Maruja Retana

Maruja Retana once began a career as a psychologist in the Netherlands, but quickly realized music was her real passion in life. Now, as a singer/songwriter, she loves to do it all: writing music and lyrics, recording, producing vocals and singing her heart out on stage.

She signed a management and publishing deal with Sony/ATV in 2011, and has since been writing, recording, and performing non-stop all over the world, always sharing her passion and talent for infectious and enchanting pop music with influences of EDM, R&B, and rock music.

Maruja has worked with several top producers, DJ’s and songwriters such as Jef Martens (Will.I.Am, Britney Spears) Jorgen Eloffson (Kelly Clarkson), Paul Oakenfold, Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams), Marcus Killian (Flo Rida), Fedde Le Grand, and Tearce Kizzo (Afrojack, Ne-Yo), to name a few. She is frequently praised for her international sound, and her dreamy, yet soulful vocals.

A true multi-talent, her vocal recording and editing skills are rivaled only by full-time engineers, and she’s one of the very few artists that is as intimately knowledgable and proficient at producing vocals as well as performing them. Her skills in this area are so sought after that she has coached, engineered and produced entire vocal arrangements for artists such as: Rochelle, Yes-R, Keet, Antoniette Costa, and Brett Bogart (The Voice Kids).

Maruja’s first single ’Right through me’, a catchy and melodic dance pop record, was released worldwide by Spinnin’ Records in November 2011, after it got over 600k views on YouTube within a month, without any promotion. 2013 saw her appear on Dutch national radio with her collaboration with Marco V – ‘Waiting’, charting high in the ‘tip parade’. In addition, she wrote and performed the winning song for ‘Join The Beat’, which was on National Dutch Television. A collaboration with Katfyr, ‘Lose control’, landed her a #1 spot in the Beatport dubstep charts for weeks. Her song ‘Electric Stars’ was chosen for a Heineken campaign in Ibiza, and the new remix with ultra producer Basto will once again be the main theme for an international Heineken Champion’s League campaign in 2014.

Her ultimate goal is to connect with her audience on every level, and to make music that not only stays up to date with the current trends, but that has a timeless quality to it that rises above and beyond typical pop.