We were lucky to catch up with Maria Shockey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Ah, such a great question! My first thought is that ‘happiness’ is a really tough goal post because you can never quite reach it, and really ANY path you take in life can cause you to question if the grass is greener on the other side. That said, this is actually a question I struggled with deeply over the last two years, and the mental space that I was in while writing a lot of my current project! One of my recent singles ‘dreamer’ was about exactly this.

For some context— I’ve been in Nashville pursuing a career in music for close to ten years, and at the end of 2022 found myself extremely burned out and really struggling with my mental health. I had just released my debut album and should’ve been on cloud 9, but I had put so much pressure on myself to be further along in my career and felt like I had so much to prove— that I really just felt like a failure. I had lost a lot of friends and experienced a lot of disappointment and even betrayals in the industry over the years, which left me working overtime to do as much of it on my own as I could. I pretty much refused to ask for help. At the end of the day, I was anxious, exhausted, lonely, and entirely disillusioned. When I finally accepted that I was nearing rock bottom, I decided to take some time off to focus on getting in a healthier headspace. I went back to therapy, got more involved at my church and focused on serving others, leaned into my friendships, and spent several months off all social media. I stopped playing shows, releasing music, networking, all of it. But whether I meant to or not, I just kept writing and writing.

Writing my song ‘dreamer’ (that just came out in August!) was the pivotal moment in this season for me. The lyrics detail this struggle— doubting myself, questioning if pursuing music was the right path, wondering if I’d be better off to just call it, move away and settle down. The conclusion I came to in the song— and ultimately in real life— was that as hard as it might be at times, I don’t know who I am if not a creative, a songwriter, a dreamer. And the best possible way to steward the life that God gave me is to stay authentic and true to the best parts of WHO He made me to be. I dream big dreams and break my own heart sometimes, but that’s a small price to pay for the beauty that those dreams can bring to my life and the world.

Needless to say, I am obviously back in the game, recording and releasing music— but in this season I’m doing so renewed and lit up with boldness. That time of questioning gifted me with a recognition and sense of ownership of the choice I’m making now— to walk the unpaved path, to deal with the disappointments and set backs, and to chase the biggest of dreams, even when I’m scared.

I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m always “happier” this way, but even on the worst days I’m fulfilled, purpose-driven, and full of gratitude. I keep my life balanced, I lean on the people who love me, I try to keep this whole thing in perspective. ’m living in a big city chasing the dream I’ve had since I was 9, no matter what metric I may or may not hit, the fact that I’m here is SO cool. So yes, the grass very well may be greener somewhere else, but I’m focused on watering mine.

Maria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Absolutely! First and foremost I am a songwriter and artist from Washington DC, currently living in Nashville. My music would probably be considered alt pop or indie pop, with influences like Valley, Tate McCrea, and the queen herself Taylor Swift. In the past I’ve aimed to make more girly-pop anthems, confident breakup songs, ‘scream out the car’ cathartic songs, etc, but with the new project I’m currently rolling out, I’ve taken a turn towards more heart-forward, confessional songs that touch on some heavier topics.

For some history: I released my debut album “Composure” in 2022 that centered around how hard true vulnerability is, to be seen and known fully in order to be loved, and primarily recounting a relationship that I lost because of my fears around that. Preluding that album, I had a video go viral on TikTok where I talked about being “emotionally unavailable” and unwittingly drew 4000 strangers to dissect and diagnose my attachment style, mental health issues and trauma– which is funny now, but caused me to take a HARD look in the mirror at the time.

In a true case of life imitating art, the last 18 months since then consisted of me stepping away from music and social media in order to face the things from my past I was avoiding and parts of my heart that still needed healing. It was a crash course in vulnerability– hard conversations, hard truth, all around hard feelings.

Now that I’m peeling the emotional bandaids off and revealing the scars that have healed over, I’m stepping back out to tell the story, both through the songs on my new EP (set to release early 2025) and in more direct story times on social media. My prayer is that anyone who has walked through similar traumas will find solace and solidarity in these songs, and rediscover their voice as I work to reclaim my own.

