The original queen of the club scene - Maria Nayler

Long before there was Ian Van Dahl, Paul Van Dyke, Lasgo and countless other artists offering fantastic dance music to the club scene, there was Maria Nayler.  When Robert Miles hit the charts with ‘One and One’ in 1996, many couldn’t recall the face behind the angelic voice. Little did people know, that the same voice had braced the ‘Be As One’ record for Sasha a year prior.  And let’s not forget the club classic ‘Kites’, from Ultra Violet,a group fronted by Maria in the early 90’s.

Maria found her love of music at a very young age. Growing up in Ashingdon countryside she was often found at the bottom of her garden humming tunes while exploring the depths of her imagination.  She found that singing was an uplifting experience which brought joy to her and others who listened.  In the years that followed, Maria travelled to India where she found her spirit and love, which has had a huge impact on her life and career.  Her time spent travelling was instrumental in developing her vocals, that were later described as "divine", "spiritual", "uplifting" and "purely subliminal".

In 1990, Maria met producer Youth, who has worked with the likes of Yazoo, Erasure, Depche Mode and Texas.  He desperately wanted to sign Maria to the band S-Express, but instead she declined the offer and went onto form UltraViolet, resulting in Maria’s debut signed record deal which spawned two singles ‘Kites’ and ‘I Wish That’.

In 1995, Maria teamed up with producer, Sasha. Together they co wrote a track which Maria would take lead vocal.  The result, ‘Be As One’, was a big hit in the clubs and on the British music charts.  It was this success that threw Maria and Robert Miles together, when she provided vocals for the ‘One and One’ single, giving her the most success (UK Chart #3) and a notable signature tune.

Maria seemed to be hot property in the music industry, recording her debut solo album in 1998, releasing the hit single ‘Naked and Sacred’ which impressed the likes of music mogul Simon Cowell.   The single’s B side track, ‘The Other Side’, saw another collaboration with Sasha. Unfortunately, Deconstruction Records, who Maria was recording under at the time, went into administration, and her album was shelved and remains unreleased, but maybe it will surface very soon!

Maria made a welcome return to the music scene in 2000, with the Tilt produced ‘Angry Skies’ which did well on the UK singles and club charts.  Since the turn of the century, Maria has contributed vocals to many tracks on the dance scene, seeing her collaborate with Tastexperience, Ferry Corsten, Marc Et Claude, Espen Gulbrandsen and DJ Julian Vincent, Motion 3, J Joy and more recently Paul Morrell.  2012 also saw her revisit the much loved favourite ‘One and One’, with freshly re recorded vocals and a new production by Loverush UK.

But recent years have seen Maria singing in a totally different field, when she joined the Ska flavoured band, The Goldmaster Allstars, as their vocalist, a role dear to her.  The collaboration may seem strange considering Maria’s dance and club circuit background, but it does demonstrate how versatile her voice and talent is.

Maria still continues to lay her angelic vocals down on tracks, while being a devoted wife and mother and working as a vocal coach, helping to encourage others to spread the joy of singing, Maria’s first love.

Maria Nayler Official