Maddie Thies is a bassist and songwriter living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, U.S.A. who spent her formative years growing up in Seoul, South Korea.

Thies has played in many local and international groups, supporting as a bassist and vocalist.

In 2021-2022, Thies won The Cedar Cultural Center Commission. Her set encapsulated her identity of being a Third Culture Kid (TCK) from her time living overseas. Her songs touch on themes of liminality, home, grief and memory.

“So a large concept of being a Third Culture Kid is feeling between spaces,” Thies says in an interview for the Cedar Commission. “There are places where you feel like you kind of belong because of one part of your identity and these other places that you feel like you belong ’cause the other part of your identity, but ultimately you’re between a lot of spaces. And so, while you can fit in everywhere, there are also places where you don’t fit in at all or that you feel that you have very little in common with folks, and so there’s this aspect of … everywhere and nowhere. And betweenness. And what I can only speak to as a blended identity of sorts.”

While you can fit in everywhere, there are also places where you don’t fit in at all.

THIES ON HER ‘FLASHBULB’ MEMORIES

Thies’ song “Postcard Collection” is one she wrote for her commission and is about “flashbulb” memories from her time overseas. As she tells the Cedar Commission:

“[T]here’s a way of writing poetry where you have these little tiny images of prose, and they kind of describe these very brief moments, as you would as you’re flipping through postcards,” she says. “And it has this way of telling about a flashbulb memory of these very sensory moments within music and in memory as well. So having those kind of quick images and relaying this moment through these small collections. It’s weird, I have that kind of song written and I can just see how it’s supposed to fit on a page and how there’s negative space to it and how music flows between these images. I guess more conceptually, understanding music and being really intentional with how the two spaces of my identity come together and how I’m able to also visualize memory.”

I have that kind of song written and I can just see how it’s supposed to fit on a page and how there’s negative space to it and how music flows between these images.

MUSIC VIDEO

Along with the release of the single, a music video was produced. Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.A.-based filmmaker Ana Chavez came and followed Thies and the group of international musicians who flew in for the week of the performance.

The video is a reflective piece of the group’s temporary time together. For her performance at The Cedar Cultural Center, Tate Egon Chavez joined her on vocals, guitar and double bass and Juan Migues on drums, both of which were musicians she met during her time overseas. Locally, guitarist Kailyn Grider, a long-time friend and collaborator also took part. All four of them are featured in the video.

Check it out below, and follow Thies on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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