We recently connected with Maryjo Mattea and have shared our conversation below.

Maryjo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As a Zumba instructor, my donation-based virtual pandemic classes were incredibly meaningful for me. I initially started the classes as a way to keep my instructor skills sharp during lockdown, but was fairly convinced that interest would peter out after a few weeks or months. Much to my surprise, interest and uptake skyrocketed and I was receiving messages from people all over the world telling me how my classes were the thing they looked forward to every week. Participants told me my classes were keeping them healthy and sane and providing a sense of community during a very scary and socially isolating time.

As a musician, I think my most meaningful project is happening right now! My band, Dear Daria, is currently working on a pair of songs that feels more akin to a work of art than just tracks on a Spotify playlist. The two songs, “Cabin Fever” and “Making a Dying” will close out our forthcoming EP, “Solastalgia”. The term “solastalgia” is a new concept developed by psychologists to give greater meaning and clarity to environmentally induced distress. As opposed to nostalgia, which is the melancholia or homesickness people experience when separated from times or places in the past, solastalgia is distress resulting from environmental change while one is still connected to their home environment. It’s kind of like experiencing homesickness while you’re still at home. Our guitarist, Joshua Hunter, discovered the term and we all agreed that it so completely captured the essence of this set of songs we’re working on, many of which convey pandemic-related angst and distress. The song “Cabin Fever” is a loud, chaotic, intense expression of the agony of being trapped home alone during the lockdown phase of the pandemic with nothing but your thoughts for company. The ending builds and escalates in a way that emulates a descent into madness. It includes a monologue and abstract vocalizations reminiscent of primal scream therapy amidst a gradually escalating sonic backdrop. Upon its abrupt ending, a softer, dreamier song–“Making a Dying”–begins, which takes the psychological exploration of the first song in a new direction, one that explores the idea of rejecting predominant social narratives and constructs and suggests living life on your own terms. I have never felt as strongly about music I have written as I do about this pair of songs and I cannot wait to share these songs (and the others on the EP) with the world, which should hopefully happen later this year.

Maryjo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Let’s see… I am a woman who wears many hats, co-existing in many spaces. My “day job” is actually as a social scientist. I have a Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Policy from Penn State University and presently work for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. My doctoral training and subsequent work experience has made me very organized, analytical, and methodical and these traits absolutely carry over into other aspects of my life beyond work. My passion for my organization’s mission and work is but one of many passions, though. Music and Zumba are probably the two most prominent.

I have been drawn to music for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t actually start performing my own music for audiences until my mid-20s. Since then, I have released music under my own name–Maryjo Mattea–as well as with several bands, including, most recently, Dear Daria. Music is my creative outlet; I can express joy, sadness, frustration, obsession–literally anything–in song. Those songs are sonic snapshots of moments in time and collectively, they comprise audible albums of memories and anecdotes.

I found Zumba at a very difficult time in my life, in the midst of a marital separation and divorce. I was in the deepest depression I had experienced up to that point. In an attempt to cheer me up and get me out of the house, a neighbor invited me to join her for a Zumba class at her gym. I agreed, figuring I couldn’t possibly feel any worse. At some point during that class, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and saw that I was smiling. I hadn’t smiled in months and suddenly I felt light and happy and was having fun! I became an instant fan and asked her to take me back as soon as possible. I took an instructor training in 2011 because I wanted to be able to give that same experience to others and as a result, I see myself more as a purveyor of joy than a fitness instructor.

Other facts about me: I love to travel, cook, crochet, and binge watch TV series. I am intentionally childfree and a member of the “F.I.R.E.” movement. I live with chronic depression and work very hard to manage it every day. And I live in a tiny condo in Washington, DC with my partner, Jon, and our rescue pitbull, Stella.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Pursuing music and Zumba allows me to be my most authentic self and live my best life. To walk away from either one would be denying myself major pieces of who I am as a person. The goal, therefore, is to live my truth unapologetically.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my work as a musician and as a Zumba instructor is when something I’m doing resonates with another person. If someone can see themselves in or be inspired by what I do, that is the greatest gift I could ever receive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/maryjomattea
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryjomattea
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zumbawithmj
• Other: (the Linktree has all of my links for music and Zumba!)

Image Credits
The full band photo was taken by Lauren ABH. All other photos were taken by Jonny Grave.