I’m extremely passionate about mental health, providing resources for those struggling with abuse, self-harm, or sucidal ideation, and changing the cultural narrative back to one of empowerment and autonomy, while still highlighting the need for community. Our grief demands a witness, and while I’m terrified, I’m allowing everyone reading, listening, watching, to be mine.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I’m lucky to be surrounded by some really empathetic and insightful non-creatives in my life, but the two things I find myself repeatedly explaining to those well meaning relatives or hometown family friends is the nature of pursuing such a non-linear path, where input does not always equal output.

I would sometimes compare a career in entertainment to a high level medical occupation, such as a brain surgeon. No one would argue that to be a brain surgeon is an incredibly ambitious goal, and takes an insane amount of time, talent, work, resources, etc. You have to overcome obstacles, fail, and pivot on occasions. But the major difference is that it is a linear path. If you can make it through each stage of the (albeit strenuous) process– get into school, pass exams, meet each stage’s requirements, seek job opportunities etc, nobody will question your credentials or randomly revoke them. You don’t have to stand before a metaphorical committee who flips a coin on whether or not you GET to be a brain surgeon. If you input 2+2 (ie: all the steps required to qualify as a brain surgeon), 90% of time that 2+2 equals 4.

Whereas, I think the entertainment industry often feels like the opposite of that. It’s hard to explain to that person in your Facebook comments singing the praises of how talented or deserving you are– that there is a sort of element of luck as to who “makes it” that is entirely beyond our control. I get that some people also disagree with this line of thinking, and I agree that there is a lot of tangible “success” we can guarantee for ourselves with enough work ethic and resilience. But the true breakout stars typically have some undeniable form of a strike of lightning. You can have all the talent, all the work ethic, decades of experience and effort, everything involved in the input of 2+2, and despite all logic, it simply may never equal 4. A lot of success hinges on being in the right place at the right time, and prepare as you may, I don’t necessarily believe that there’s a solid way to know where the right place to be is at any given time to catch lightning.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The idea that any one thing will be *THE* thing that makes or breaks your career. A few years back a collaborator/mentor and I picked up the mantra: “The next big thing will be a lot of little things”

To touch on several things I discussed earlier– I’m prone to put an immense amount of pressure on myself, and in an industry that can feel like chasing the lightning strike, it’s really tempting to put all of your hope and energy into one opportunity, one connection, one achievement to be the catalyst to your entire career. You find yourself chasing ONE viral video, then when you get it, you have no plan to sustain and nurture that community. Or you find yourself obsessing over every word in an email to one label rep you’re sure will sign you, then they end up leaving the music industry and moving to Montana to teach yoga. Or maybe you neglect the album you’re writing to chase after this one opener slot on a tour, then the pandemic in 2020 shuts down the tour and that band breaks up.

Case in point: sometimes even getting the thing you’re chasing barely moves the needle. Then you attend your friend’s show in sweats right after you get off work and you meet someone who dramatically impacts your life and career. Or you attend a workout class and meet someone who knows someone etc. And all of the little things, working in tandem, is how the next big thing happens.

No singular thing will be THE thing to break you out. And in the same breath, no singular failure will be the death of your career if you don’t let it be.

There’s another quote I love that I’ve been living by in this season: “We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day, but underestimate what we can do in a year.” I’ve been aiming to live a ‘slow, steady, consistent’ rhythm, because I’ve learned that’s where the magic happens.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariashockey/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrFNBHQCIL4IcqnI25Akqbw
• Other: TikTok:
  

  @mariashockey

  
  Spotify:
   https://open.spotify.com/artist/1PMyd7oGcPMuJppXFlzFAF?si=xNC5x341RDevEwglYZd7FQ
  Apple Music:
   https://music.apple.com/us/artist/maria-shockey/1144427790

Image Credits

Annelise Loughead
Dillon Jordan
Hope Denney