Before Maia X. M. T., now known by her online moniker mxmtoon, had over five million monthly Spotify listeners and seven critically acclaimed records, she was just a girl with Garage Band trying to find her place in the world. Five years later, she is re-imagining the EP that started it all with plum blossom (revisited).
To celebrate the release, mxmtoon announced a 7-city intimate, acoustic tour, which included a stop at Boston’s The Red Room at Cafe 939. On December 14, armed with just a ukelele, she joined 200 fans to sing and share the backstories behind her confessional writing.
After a communal knuckle crack, which Maia dubbed as “evil ASMR,” she was ready to begin her 14-song set with “cliche.”
“It’s fun to go back and sing these songs because I think it’s really sweet to see the thought process that I had when I was a teenager writing these songs and just saying anything on them,” she shared with the fans that have grown with her.
When mxmtoon wrote this album, she was a seventeen-year-old navigating all the challenges of growing up, from coming out as queer to experiencing familial tragedy. Through her transparent writing, fans saw themselves in her stories of secret crushes and insecurities.
“porcelain” is a very poignant track that captures Maia’s story behind her struggle with body image. “I think I wrote it at that time thinking, ‘oh my god, my life is over I have a stretch mark.’ When you’re a teenager, those things feel so amplified, especially when you’re in an environment where you’re just surrounded by insecurity, quite frankly,” she shared.
Maia continued, “It was fun to come back to this song as the adult version of myself, ‘girl, you’re dope as hell.’ I love the way I am now. I think it’s fun to go back and be like the world did not end when I was seventeen.”
Now 23 years old, Maia’s world did not end, in fact, it got a lot bigger with a fan base that continues to grow. Two hundred of those fans sold out the Red Room and sang along to songs like “Hong Kong” and cheered for Maia’s triumphs with excited “Yippees,” a moment which was commemorated with a beaded “yippee” friendship bracelet that a fan gifted to Maia. The intimate setting also allowed Maia to thank those fans in a more personal way and for her to see how her stories affect people in real-time. This was especially evident when Maia performed an unreleased song, “Sarah.” Fans listened in awe as Maia sang about comparison in the internet age.
After harmonizing with the crowd on “Prom Dress” and thanking them, Maia left the stage. As the lights came up, the crowd chanted for an encore.
Maia returned to cheers as she closed out her set with a cover of a song that is synonymous with the ukelele, Vance Joy’s “Riptide.” As she strummed along, surrounded by adoring fans, it was clear that mxmtoon has found her place.
