Maia is a New York City singer-songwriter and drummer. She is currently recording a new album, fusing diverse influences (folk, world music, electronica, indie rock) while meditating on the impact of geography on a life. Maia was given her first drum at age 8 by a Carnival musician on the streets of Barranquilla, Colombia. Back in the states, Maia immediately began writing songs on a classical guitar that had been left neglected in her parent’s house. She began to obsess over Brazilian music at age 10 after discovering David Byrne’s Beliza Tropical Compilation. At the same time, Maia was influenced by her older brother’s music collection – namely Depeche Mode and New Order. Days and nights were spent recording fake newscasts and recreating “Revolution 9” on a reel-to-reel tape deck. By 14, Maia would spend hours locked in a tiny closet overdubbing harmonies onto blank tapes. The same year, Maia fell in love with sampling and looping, and took up middle eastern drumming via the doumbek.

Maia spent her high school years performing as the sole singer-songwriter in a sea of suburban NJ punk bands, while also commuting to New York City to drum with an Afro-Latin jazz ensemble. She released two self produced albums while attending Wellesley College, where she regularly performed to packed crowds. She traveled to Haiti in 2003 to study drumming, dance, and song, and continues to drum in the Haitian folkloric tradition.

After earning a B.A. in Music from Wellesley in 2006, Maia returned home to New York City ( a place she said she never wanted to live) and has performed at The Knitting Factory, Arlene’s Grocery, Club Midway, Pete’s Candy Store, and the Brooklyn Lyceum. She has opened for The Weepies, Meg Hutchinson, Edie Carey, and The Divine Maggees, and performed with Mascott at Union Hall in 2007.

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