Robby Maria

Robby Maria
Background information
Birth name	Robert Maria Muñoz
Born	(1971-08-10) August 10, 1971
Genres	Apocalyptic folk, singer-songwriter
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Timezone Records
Website	www.robbymaria.com

Robert Maria Muñoz (born August 10, 1971) known professionally by his stage name Robby Maria, is an Austrian musician and singer-songwriter with Argentinian roots.^[1]

After being on the road for several years, attracted by a bohemian lifestyle, he decided to live with a native tribe in the Amazon rainforest before moving to Europe to form the music group Robby Maria & The Silent Revolution, which gained cult status in the Berlin alternative music scene.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Early life

Robby Maria was born Robert Maria Muñoz on August 10, 1971.^[8] His mother Maria Teresa Muñoz was of Argentinian origin and his father Alfred an Austrian natural scienist from Vienna. Growing up in the southern German countryside, Maria first pursued a career as a football professional, which was suddenly terminated at the age of 14. The family literally impoverished overnight, removals followed and Maria withdrawed into the world of music moving to Hollywood, California.^[9] There he hoped to establish a rock band but the industry tried to turn the songwriter into a Latin Lover type of Act, which Maria strictly refused to be. He accepted a job in a New Orleans paint shop, saved enough money to leave the U.S. and traveled almost the entire South American continent by foot, bus and boat.^[10] Maria joined a native tribe in the Amazon rainforest and got initialized by the tribe's shaman.^[11]

Career

2005-2012: Killmotorhill and Robby Maria & The Silent Revolution

Maria returned to Europe to readapt his musical career and once again moved to Germany. In a Berlin shared apartment he got introduced to drummer Anni Müller with whom he started the band Killmotorhill playing locations in and around Berlin. In 2008 bass player Simon Birkholz joined the duo and the new established trio renamed to Robby Maria & The Silent Revolution.^[13] The self-produced and self-distributed EP Apocalyptic Folk Music gained the band cult status among the alternative music scene after being turned down by several record labels before.^[14] Nevertheless, the band broke up shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album on April 20, 2012 due to musical and personal differences. Robby Maria & The Silent Revolution were reported to have played their last gig on August 5, 2012 at the Berlin Teahouse Open Air in the city's largest urban park Tiergarten.^[15] Around the same time Maria appeared on a non-commercial side-project with composer Stephan Metzner. Under the name of Metzner & Maria the two musicians recorded and published a limited edition of their "song and poetry album" 9o1 Independence on the isle of Cyprus within only 3 months of time. Maria and Metzner financed the venture themselves not wanting any outside production company to "spoil the authenticity of the work".^[16]

Robby Maria Metropolis 2013

2013: Metropolis

In late 2012 Robby signed a contract with the German independent label Timezone and began working on his first solo album Metropolis which was released on March 8, 2013, shortly after the release of the digital single Days in the City in February. The Album received particularly good reviews in Germany and Austria,^[17] comparing Maria's voice to the young David Bowie^[18] and enabling him to embarque on his very first solo tour ever, playing 66 locations throughout Europe within four months.^[19] On the "Metropolis-Tour" Maria presented the songs of the Album strictly acoustic with only an acoustic guitar and his voice.

2014: Welcome To My Secret Heart

On July 15, 2014 Maria's Label announced the release of the follow-up album Welcome To My Secret Heart on October 10, 2014. Maria had been working on the tracks for the new album in the recording studios of the formerly broadcasting company of the German Democratic Republic in Berlin during the winter.^[20] On July 17 Maria confirmed this information by posting some pictures of the studios on Facebook with the caption "Here we recorded the album:'Welcome To My Secret Heart'^[21] On February 6, still being in the recording process of the album, Maria performed three songs at the Troubadour Festival in Berlin.^[22] The first single "Sick Young Man", was released on September 19, presenting Maria as a lost soul in the midst of a highly socialised environment ^[23] followed by the release of Welcome To My Secret Heart on October 10. A second single, "The Game", was released on November 21, 2014 alongside the previously unreleased bonus track Father in order to promote the Album.^[24] Maria described his second studio album as being "still apocalyptic and dark but in a more personal sense and with the help of several guest musicians from all over Europe and Canada."^[25]

Musical Style

As his musical style did not fit any categorization, Maria came up with the term of "Apocalyptic Folk Music" ^[26] referring to the combination of dark, poetic lyrics^[27] and melodic vocals based on folky guitar arrangements^[28][29] His music has also been noted for its untypical singer songwriter character with European dimension and its references to various aspects of pop culture, particularly that of the era of young David Bowie.^[30]

Discography

• Metropolis (2013)
• Welcome To My Secret Heart (2014)

Cooperations

• 9o1 Independence (with Stephan Metzner 2011)
• Robby Maria & The Silent Revolution (2012)

External links

• Literature by and about Robby Maria in the German National Library catalogue
• Robby Maria Official Website
• Robby Maria Official Facebook
• Discography at Discogs
• Musicbrainz
• Labelsite
• Robby Maria at Last.fm

References