Maria Minerva

Maria Minerva
Maria Minerva (2014)
Background information
Birth name	Maria Juur
Born	(1988-03-15) 15 March 1988 (age 36) Tallinn, Estonia
Genres	Electronica, outsider house, nu-disco, avant pop, hypnagogic pop, lo-fi music
Occupation(s)	producer, songwriter, singer, DJ, radio host
Instruments	electronics, vocals
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Not Not Fun, 100% Silk, Pudru Kuul

Website	www.mariaminerva.com

Maria Juur (born 15 March 1988), better known by her stage name Maria Minerva, is an Estonian musician and activist.^[1]

Artistry

Maria Minerva's music is described by critics as a blend of avant pop,^[2] electronic,^[3] and experimental^[4] genres. Her work includes references to various styles of dance music, such as house,^[5] disco,^[6] electro, and eurodance.^[7]

Critics have described Maria Minerva's vocal style as dreamy, haunting, mysterious,^[8] or Lynchian,^[9] but also as casual and slightly off-key, receiving comparisons to Blossom Dearie, Brigitte Bardot,^[10] Nico,^[11] and Billie Ray Martin.^[12] She has cited Cosey Fanni Tutti, Laetitia Sadier, and Laurie Anderson as influences.^[13]

Personal life

Maria developed an interest in electronic dance music and began attending clubs in Tallinn as a young teenager.^[14] She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts and Goldsmiths, University of London, where she studied with British cultural theorist and music critic Mark Fisher.^[15]

Her father Mart Juur is an Estonian humorist, writer and media personality.^[16]

As of 2018, Juur was a member of the Estonian Greens political party.^[17]

Maria Minerva was awarded the “Extraordinary Ability” United States green card for her work in electronic music^[18] and subsequently became a naturalized U.S. citizen,^[19] residing in Los Angeles, California.

Critical Reception

Maria Minerva is amongst the most internationally acclaimed Estonian electronic artists of the 2010s.^[20]^[21] She is the recipient of two Estonian Music Awards.^[22] Her releases have received critical acclaim from music publications such as Pitchfork Media^[23] and The Fader.^[24] One of Maria Minerva's early supporters was the influential pop critic Simon Reynolds.^[25] She was named as one of the seminal Los Angeles artists by The Guardian^[26] and appeared on Estonian World's annual "Top 12 Most Outstanding Estonian Women in the World" list.^[27]

Collaboration with Cherushii

Chelsea Faith a.k.a. Cherushii was one of the 36 victims of the 2016 Oakland warehouse fire.^[28] In 2019, the EP Cherushii & Maria Minerva was released, which had been nearly completed before Cherushii died^[29] and includes repurposed tracks from previous Cherushii releases.^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]^[34]

Other

While at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Maria Minerva authored the first-ever Estonian-language academic paper on sound art, with an emphasis on the history of sound art in Estonia.^[35]^[36]

Maria Minerva has worked with and remixed many other artists, including Cities Aviv,^[37] Maria Chavez,^[38] Mark Van Hoen^[39] and John Cale.^[40] She has collaborated with visual artists Pakui Hardware,^[41] Phil Collins (artist)^[42] and poet Vanessa Place.^[43] Formerly, she hosted a show on LA's community radio station Dublab, where she interviewed fellow musicians such as Nite Jewel^[44] and Yves Tumor.^[45]