Press release
Chicago-based musician, producer, and songwriter Jake Hawrylak has lent his musicianship to artists such as Alicia Walter, Claude, Reno Cruz, and many more. After working behind the scenes for years and after recently adopting the moniker Maiden King, Hawrylak is finally ready to share his debut album, the lush and introspective Who Else Were We Supposed to Become?
King is Hawrylak’s mother’s maiden name but the name also comes from a book by Robert Bly and Marion Woodman about the marriage of the feminine and masculine parts of ourselves. His new moniker hints at contradictions, heritage, and Jungian archetypes, all of which helps to capture the feel, themes, and concepts behind his songwriting.
When announcing the record with his lead single “Young Country” this fall, For The Rabbits wrote, “This might be early days for Maiden King, yet the experience of its creator shines through everything, this is music that is mature and luxurious, a songwriter who has been biding his time and sounds more than ready to make his mark, sometimes a musician was born for the role, and for Jake Hawrylak, Maiden King might just be the perfect part.”
Old Town School of Folk Music shared an intimate session with Maiden King today with a solo performance of “Glory,” the song where Jake got the album title from when he sings “who else were we supposed to become?” The Chicago folk institution will also be sharing a duo performance of Maiden King’s “Erosion” with Hawrylak’s longtime collaborator Reno Cruz (Lala Lala, Sen Morimoto) on banjo.
About the new album
When sharing the single last month, Under The Radar wrote, he’s been “exploring his own style of intricate and lush songwriting, taking cues from expansive Americana, knotted rock guitars, and cinematic orchestral pieces.” The magazine also said of his songwriting, “he pairs those touches with an equally introspective side, with lyrical narratives exploring insular moments of derealization, youthful escapades, and questions of self.”
Hawrylak said, “I wrote this album to mythologize a number of wandering memories that kept floating into focus during the early months of the pandemic. The first moment of derealization as a young man; a rambunctious tale of arson in the shadow of a bigger fight with a dear friend; escaping the mire of one’s self esteem; and finally a moment (or two) of quiet acceptance. Though seemingly disparate, the coalescence of all of these began to paint a clearer picture. The title is rhetorical, a kind of matter of fact reckoning with the person you were always going to become and the peace that can finally settle when you stop fighting it.”
He added, “I demoed and got as far as mixing on two other albums prior to this one but couldn’t find my way in to the songs anymore. Some were too old, some just belonged more to a younger version of myself that I no longer relate to, some just weren’t good enough for me. But something magical and strange happened when I gave myself permission to throw away all those songs and the music that became this record was able to live and breathe freely.
Who Else Were We Supposed to Become? was written at home and recorded at Shirk Studios in Chicago, IL. It was engineered, mixed and co-produced by Stephen Shirk, with help from Sam Subar (Andrew Sa, Minor Moon).
Hawrylak main work is freelance as a producer, engineer, musician, and film scorer, including previously being the bassist behind REVERB’s video channel. He runs Space Cowboy Studio in the Audiotree building, sharing the space with Joe George’s “Gentle Bear Studio.” He says this album feels like a culmination of his various experiences in music.
Who Else Were We Supposed to Become? will be out independently, including on vinyl, on Friday, December 1st.
Maiden King will be celebrating the album release Friday, December 1 at Schubas with openers Lane Beckstrom and Astrachan
Biography
Maiden King is the solo effort of Jake Hawrylak, a Santa Fe-born and Chicago-made singer songwriter. The band is a vessel for exploring how to make deeply intricate and introspective music sound fun and exciting. These songs revel in the complexities and nuances of very simple seeds and relish in the unfolding of a story that never ends. Energetic and questioning rock music with flourishes of Americana, cinematic orchestrations and textured ambient music. The self produced debut Who Else Were We Supposed to Become? releases on December 1st, 2023.
The LP was written to mythologize a number of wandering memories that kept floating into focus during the early months of the pandemic. The first moment of derealization as a young man; a rambunctious tale of arson in the shadow of a bigger fight with a dear friend; escaping the mire of one’s self esteem; and finally a moment (or two) of quiet acceptance. Though seemingly disparate, the coalescence of all of these began to paint a clearer picture. The title is completely rhetorical, a kind of matter of fact reckoning with the person you were always going to become and the peace that can finally settle when you stop fighting it.
In addition to leading this project, Jake is also a friend and frequent collaborator with the likes of Sunjacket, Sedgewick, Reno Cruz, Leroy Bach, Marvin Tate, Alicia Walter, Jenn Hall, Astrachan, Claude, Joe George, and many more.
