Maakhe on Rediscovering Old Songs, Balancing Raw Emotion with Ambient Soundscapes, and Finding Comfort in Boundaries

Edinburgh-based alternative artist Maakhe makes music that feels like paging through a beautifully worn diary — candid, intimate, and layered with texture. BBC Introducing has dubbed his style “indie nostalgia,” and it’s easy to hear why: his moody guitar work, ambient production, and lyrical introspection evoke the raw honesty of early Ed Sheeran while pulling in the lush, experimental influence of artists like Sampha, Tom Misch, and The Japanese House.

His upcoming 2-track release, demo tape, is a deeply personal project — two songs that sat untouched for years before a chance rediscovery sparked a fresh wave of creativity. Now, reimagined and refined, they’re ready to step into the light. We spoke with Maakhe about unearthing old material, teaching himself production, and the personal boundaries that shape his songwriting.

“demo tape” is built from songs you wrote years ago but set aside — what made you revisit them now, and how did your perspective shift between then and now?

Maakhe: I moved flat this year and basically hadn’t opened my personal laptop in months — I thought the battery was dead. I was getting ready to get rid of it when I plugged it in and, to my surprise, it powered on. Listening back to the old stuff I didn’t like at the time, I felt so happy and proud that younger me had the foresight to document my life in such a hi-fidelity way.

Q: There’s a beautiful tension in your sound — ambient textures meeting emotional intimacy. How do you balance raw songwriting with more experimental or layered production?

Maakhe: The songwriting always comes first for me. I write a lot of small, silly rhymes and poems in my Google Keep app. Turning them into coherent songs was always the dream. After countless YouTube deep dives on DAWs, plugins, and arrangement techniques, I began to understand how my favourite songs were made — and that’s where the production side started to really open up for me.

Q: You’ve cited early Ed Sheeran and artists like Sampha and The Japanese House as influences. What is it about those artists that resonates with you creatively?

Maakhe: Ed Sheeran really deserves his success. I don’t connect with his music as much now, but as a kid, those early EPs and that orange album made me realise music didn’t have to be background noise. Sampha and The Japanese House are my benchmarks for production and songwriting. They’re popular, but in a way that still feels underrated — that balance is inspiring to me.

Q: As a self-taught producer and multi-instrumentalist, what does your creative process look like when building a song from scratch — especially when you’re “faking your way through” certain parts?

Maakhe: It’s almost always guitar and lyrics first — the song’s basically finished before I open Logic Pro. Then I play around with drum patterns or rhythmic arrangements. I did some drumming in school but don’t have space for a kit now, so I program a lot of it. After that, I lay down the main harmonic instruments — usually guitar or some kind of synth. The rest is a blur. I have so many random plugins that I’ve started writing them down in case I ever need to recreate a setup. Vocals come last, and they’re the hardest part.

Q: Both “prees” and “MINFLA” feel rooted in introspection. What themes or emotions were you working through in these tracks, and what do you hope listeners connect with most?

Maakhe: Feeling unseen — in love and out of love. I don’t want to perform anymore, and I’m learning to stand on my boundaries without letting myself or the other person slide so easily. But with that comes loneliness. If listeners take anything away, I hope it’s the reminder that it’s okay to protect your space, even if it means sitting with that feeling for a while.