The Marías Make Long-Awaited NPR ‘Tiny Desk’ Debut

NPR has welcomed the Marías to Tiny Desk for their long-awaited debut on the live performance series. With Maria Zardoya at their helm, the group ran through a four-track set list that spanned six years of releases, from their early EP series Superclean through their latest full-length album, Submarine.

The Marías opened their set with “Real Life,” which appears on Submarine. “This is a long time coming and truly such a surreal thing walking into this space and seeing the Tiny Desk set up,” Zardoya shared after the song. “We’ve been watching it for so many years and it’s so cool.” Their debut on the show arrives during NPR’s Latin Music Month. In honor of the occasion, the band gifted the outlet a tiny Puerto Rican flag.

The set continued on with “Only in My Dreams” from their first-ever EP, then bounced over to “No One Noticed,” another selection from Submarines. “I started writing it at a time when I felt like I was competing with technology for attention and affection and love,” Zardoya explained. “I felt kind of invisible. We spend so much of our time on our phones and on our devices and we kind of forget about the people that are in the room with us. We forget about ourselves and we forget about our environment.”

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She added: “So, after y’all watch this — and after y’all watch this at home, the whole thing — put your phones away, turn off your TV, and just be with the people around you. Or just go outside and lay under a tree, talk to the tree. Whatever you have to do to be just completely present in this moment.” The Marías sent their audience off with a warm parting gift in their performance of “Cariño.”

Zardoya performed with Josh Conway on drums and Jesse Perlman on guitar. The band’s keyboardist Edward James was absent from the performance. Eddie Friedlander performed in his place. The Marías were also joined by Doron Zounes on bass and Gabriel Steiner on keys and percussion.