Maria Minerva - Never Give Up

Taken from her recent experimental lo-fi LP, Will Happiness Find Me? on Not Not Fun Records - NY-based, Estonia-raised pop-referencing electronic producer/singer Maria Minerva's track Never Give Up is subtly dark and haunting, made up of her signature softly off-key vocals backed by dreamy piano keys and disparate synths. The accompanying video which we premiere here sees Maria Juur in a monochrome light, gently moving to the melodies she's created - not too far removed from her DIY-feel music videos she first made her name with. Here we fired our some-intimate, some-plain weird questions at her to find out more about her worrying sleeping patterns and coming off like a 7-year-old...

Dazed Digital: Where is the weirdest place you’ve ever put your hands?
Maria Minerva: I think touching other people's heads is pretty weird

When abroad, besides pleasantries, which phrase should you always learn?
Just something to impress the locals, show that you are interested in their culture/language. when I was living in Lisbon I told people I met the days of the week in Portuguese and people thought it's super cute though I felt like an 7-yr-old/retarded person... Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday... I was there for 4 months and all i could say was that basically.

Who is your nemesis?
My own dark thoughts! They come and go.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever done?
Making something out of nothing, becoming independent and courageous, learning how to cope with both love & criticism.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?
I do not usually regret stuff but I hate myself when I start playing games with people, it's not fair, it's not cool, it's stereotypically immature, girl-seeking-for-attention type of behaviour and I hate it, though it does occur.

Describe your swimming style in three words.
I think in Estonian we call it "doing the frog". Froggy style. The normal style? I go swimming like three times a week. I get really angry sometimes cause people are not very considerate. The other day I asked a guy if he could have his splashfest in a row further down. Bet he thought I was annoying.

How do you sleep at night?
Soundly, but not always. Apparently I grind my teeth at night and scratch my wounds til they start bleeding... I also get insomnia. I am armed with some Latvian prescription sleeping pills that my mother sent me from Estonia. Even those don't work sometimes cause my mind is unstoppable. Mainly worried about not being able to fall asleep but also thinking about breakfast. I love breakfast. Sometimes I go to bed just so I could have breakfast sooner, if that makes sense.

What’s the scariest word to you?
I think it is scary when people give you silence, refuse to say sorry, and so on

What is your go-to fancy dress outfit?
I can't do fancy clothes until I know where I'm gonna be living, right now I only own like cotton t-shirts/functional boring wear. Just a hustler in leggings.

If you were a (Roman, or otherwise) goddess for a day, what would you do?
Naomi Wolf says we are all goddesses, right. But if I actually were a goddess then yeah, would be great to help women/people around the world to become intellectually and sexually satisfied - at the same time.

What would be the title of your cookbook?
Fucking up with Maria Minerva... or 101 Creative Ways of After-Midnight Munching

What is your spirit animal?
Really love dogs, what can I say.

Who is your hair icon?
Chinese crested dog fo sho'

What was the last sound you heard?
Filling out this questionnaire I accidentally pushed the CD drive eject button, so that made a sound.

Send us a picture of the thing you most like looking at on the internet.
Watches - just bought this from Macy's for myself for Christmas. it's white.

February Tour dates: Tues 5 Brighton, Green Door Store / Weds 6 Manchester, Kraak Gallery / Thurs 7 London, Shacklewell Arms / Fri 8 Berlin, Berghain Kantine / Sat 9 Stockholm, Sodra Teatern