Qiwi, Maarja

Born January 18, 1986 in Tallinn . At school, she learned to play the saxophone for 8 years. Maarya also knows how to play the bass and piano , which she mastered on her own.

In 2002 she became a member of the Vanilla Ninja group. She was one of the founders of the group, took on the main vocals and the role of bassist in most of the tracks from their first two albums “Vanilla Ninja” and “Traces Of Sadness”. In connection with the birth of her daughter, she was forced to leave Vanilla Ninja.

Solo career

Maarja continued her business relationship with David Brandes, producer of Vanilla Ninja. On January 20, 2006, her debut solo single, “Could You,” was released.

In September 2006, the second single “Shine It On” was released. With this single, Marya made her debut on MTV Baltic. On the MTV Baltic chart, she rose to 16th place, which made her popular in the Baltic countries.

Bros music label conflict

The use of the pseudonym Maarja for his solo career led to a deterioration in the musical community of Estonia. The country already has a singer, Maarja-Liis Ilus , who performs under the same name ^[1] . Ilus said that using the same name is the “bad taste” of Maarya Kiwi and her label. Claims were presented to Bros music label, led by Brandes, and the contract between Maarja and Bros music was soon terminated.

Solo Debut

In December 2007, Maarja decided to change her stage name Maarja to Marya Roxx. This is due to the fact that Maarya wanted to avoid associations with her past, related to Vanilla Ninja, and to begin her solo career.

On January 5, 2008, Maarya's song, recorded with Kevin Shirley , was first heard on the wave of 100.7. In February 2008, Maarya launched an official website. In March 2008, the CD single “21 ?!” was released, and in May 2009 the debut album “Payback Time” was released.

The album was recorded in the Document room studio in Malibu with producer Kevin Shirley ( Iron Maiden , Dream Theater , Led Zeppelin , HIM and others), guitarist Paul Crook ( Meat Loaf , Anthrax , Sebastian Bach ), bassist Scott Metaksas ( Nuclear Assault ), keyboardist Derek Sherinyan ( Yngwie Malmsteen , Dream Theater ) and drummer Brian Tichy ( Ozzy Osbourne , Slash's Snakepit , Gilby Clarke , Pride & Glory ). Label - Ram music, led by husband Marya Rene Meriste.

Since the end of 2007 he has been living in Los Angeles , while maintaining close ties with the Estonian community of the city and arriving at his homeland two to three times a year. Since 2011 she has been teaching singing at the Estonian Los Angeles school ^[2] (her mother was also a singing teacher in the past).

In June 2013, Maarya took part in the Rock Summer- 25 festival, which was held in Tallinn's Singing Field . The new composition of her group: drums - Winnie Decree (played in Black Sabbath , Dio , Heaven and Hell, and even with John Lennon ); bass guitar - James Lomenzo; Guitar - Brent Woodes ^[3] .

In 1993 , at the age of 7, she won the Estonian children's singing contest “Laulukarusell”. She also won this competition in 1994 and 1998 . She is the only participant in the competition to win three times. In 1997, she won the Tähtede laul contest (Song of the Stars), organized by TV 3 . In 2002 she took seventh place in the national competition for Eurovision " Eurolaul 2002".

Parents of Maarja, Riina and Madis Qiwi, are the owners of Uniplast OÜ, a company producing sports and camping equipment, as well as film products. ^{[4] The} father, Madis, is also the head of the enterprise. At the end of 2010, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves visited the production hall of the company located in Rapla ^[5] . And on February 24, 2011, the singer’s parents were invited to a meeting with Ilves on the occasion of the 93th anniversary of Estonia’s independence ^[6] . In his youth, Madis Kiwi studied at the Leningrad Technological Institute and was familiar with the satirical writer Semyon Altov . ^[7]

Maarya also has a brother, Wahur, and two sisters, Helen and Christie. During her participation in Vanilla Ninja, she began a romantic relationship with the group manager Rene Meriste (previously also one of the co-founders of the Estonian Artists Union ), which led to the wedding in September 2004. A few days after the wedding, they had a daughter named Dora-Liisa; and on August 7, 2012 - the son of Angus Martin ^[8] .

Album

• Payback Time (2009)

Singles

• Could You (2006)
• Shine It On (2006)
• “21 ?!” (2008)

• 2004 : Sigade revolutsioon ( Pig Riot ) - minor role: one of the girls in the Hundissaare squad

• Official site
• Instagram page
• Youtube