Mau ( Mauricio Jimenez ) MUSICIAN (Mexico / Boston)

( Mauricio Jimenez )

He is a musician who is part of Night Lights, a band where he is lead singer. But thats not hes only projects…

Your music has a very fun sound. Looking at your videos your band seems to really enjoy what they do. But are there fights behind the camera ? How do you deal with hard times? do you even fight?

Oh, we have TONS of fun. Well, that is a difficult question, because of course we have arguments and we have disagreements and get mad at each other. But we never get to the point of threats or insults or like fighting per se. The thing about it is, we are like a relationship. To get to a new level in our relationship, we have arguments and disagreements. Someones thoughts or ideas clash with someone else’s, or we find out that we aren’t on the same page with certain shows or we don’t get to practice on time, etc. theres always something we can find in each other that conflicts with us. That said, we have such a great friendship and what we want for the band is so much bigger than us, that we learn consistently how to grow with each other and support one another. What we stand for is bigger than our egos. We are just learning how to best deal with one another in the best way. I have a way i like to be spoken to or treated and so does Jeff, Yusuke, and Dag and its so different to me that i have to learn the others ways of being treated. its really fascinating. I guess you can think of it like siblings. That seems more fitting than a relationship. No matter what, were still a family, but we do have little childish fights here and there until we are reminded that we are family and we can put everything else aside.

Ive seen in feed how you try to play in different venues and get exposure. We all understand how hard it is to make a break in the music industry. What would you say social media serves as to get exposed ? is it a platform to get followers or to get discovered by big labels ?

Well, i think social media is mainly a way to communicate with your audience. Now with the digital age, live shows are less and less appealing to people i think. So social media is the new way to stay connected with the people who align themselves with who we are and what we stand for. That said, there is so much traffic and so much stuff going on in social media that keeping up with bands through that is hard as well. There are algorithms and other factors that prevent a public figure or band to really communicate with people, just like its hard to keep people interested. Theres too much filtering, so really the question becomes, how effective social media is anymore. As for record labels, they only check social media to see your relationship to an audience. To see how you can engage them and if you are being effective in that area makes labels and publishers more interested in a band. stuff like, can you keep people interested in who you are and what you do and so on. However, it rarely works for actual communication between a label and a band.

To manage your social media would you say is as important as to manage your sound? Many times ¨ shitty musicians¨ are ahead of bands like yours (talented) simply because they knew how to expose themselves , its a whole other commitment there … social media. How do you manage yours?

Definitely. I mean, social media is a little window into a bands personal life. It is hard to keep up with it though. and “shitty musicians” that can master themselves are definitely wise. We are still figuring out how to really translate who we are into our social media stuff. its just hard to keep up with it, especially when as a band you have other priorities like making music or recording or writing more songs and so on. But i don’t think theres a formula, you just have to be consistent in taking pictures and sharing what you do as a musician with people that could potentially like what you do and who you stand for. It helps to be funny or quirky, but even that is hard to pin point you know? the way we do it is that we all have access to all our social media, and we will try and take pictures or little videos to update our fans. We are still getting the hang of twitter and such, but i think as long as we can be sincere in all our social media as to who we are, people will align themselves with us if they feel related to.

What do you want to truly achieve with music? Whats your main goal? How do you intend to get there? You know its a harsh industry but you have a very sweet mellow personality do you think people will take advantage of you?

Well, i think theres a personal goal with each member of the band and then we all come together in with the big picture. For me, i want to be able to connect with people around the world. To anyone and everyone who is moved or provoked by what I say. I want to start conversations and just be able to create a community through what we say. That said, we want to play big stages and eventually tour the world. To innovate and inspire in an overly saturated and extremely complicated medium that is the concert world. We plan on getting there through hard work and taking risks. Having a clear goal and a good business plan (which we have). But this stuff takes time and lots of patience and love for what you do. I certainly have a mellow personality, but i don’t think that would ever make me or any of the Night Lights a push over. We know the industry pretty well and will learn through mistakes. I think as long as we can pace ourselves when a “big opportunity” shows up, we can be wise in our decisions. But i don’t know. There are smarter people than me out there that have ulterior motives, but i think everything will work out. I just trust that.

How would you say your every day routine goes ? How do you find yourself so dedicated to what you do? Our generation is very laid back… like really not doing much, but theres exceptions and you show full commitment how do you find the strength to keep pushing ?

Well, not everything i do is Night Lights. Night Lights is my baby. I definitely think of or actively do something Night Lights related every day. However, since 2 our members are still in school, it is hard to dedicate all day to Night Lights. Honestly, my every day routine is hard just like everyone’s. I wake up unmotivated sometimes and i just don’t want to part with my pillow fort, but I’m human, and more than anything i want to relate to someone, so waking up alone affects me for sure. However, that has also led me to some awesome discoveries. That i have the freedom every day to do what i love and to get out and do stuff. I get tired of being in my head and ruminating, so ill get up and check a daily list of “things to do” next to my laptop. It reminds me of things that need to get done and things id like to do. Recently i took up a challenge to do an improvised song a day, so i will try and get that crossed off my list daily. I also have a bunch of boring chores to do that remind me im an adult now and i have actual things to do. But with Night Lights the great thing is that its not about me. Its not about my ego or about how cool i am, or anything silly like that. I have 3 other guys that depend on me to write songs and be a front man, so that is a great place to find strength and i strongly recommend it. Find an activity that you do NOT do alone. Something that you’re passionate about and can share that with someone else. You’ll find yourself a lot more motivated and consistent with that activity. That said, my whole process of self discovery and internal conflict tends to be a great source of songwriting. Mostly because i think everyone can relate to this alternate universe that we all belong to that goes unnoticed and is mostly unspoken of inside our heads. Its all a full circle hahaha. So i write what i want to change about myself and how i find grace in others and love in others, because i really want to change our generation from being laid back because they’re bored or apathetic to being quick to care and slow to dismiss and push people away. So thats what motivates me.