Meet: Boston Singer Songwriter Maggie Cubillos

Singer-songwriter Maggie Cubillos is currently a junior at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. The 21-year-old Colombian/Cuban/American vocalist grew up in Hermosa Beach, a small Southern California coastal town, with its own rich musical history steeped in both Jazz and Punk Rock.

Give us a potted history of youself

I’m Maggie Cubillos a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles! I have been singing since I was little and now am studying Songwriting and Music Business at Berklee College of Music in Boston. A little over a year ago I started songwriting and I fell in love with it and over the past few months have been working a lot more on myself as an artist and the direction I want to take my music.

Who inspired you to start making music

Growing up my parents always had music playing and are both huge music lovers themselves. I don’t remember a time where I wasn’t singing and dancing around my house so I think from a very young age music was always something I wanted to do. I started in theater and did numerous a cappella groups and through it all my parents really encouraged and inspired me to keep pursuing it. They were the ones always encouraging  me to write my own music and it took some time but here I am releasing my first song! 

And the one or maybe two records that inspired you artistically

Growing up I was a HUGE Adele fan and I think her songs and voice really inspired my own. The way she would tell stories in her songs and have so much emotion in her voice was so inspiring to my younger self.  Her album “21” really showed me at a young age the kind of music I could be doing and that  I didn’t need any crazy production to make an impact on people when I could use deeper lyrics and my voice.

If you’re trying to explain whom you sound like to someone that’s never heard you, what do you say

I would say that my music is a mix between writing and style of Sara Bareilles mixed with the more pop sound of Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift. 

Tell us about your new single

I wrote “Old Shoes” back in March for one of my classes at Berklee. At the time everything in my life had shifted and I had to decide whether I should stay afraid or embrace the change I was facing and grow with it. I think writing this song helped me realise that sometimes change isn’t as scary as we think and there’s so many good things that can come from it. When I went back home to LA for the summer I reached out to Steve Ornest who produced the song! He really helped take my vision for the song and turn it into something so special. I definitely couldn’t have done it without his help. 

Where can we get hold of it  

You can stream “Old Shoes” on all streaming platforms! 

Tell us how you write

I normally write down little lyric ideas in my notes app or record different voice memos of melodies I come up with and then take them to a practice room on campus to try and come up with chords and really try to come up with some sort of song. I like to try and schedule out time to write a few times a week because even if I don’t come up with something I love, a lot of times different lyrics I come up with end up turning into other songs later! Writing has become a huge way for me to process my feelings so I end up writing very frequently haha. 

Tell us about your live show. What would be your dream gig

The most recent gigs I’ve done have been a mix of original songs and cover songs with just me and a piano which has been so much fun! But in the coming months I really hope to be able to do a show entirely made up of original songs with a full band. 

What can we expect from you in the near future

I plan to record and release a few more singles in the coming months and my dream would be to release some sort of EP or album within the next year or two. I have been writing a ton and have a lot more pieces of my heart to share with the world so I’m really looking forward to sharing more and more of my songs. 

Tell us your favourite records that’s rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo

Recently I’ve been really into Madison Cunningham’s latest album “Revealer”! I stumbled upon her Tiny Desk on youtube a few months back and fell in love with the singles off of the album so once the whole project was released I was so excited. 

Check out her track Old Shoes, below:

Find out more about Cubillos here