Maria Q

Maria’s career spans 15 years and has seen her travel on numerous tours throughout the UK, Europe and Japan. She is one of the lead vocalists for Archive, a ground-breaking, innovative band signed to Warner Bros.

Unsure of what career path to take when she left school Maria joined a financial forecasting company in Mayfair. She quickly realised this career path was not for her and left to pursue a career in the creative arts. “I guess not being creative made me realise that I wanted to be,” she says.

Maria’s parents have always inspired her. “As a child I understood the importance of togetherness, honesty, determination, drive, faith and the power of vision no matter how challenging things may seem.”

Maria’s interest in vocal training sprang from the realisation that she herself was mistreating her voice due to bad teaching. “Whilst studying I had to see a speech therapist as I kept losing my voice. I discovered that I was being taught incorrectly. That was when my interest in the mechanics of the voice was born. Learning how to look after my voice was crucial. As my friends started to see the change in my voice they asked if I could help them with theirs and that was it. The more singing I did, the more people I met, which led to more work which led to more opportunities.

Persistence was an early lesson learnt. With no previous experience it was difficult to get an agent, an audition or a job. Maria eventually got an agent and once she secured her first job with them she never looked back. The more people she worked with the more people recommended her.

Her first break resulted from a singing lesson with a gospel coach. The coach called Maria back a week later and offered her a job doing backing vocals for American Gospel singer Jennifer Holliday, one of the original Dream Girls. “Who knows what would’ve happened if I hadn’t have had that lesson,” Maria says. “As I’m so determined I probably would have found a way anyway, however, the ball did start rolling from there. He believed I could do the job and gave me the opportunity to prove myself.”

Maria has been inspired by many people; singers, songwriters, producers. “Seeing others succeed in their chosen fields, driven by passion, always inspired me. You have to be passionate in the creative arts so I had lots of people to choose from as role models. I always had the attitude ‘if they can do it, so can I’.”

As she had always loved music and singing, Maria’s business was more of a passion that evolved into a business. Word of mouth and a lot of hard work kept the ball rolling. “To be honest I don’t feel like I’m working, I feel like I’m being paid to have fun,” she says.

Maria’s advice to anyone considering starting their own business is: “Go for it! Do your research and understand the industry you are thinking of working in. It helps if you really love what you do. There are so many people out there who don’t enjoy their work. Be passionate about your business. Find a mentor to help you, someone who can advise you, and make sure you have a good team around you. Never be afraid to ask questions no matter how silly they may seem.”

“If you don’t try you won’t know,” Maria goes on. “And if you fail… just start again. Failure doesn’t mean you have to stop. A lot of people fail and start again. When I was deciding whether to take the plunge my godmother told me to not look back on my life and wonder ‘what if’. Those words resonated in my head for days… So I took the plunge and never looked back. I didn’t ever want to look back at my life and wonder ‘what if’.”

Five things you don’t know about Maria Q…

1. I have vocal coached for SONY/BMG, Ambush Entertainment (Part of the19 Mgt Group), Interscope to name a few record companies and various management companies. I have also toured most of Europe and Japan doing both lead and backing vocals for major recording artistes. I am one of the lead singers of Archive, a band signed to Warner Bros .

2. I had the opportunity to meet Stevie Wonder a few years ago as a friend and I were staying with a member of his family in New York. I’m not someone who gets star struck at all… but meeting Stevie Wonder would have turned me to jelly! I felt shy (don’t ask!) so turned the offer down. Yes, I’m kicking myself now!

3. I love inspiring teenagers and young adults - giving them that little kick-start that some need.

4. I speak fluent Sicilian… which a lot of Italians don’t understand!

5. Did I mention that I skipped the chance to meet Stevie Wonder?… I’m still kicking myself!