The 22-year-old singer defied the odds to make her dream a reality (Picture: Kamran Baig)
When Maria Saraiva was six-years-old, she caught chickenpox.
The infection is usually an irritating, yet manageable, right of passage for most children.
But for the youngster, the infection took hold and led to her suffering from major hearing loss.
Suddenly she and her family had to adapt to Maria and her new, silent, world.
Using hearing aids meant she was able to find a way to connect with music, and became hooked on the likes of Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and John Mayer.
Now, aged 22, Maria is on track to doing just that.
She told Metro.co.uk: ‘During my childhood I used to take off my hearing aids to put earphones on. I really enjoy listening to music loudly so I had to turn the volume all the way up to hear it the way I wanted to.
‘But even then I couldn’t hear certain frequencies, and it would end up with my parents telling me to turn the volume down most of the time.’
Maria was determined to still follow in the footsteps of her idols (Picture: Kamran Baig)
A Christmas gift from her godfather – an MP4 player with headphones – had helped set her on her music-loving journey.
Despite her hearing loss, Maria was determined to still follow in the footsteps of her idols to release music.
The Portuguese singer, who currently lives in Edinburgh, has now launched a ‘dream come true’ first single today.
She wrote the entire album and recorded it with the assistance of a tight-knit group of collaborators.
The deaf singer is inspired by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift (Picture: Kamran Baig)
While little changes had to be made during the recording process, made possible through Creative Scotland funding, Maria explained she needed people to be honest with their feedback.
She told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s been a long time coming! I had the best time recording it this year and I can’t wait for people to hear these songs.
‘I wrote the first song for it in 2019, unaware that it would eventually become an album.
‘When it came to recording, nothing needed to be changed. However, I rely heavily on the people I work with to be honest and tell me when something is out of tune or point out little noises and mistakes that would otherwise be ignored by me.’
Maria is also working on preparing to sing live – something she’s never done before (Picture: Kamran Baig)
Maria also hopes, by sharing her music with the world, she can raise the public’s awareness of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, a group of people that is often ignored by society.
She added: ‘I don’t know what it’s like to not have hearing loss, so I really had nothing to adapt to. But it can take me some time to get used to someone’s voice and their accent before I fully understand them when they speak.
‘I am also surrounded by good friends and family who understand my condition and try their best to make it easier for me. I don’t know sign language, but I recently realised that people around me tend to develop special signs to communicate with me. It’s really interesting to see.
‘In the meantime, I’m working on my confidence to be able to sing live, which is
something I’ve never done before.’
The singer’s album, entitled Mellow Hour, will be released after the launch of two singles.
It combines the likes of pop, rock and blues and approaches time and its passing through the eyes of Maria.
And while Scotland made her dream of becoming a singer possible, a future goal would be able to perform in her home country of Portugal.
She added: ‘Besides all the great venues in the world any musician would be ecstatic to play in, I think my answer is the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon.
‘I think it would be amazing to go back home to perform the songs I wrote while I was away.’
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Maria Saraiva, 22, defied the odds to make her dream a reality.