Liz Achanta
Oh, hey, music lovers! In this edition of our .gay Music Monday Feature, we are thrilled to bring you the incredible Madds Buckley – a singer/songwriter hailing from Berklee College of Music, who got her start making English anime covers on TikTok - and since then, her star has only continued to rise.
One of her most popular tracks, "The Red Means I Love You," has over 80 million streams on Spotify. But Madds is not just a one-trick pony. With her latest release, "My Love Is Sick," Madds has proven that she can pull inspiration from her personal experiences while keeping true to her anime community roots.
And in our interview below, you'll learn more about her creative process and unique sound.
What inspired you to start playing and making music?
Music has been the one constant in my life and was my first bridge to connecting with other people! Some of my earliest memories are of singing with many of my cousins at family reunions, and my love of music grew from there!!!
I started taking writing seriously around my sophomore year of high school when one of my teachers (he teaches a production class with Logic? In highschool? Coolest person I know!) asked me to join an album project with a bunch of other students, and that turned into 2-year long solo album assignments!
From there, I went to Berklee, met some of my best friends and collaborators, started having fun with anime covers during covid, and eventually ended up here! I’m very grateful for the journey my music has taken me on.
What do you like most about playing music?
I am absolutely enamored with the emotional power of music and its ability to tell a story. Music can make you cry, laugh, dance, or even move you to total stillness (or, in my case, laying on the floor just vibing). There’s absolutely nothing in this world that beats building a harmony stack that hits just right! On top of that, my music is something I get to make with my friends: almost everyone who plays and produces my music is the people I met and befriended in college at Berklee! My only gripe is I can’t listen to music WHILE writing and playing it, haha.
I recently was able to accomplish a dream of mine in songwriting: make an album that intentionally references itself across various songs! I am a very big Marianas Trench fan, so I’ve always wanted to do it in my music.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
A lot of what I’m known for is the songs I make based on fictional characters and series; a lot of anime and video games ;;^-^. But overall, I enjoy crafting stories, whether they’re based on my favorite series or not! My upcoming album is the culmination of a lot of that; a lot of it encapsulates the story of 2 characters named Dog and Bird and their relationship falling apart. Fun stuff!
Genre-wise, I think most of my stuff would fit into indie rock, with folk and musical theater inspirations. Google says I’m alternative/indie, so let’s go with that!
Why do you think it’s important to be out and proud in the music industry?
I think there’s an important piece of context to my music, and me as a person, that’s missing if people don’t know I’m gay! I grew up VERY Roman Catholic, and with that came a sense of identity that I lost to my upbringing. I’m still finding it again, honestly, but it’s an essential piece of who I am, as much as any piece of what makes up my self-image. The more visibly queer people there are in a media space, the more room there is for people to feel seen and found at any point in their life.
As an LGBTQIA+ artist, what do you want to convey with your music?
I want to make stories and characters that people can immerse themselves in or maybe even relate to! I can never convey an experience that encompasses everyone, but I can write about what I have experienced or encapsulate others' experiences in the stories I make in my music.
Queer stories and stories of queer relationships are important to share! Whether they’re happy and healthy or depressing and heart-wrenching! Cause at the heart of it all, it’s a human experience: one most people, cishet or not, can relate to. Most of my music utilizes the second person for this exact reason: the “you” leaves the door open for listeners to slot in their own experience.
Liz Achanta
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