Maruja Means Family
Manchester experimental punks Maruja cause mayhem whenever and wherever they play. Need some evidence? The band busted a gut across a breakneck run of 48 gigs at the end of 2024, a schedule which finished in the Balkans. Wild and feral one minute, calm and bewitching the next, Harry Wilkinson (lead vocals and guitar), Joe Carroll (alto saxophone and vocals), Matt Buonaccorsi (bass) and Jacob Hayes (drums) are a force of nature. The mosh-pit loves Maruja, and Maruja loves the mosh-pit, creating the maelstrom and then diving in headfirst.
The four-piece will released the final part of their trilogy of EPs on Music For Nations. ‘Tir na nÓg’ follows ‘Knocknarea’ (2023) and ‘Connla’s Well’ (2024) but the difference with this body of work is that it is entirely improvised. It feels a natural step for the quartet.
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CLASH spoke to Maruja in Zagreb as they were coming to the end of their tour just before Christmas 2024. Improvisation has been the cornerstone of Maruja’s creativity from Day One and on the current tour they play an improvised section mid-way through the gig. Jacob explains that the foundations were laid in the rehearsal room over long periods, and so to bring it to the live set made sense: “For years and years and years of just doing it, there’s no like, there’s nothing really special or thought out that goes into that moment. It’s just something that we’ve been practicing and doing together for three years, very intensely. There’s no chats beforehand. And that’s just how we play when we’re in a studio practicing just the four of us. Sometimes we chat about it, sometimes we don’t. It’s just a very natural thing for us at this point, which is nice, so we don’t really have to burden that with any other thoughts.”
The title of the EP translates from Irish into ‘land of the young’; there may be four tracks listed on the EP but the reality is that it is one piece of music split into four. “It was recorded in a live setting,” Harry explains. “So basically, we’d been rehearsing in Salford University over summer, because the situation of band rehearsal spaces in Manchester is diabolical. Along came our producer, who is a lecturer at the University, and he was saying, look, there’s no students in over the summer. Why don’t you guys come and rehearse here for a few months? And we’re like, amazing. Here’s a space that is actually professional standard for us to be able to write music in. So because of that they put on an open day for new students, and as our way of saying thank you to them for lending us the space, we did two days of live improvisation.
“This EP is taken from that moment, and there was a live audience of maybe 10 students. So that’s where the jam came from. And because it was set up in a professional environment we were able to record it. We were like, this sounds absolutely great, why don’t we drop it?”
It’s been an extraordinary year for Maruja, from the offer to play Glastonbury off the back of an interview with Tom Ravenscroft and Deb Grant on their New Music Fix show on BBC Radio 6Music, to playing in 25 countries, releasing ‘Connla’s Well’, playing Ireland for the first time and of course (perhaps most notably) signing for Music for Nations towards the end of the year, the independent record label owned by Sony.
They have grafted at their craft and decided to take the plunge over a year ago, quitting their jobs and spending a month in a house writing music together. They then immediately went out on their first headline tour. Jacob makes the not unsurprising observation that “we struggled to make money, and we put records on sale for the first time. But this year it’s been more comfortable. We’re glad we made the decision to take a financial loss last year, to focus 100% on the music, because the things that we’ve been able to do this year wouldn’t have been possible without the set-up of last year. You really knuckle down all the business things and really understand how vinyl works and merchandise and selling, and touring and how all of it works. Each of us now know it.”
“So going into things this year, we’ve been really critical about things that have gone wrong, just because we want to make sure everything goes as best as it can. I think that’s important, because we see a lot of other bands that don’t really have a clue about the industry and ultimately, the music is never about the money, but you want to make sure that people aren’t taking you for a ride and that you can just maximize your own comfort as much as you can. We want to make music. We don’t want to necessarily do it for making money, but it’s obviously a by-product that you have to understand.”
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Signing with Music For Nations is obviously a huge step forward in this regard, providing a solid base from which to move forward. The business side is imperative of course, but Matt shared a further insight into Maruja stating: “We always try our best with our team, our immediate surrounding team. We want to surround ourselves with people that truly believe, 100% believe in our art, that care about our art but not only that, they care about us as people. We know that they will put in the effort they’ll go the whole mile to put all the effort into take us to that next level. We’ve got our booking agent, James Stones, who has been an integral legend in our inner circle for years. The two heads of MFN, Tom and Julia, they’re both absolute legends and sweethearts. And you can tell that they really care about us and that they want to invest in us, you know? And that’s important when it comes to labels.”
Joe adds: “And when we were discussing the deal they were just as accommodating as they possibly could be. And obviously it’s a subsidiary of Sony, but working with them does not feel like it at all. Any little artistic idea we have they just want to hear about it and make it happen to the nth degree, which is what we’ve always wanted. So yeah, very exciting.”
For Maruja the live performance is integral to their very being. It’s an exhilarating experience to see the four-piece on stage, and their audiences have been growing quickly over the last 18 months or so, a testament to their work ethic. Their music goes from the extremes of chaos and mayhem to calm and quiet, Harry and Joe getting into the crowd, wiping up the mosh-pit, which is not usually required to be honest.
Whenever they play in Manchester the reception goes through the roof. Two nights at The White Hotel were extraordinary last spring, the walls dripping with sweat and the electricity in the air palpable. Harry shares: “Playing to a home crowd with us all living and being from Manchester, people go even harder because they know that we’re from there. It’s been a while since a band has come up through Manchester and has been like making waves as we have. So I think there’s a lot of people who are very excited for us as well, and they want to be a part of that movement. And it’s a beautiful thing to see, is to see us bring together so many different groups of people.”
“We were chilling with our boys after the show and they were saying, “Nothing gets everybody out like a Maruja gig. Nothing brings all the friends together like a Maruja gig.” And I thought that is great symbolism. Somebody asked me the other day, what does Maruja mean to you? Maruja means family to me, you know, I’m saying these are my family. And that’s the values that we reflect, solidarity, you know, and that’s the message we have. So whenever we play Manchester, there’s a overwhelming sense of pride in community.”
Joe added: “Until the music starts, and then it’s just unadulterated carnage!”
Looking forward to 2025, Maruja kick things off with the EP release before heading to North America for their first headline tour across the pond, including a prestigious SXSW slot. As a matter of fact, the New York show had to be upgraded such was the demand for tickets. Matt shares: “It’s just going to be a privilege, really, because we know that our fans over there are absolutely feral for us. We can see it on our social medias. They’re always like, come to Toronto, come to Baltimore, come to… I was about to say Bolton, but that’s England!” he laughs. “We’re all very excited, it’s going to be great.”
A debut album is in the planning, but for now the focus is on their North American trip this spring. One thing is abundantly clear, Maruja mean business. Prepare yourself North America, there is a whirlwind coming.
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‘Tir na nÓg’ is out now. Stay in touch with Maruja online.
Words: Julia Mason
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