A true Maverick

Last year was huge for you... You appeared on Professor Green’s single Jungle and you had two of your own singles in the top 20. So 2012 can only mean bigger and better things?
MS: Yeah, the album came out on Feb- ruary 6 and I’m just looking forward to people hearing it and understanding the music.

This is your debut album; it must be a proud moment for you...
MS: Yeah definitely, I went over to Ireland recently and it was out already and it was such a proud moment seeing it in shops. It’s nice hearing people’s reactions to it. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right. I’ve worked all my life to have a debut album. In fact, I was with my dad the other day and he said it was weird seeing the record in the shops because he remembers me, when I was a kid, telling him I can’t wait to have my own album out one day.

Being 21, it must feel even better to have achieved so much already at such a young age?
MS: Yeah, I’ve been performing since I was fifteen. So it’s been naturally build- ing up.

So what made you decide to perform under a pseudonym rather than your birth name?
MS: When I first started out I was on the Irish hip-hop scene and I started up a MySpace page but I felt ‘Michael Staf- ford’ just wasn’t that catchy. I wanted something that grabbed people’s attention while at the same time reflected the music I was making. So I took my initials MS and looked up words to match. So under ‘M’ I found ‘Maverick’ which means ‘someone who thinks outside the box’, and for ‘S’ I found ‘Sabre’ which at the time I found out meant ‘a person who puts on a hardened front to get through hard times’. I felt that everyone could connect with that and now I’m stuck with the name.

It sounds like Top Gun and Star Wars had a baby...
MS: Haha, yeah. Sounds like my mother was Star Wars fan and my father was a Top Gun fan.

You’re London-born but raised in Ireland, so do you see yourself as an English singer-song writer or an Irish singer-songwriter? Or does that not even come into it at all?
MS: Nah, it doesn’t really come in to it. When I’m in England the people say ‘oh you’re an English singer’ and when I’m in Ireland they claim me for their own. So I just leave it up to them. Whatever you want to call me. For me I’m just a songwriter, it doesn’t matter if I am from Timbuktu or wherever. I’m half and half, I’m London-Irish and I’ll always be that till the day I die.

Your voice is very unique. As soon as you hear it on the radio you can recognise straight away that it is you. When did you discover this incredible voice?
MS: It grew over time. It grew a lot with the music I listened to because I listen to so many different genres. I’d be influenced by reggae the first minute, soul the next minute, then folk the next, which really made me push my voice. Also, I think the fact that my music reflects my life, in a way my voice too does this. My voice has to bring the emotion through to the song.

So it has grown over the years?
MS: Yeah, it’s changed and it’s developed. It has more depth to it now.

At points in your songs, it almost sounds as if your voice is straining but you still manage to maintain such control over it. It’s very odd...
MS: Yeah definitely! Lots of people say it’s odd. A lot of people say that I don’t look like the person they imagine singing when they hear me and I like that because for me that’s more exciting. I want to change people’s perspective on music. You know, I look like your average lad that could be sitting in the corner of the pub on a Saturday. I want a 90-year-old truck driver sounding like he can spit NWA. I don’t want to be just another person that just looks the way they sound and who just ticks all the boxes that the industry puts up.

Yeah, get rid of the stereotypes...
MS: Of course, music isn’t about segregating people, it’s about bringing people together.

You mentioned your influences... Would you say that also comes from being both Irish and English?
MS: Yeah, I think so. Because I’ve had to grow up in two different cultures and within that I’ve had two different musical upbringings as well. It’s kept me open minded as a person and I think that reflects in my music.

What would you put down as your biggest influence? For example: When you were growing up was there a certain song that really inspired you?
MS: I first listened to Ben E. King’s Stand By Me when I was about eight. I fell in love with that. It was the first time music really connected with me.

Is that still your favourite song then?
MS: Yeah, definitely. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but that’s always the one I come back to.

Has music always been your goal?
MS: Ever since I was a kid. But just like
anyone else, there are times when your life just takes you on a different path. So there has been other things that have came into my life but music was always the main goal.

Your tour kicks of next month which brings you to Glasgow on March 1. Have you ever been to Glasgow before?
MS: I love Glasgow! I’ve got lots of close Glaswegian friends. It’s my kind of city. The Scots and the Irish are very similar.

So what can the Glaswegians expect when you perform for us?
MS: You can expect a night of good music. Simple. No flashing lights, I’m not going to come up with a big shiny suit with a hat on anything like that. I’m just going to sing my songs with my band, who are absolutely fantastic. In fact I sometimes forget to sing cause I’m enjoying my band’s music so much! But yeah, it will be a simple night of music and I hope people just enjoy and we can be on the same level. 

So making sure the audience enjoy themselves is paramount?
MS: Definitely. They need to enjoy it as much as I do and I need to enjoy it as much as they do. It’s a mutual thing, bouncing off each other, making the music flow.

What one of your own songs is your favourite to perform? 
MS: That’s a hard one. I think at the moment it’s I Need. Just because it is a very personal song, it’s really connected with me. I love having the crowd singing it back to me, it’s so special. 

So what does the rest of 2012 hold for Maverick Sabre?
MS:I hope I can look back at the end of the year and my album has been received really well, not just here but all around the world. But I hope that people just understand me more and they can see that I’m not trying to be anything I’m not and I’m not trying to push some fucking preachy message down your throat. I’m just an average lad and I’m just trying to give my opinion on the world and the world I see around me.

It’s really all about the music for you then? 
MS: Yeah, it will always be about the music. Once it’s stops being that, I’ll quit. 

Seriously? 
MS: Yeah, without sounding cheesy, I believe music is a very powerful thing. It is very soulful. I’ll never be able to fully express how much I love music. I wake up listening to music, I fall asleep listening to music, my neighbours even tried to kick me out because I listen to so much music, so loud. Music is my life and it will always be my life.