Hi Maya, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a very creative household, I was born in America and at a young age moved to Kyiv, Ukraine, where my family and I ended up spending the majority of my life. Growing up my parents made it a priority for us to understand our culture and where we came from. They explained to my siblings and I that the reason we were born in America was that our grandparents, during WWII, fled Ukraine amongst many others to escape Stalin and his communist regime. At the time, Ukraine was still part of the USSR and became independent only recently in 1991. As a child, I attended everything from ballet classes to tennis lessons after school, often wanting to merge the two, wearing my ballet tutu to tennis. My mother is an artist, so growing up, there was always some type of music she was memorizing lines for that I would try to mimic, or a painting I was watching her work on. She, to this day, inspires me to create and instills in me a strong work ethic. I notice now, looking back, what a big part music was in her creative process and how it shaped me into who I am as an artist. In her art studio, she would play everything from Michael Jackson to Shakira to Maria Burmaka.
As I got into elementary school, about 3rd grade, we moved to Florida, where I remember taking a music class as an extracurricular activity at school. We learned to play some guitar but not full chords. When I got home, I asked my dad to teach me chords so I could play like the artists I saw on TV. He only taught me one chord, C Major, and said, “come back when this chord sounds perfect and then I’ll teach you the next”. I loved playing guitar, I would stay in my room for hours and make it my mission to play full songs and share them with my family, always putting on mini-concerts at home. For my High school years, we moved back to Ukraine, where I began taking music more seriously and realized that I wanted to make music my career, it started getting real. I got a scholarship to a music school I started going to after my regular studies during the day, and then dance class after that. My days were packed and I would come home exhausted, it was a great feeling going to bed knowing I was doing what I loved and trying to get better.
Fast forward to now, I’m 20, and residing in Atlanta, GA, here I have been able to collaborate with many different creatives and work towards discovering my own sound, which I’ve learned is ever-evolving. I believe that I gravitated towards Atlanta because of the energy I felt in this city, it reminded me of Kyiv. The hope for the future and the young creatives all working hard to inspire and build legacies. I’ve been in Atlanta for about two years now and I still feel new to this city, there is so much history here and culture that I am eager to continue to learn about.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think it’s ever a smooth road when you’re growing up and learning about yourself, changing and trying to find your place in the world. There is a moment, though, that I feel shaped me into understanding that life is short and I really wanted to go for my dreams. When I was 11 years old, I was performing a song on guitar at a local talent show, I came home a little later that day to the news that my older cousin had gotten into a car accident and shortly after, she passed away. I was devastated and I couldn’t get a grasp on my emotions. My parents encouraged me to use positive outlets for pain such as playing my guitar and writing songs, in many ways, music saved me and helped me get through.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk music. What should we know about your work?
This question has always been overwhelming for me. I feel that as an artist, there are a lot of different creative outlets that I find myself experimenting with, though my primary focus is my music. Most of my time I spend locked in my studio, writing songs, practicing piano, guitar and my working on my voice. As a singer-songwriter, I find it not only necessary but extremely beneficial to spend a lot of time alone with my own thoughts and feelings so I can better understand what I am trying to say with my art. For the past eight months, I’ve been working on my upcoming debut EP entitled “Turbulence” (date still to be announced). Currently, I am most proud of my upcoming project, I have put so much of myself into my EP, from the songs to the videos to the cover art, it all makes up who I am as an artist and I’m excited to share it with the world. I believe what sets me apart from others is my background, growing up between Ukraine and the U.S. has opened my mind to have a unique perspective and take on the world that I am extremely grateful for.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I see the music industry continuing to evolve and change with the times. The Covid-19 pandemic has definitely shown that artists are finding new ways to be more interactive with their listeners online. I see more online concerts and even music festival concerts taking place where people are socially distanced. As far as trends within the music itself, I see more merging of genres, less flat out one genre or the other and more collaboration between creatives, creating whatever feels right vs. what it’s supposed to be.
Contact Info:
- Email: mayamor1111@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayamor/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayamor__
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MayaMOR/
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mayamor1
Image Credits
Maria Sko
