Maud of all she surveys

"I moved over here with a plan to become a superstar — and I'm still working on it!!" So says 26-year-old Dubliner Maud Reardon, singer and violinist with hotly-tipped New York band Maud In Cahoots.

"My background is in classical music — I've been playing violin since I was six,” she explains. "It was always the plan to get out of Dublin and try to make it as a musician, but I went to university first, just so I'd have something to fall back on if music didn't work out.”
Having completed a degree in European Studies at Trinity, the Monkstown girl arrived in Manhattan in June 2007.
"I came over on my own initially. I had no contacts or family. Although my father was born in New York, he moved to Dublin when he was 21. He was an only child so I didn't have relatives or friends. I arrived with a bag of clothes and my violin and that was pretty much it. I was kind of going, 'Oh shit – what have I done?'”
Supporting herself with a waitressing job, Reardon set to work establishing herself on the Big Apple's music scene. Having made contact with a producer on Craigslist, she spent six months writing and recording original material in The Cutting Room Studio in the heart of Greenwich Village.
"I really only started writing my own songs when I got over here. I was doing a lot of work in the studio with this guy – and he was paying for all the recording – but, to be honest, it wasn't what I wanted to be doing. I wanted to be playing live.”
Things began to pick up when her sister Zoe moved over last year.
"She's a cellist and a pianist and we immediately started writing together.”
Within a matter of months, the Reardon sisters had hooked up with some local musicians and formed Maud In Cahoots.
"I sing and play the violin, my sister plays cello and sings backing vocals, and we've a keyboard-player, a tuba player and a drummer. Our very first gig was only last year, in Lucky Jack's on the Lower East Side. We've had great feedback and attention, and we've been featured in a few newspapers and magazines so our shows are always really packed.”
How would she describe their music?
"I call it contemporary alternative pop. We're all classically trained musicians, so hopefully the arrangements are different to your regular rock and roll tunes.”
March found the band making a successful trip to the SXSW Festival in Austin.
"We decided to go at the last minute, got some press packs together and flew down. We hooked up with some of the Irish bands there as well. Actually, Paul McLoone came along to one of our shows and we'd a great chat with him.”
At the moment, Maud In Cahoots are gigging as often as possible, building up their media profile, and actively looking for management.
"We're pretty serious about this, but it's difficult when it's just myself and Zoe organising everything. So we're hoping to have proper representation in the next couple of months. There's a lot of people interested, but we're waiting for the right thing to come along. Things are really starting to come together for us, but I won't be happy until I have the billboard up in Times Square!”