idea that has been expanded on has become something special purely through choice collaboration.

 A track-by-track guide to Dream Machine

Intro

As the introduction to the EP, I wanted this track to be danceable, but really encapsulate the energy and feeling of the rest of the music on here. I made this track when I got my first surge of inspiration after being quite sick with COVID. After making some new life changes, I felt excited about the future and what it could hold. This song also features small snippets from each of the other tracks in this body of work, where you can listen closely and recognise bits and pieces on the second listen-through of the EP. 

Close Enough

Close Enough is about how a person can be your emotional support system and whenever you are with them, they make you feel unstoppable, able to achieve anything and “fly higher”. It is also about falling in love, feeling inspired by this person and being infatuated with the way they make you feel. Close Enough also details how you would do anything for this person, even putting yourself in harm’s way, but also this other person is there for you in your own journey and helps give you the last push you need to achieve your goals. 

Scratches

Scratches is a song inspired by lockdown and being trapped in a solitary space. The song is also about looking out for someone you care about when they're not in a mentally good place, especially when going into a spiral. Being isolated and separated from other people can keep you stuck in your own thoughts, unable to get out. Scratches is about the relationship between someone that can help you out of your own head and yourself whilst spiralling out of control.  

Loose Ends

Loose Ends is about two people drifting apart from miscommunication. The song is about not being on the same page with someone you care about and how that affects your relationship with them. Thinking that the other person wants one thing, them thinking you want something else but in the end, you both end up moving apart even though you wanted the same thing. The song was written with LORA mostly over a Zoom call where we were chatting about what was going on in our lives. We ended up talking about relationships and I brought up what I was going through which was the basis for the track. We then workshopped with LORA and Laura Hyde when I travelled to Sydney. We had a big D&M with each other, and we almost instantly had the bridge for the song in a matter of minutes.

In My Head

In My Head is a song about having a conversation with my nightmares and being comfortable with the fact that they are not going anywhere. The song is about me coming to terms with my nightmare disorder and being content with facing them every night and having poor-quality sleep. It is also about trying to address worries on your mind and either taking action if you can work on them now or attending to the problem at a better time and re-direct your attention to the present. The song was made whilst I was in hospital and came unusually naturally to me and is centred around insomnia and nightmares. Although the topic of discussion is dark, I wanted to have this track be danceable and lively.

LISTEN TO ‘DREAM MACHINE’ BY MAVER BELOW