Biography

Singer-songwriter Monica Larrea, known as “Musical Monica” is a powerhouse musician based in sunny San Diego, CA. Her sound combines Jazz, Pop, Neo-soul, and Acoustic influences with powerful vocals and honest lyrics. Releasing in 2023 (coming soon!), Monica’s upcoming single, “Brilliant Sun”, is set to capture hearts with its smooth rhythms and soulful harmonies. 

 

Early Days   

Monica was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Singing since the age of 3, and writing songs in her bedroom since age 12, Monica has always used music as a medium of expression. “Early on, I would sit in my room with my journals and write songs about my celebrity crushes. But as I started maturing, my music began to describe my deep feelings that I didn’t feel comfortable sharing with people,” Monica says. 

 

Living as a first-generation American in a Cuban family did not come without its struggles. “My two caregivers: my aunt and grandma loved me a lot. However, that love came with a lot of pain. I’m at a better place with it now, but it took a lot of personal/inner work for me to be where I am in my relationship with them,” Monica says, “I truly love my grandma and aunt, and they are the only family I can rely on. My parents were extremely abusive. They were out of my life by age 3.” 

 

Trauma healing has been a huge part of Monica’s human journey. “Everything that has happened to me from birth, from the abuse and neglect from my parents to the tumultuous living as a first-gen, compiled. I had to stop and take time to heal,” Monica says. At age 15, she began doing trauma therapy. Her healing would only begin there. 

 

Academia    

Going to school helped Monica step away from her inner turmoil, and allowed her to feel accomplished. Therapy, school, and music together were the biggest mediums for Monica’s healing. Unsurprisingly, Monica then decided to study Music Therapy at her dream school, the University of Miami: Frost School of Music. “My experience at the U was unforgettable,” Monica says. Passionate about music’s way of healing others, Monica committed herself fully to the experience. “I absolutely loved music therapy. I just needed to know how music affects the brain, and how I could help others in the way music has helped me.” 

 

Throughout her experience at the U, she still continued writing songs in her bedroom, for no one except her journal to see. Except this time, she was growing as a musician. “As a future music therapist, I had to learn to play the guitar, improve my piano skills, take private voice lessons, and more,” Monica says, “My bedroom emotional songs were starting to sound… better.” 

 

Graduating with a Magna Cum Laude honor, Monica graduated college and began her career as a music therapist. “My plan was to become a music therapist, go to grad school to become a licensed therapist, and do music on the side!” Monica says, “It was a solid plan… right?” 

 

The Crisis 

Monica moved to West Palm Beach, FL for her music therapy internship, a requirement for becoming a certified music therapist. The transition was difficult, but she had support by her side from a loving partner. Being away from home gave her a new sense of liberation, as she was able to live on her own terms and find her way as a young woman, unbounded from the shackles of the Hispanic culture. “Who am I, really?” Monica started asking as she saw herself outside of the lens of Miami.  

 

As an introspective young woman, these questions became louder and louder in her mind. Simultaneously, cracks started to form within her romantic relationship. These cracks became cavernous, as she found herself alone and depressed. “To this day it’s hard to understand how just one breakup could shatter a person so much. I felt completely alone in my despair,” Monica says. 

 

It was in this moment of vulnerability that those questions (Who am I?... Why?) got louder. 

 

“Monica heals” 

If you met Monica in her West Palm Beach days, you might recognize the name “Monica heals”. In this state of vulnerability and spiritual questioning, Monica turned her attention to spirituality, becoming a certified Yoga teacher, reading books, and immersing herself in New-Age spiritual content. “I started posting about my healing journey and changed my Instagram name to Monicaheals. Soon, I started calling myself that because I really felt like my purpose was healing, mostly myself,” Monica says, “It was an… interesting time in my life to say the least.” 

 

At this time, Monica’s songs were no longer kept a secret. She began immersing herself in the West Palm Beach music community and performing her songs at open mics. She began to meet other musician friends, some of whom would become friends for life. This collective is now known as Soul Fam 2018. 

 

Monica’s passion for music therapy was changing, while her passion for songwriting was growing. “I needed that outlet of songwriting to understand and express what I was feeling… but this time, I wanted to share it!” Monica says. 

Still, Monica didn’t see herself as a professional musician. This time, the world of healing and New-Age spirituality had a hold on her.  “I was so involved in spirituality and healing, that I even ended up joining an online spiritual cult led by a woman who claims to have extrasensory powers,” Monica says.  “As a part of this community and the spiritual community in general, I was starting to do intense trauma work and healing work on myself, daily. Now that I look back, I can’t believe I even did that.” 

 

In 2019, Monica’s questions “Who am I?” and “What am I doing here?” became desperate cries. Her spiritual experiences, time in the spiritual cult, and intense trauma work she was doing on a daily basis gradually led her to feel that she did not want to live anymore. “I was feeling so s00icdal, that I needed to get out of my current state… literally,” Monica says

 

She did. Monica left Florida and drove cross country in her Honda Civic with nothing but faith.

 

East to West

Monica sold her keyboard before moving cross country, as she needed the money and it wouldn’t fit in her car. “At this point, I just needed to leave and find the relief I was looking for,” Monica says. On the road for 1 month, Monica rarely played music, always planning her next Couchsurfing stay and making sure she had the funds to survive. But music wouldn’t get away from her just like that. 

 

In Austin, Texas she found herself at open mics again and met musicians as incredible as her WPB Soul Fam collective. “They showed me that music is still a part of my soul and that I need to share my voice, no matter what,” Monica says. Monica stayed 1 month in Austin, working as an Instacart driver, Couchsurfing, Air Bnb-ing, and going to open mics. But ultimately, she knew she wanted to keep going. 

 

Monica continued writing songs in her travels, sharing them occasionally. Finding herself in Los Angeles in February 2020, she shared her songs there! Connecting to musicians in the LA area, Monica felt more inspired than ever to continue along her music journey. Despite her continued involvement in the spiritual cult she was slowly finding the sense of relief she left Florida for. 

 

That relief would last about 1 month. 

 

Isolation 

The most isolating time in history would begin in March 2020. Finding herself in a new city during the Pandemic, made Monica feel more depressed and anxious than ever. This time, though, she had a piano, her guitar, and more than enough time to herself. Her music at this time came from a place of deep pain and isolation, but it was all she had. 

 

By June 2020, Monica would move to Encinitas, CA where she would live and work at a family farm sanctuary. She continued to work at Instacart, Uber Eats, and the farm while connecting to her spiritual community and writing music. “On the outside, it sounds peaceful, but it was probably one of the darkest times of my life. I was miserable on the inside, and I felt alone,” Monica says, “So I continued to turn to the cult, and to other online New-Age groups for that sense of clarity and relief. I also spent the little money that I had working constantly with my mentor and therapist at the time. It felt like I was living in a cauldron of my own suffering… and my music and poems reflected that.” 

 

There was one source of joy that was evident in Monica’s life at the time. “I was going to my neighbor’s house 1x a week to teach piano to his daughter,” Monica says. Monica had taught lessons in the past, but at this point, teaching would save her life. In 2022, she began working part-time as a music teacher at a local music studio in Encinitas. “As I began to work at this job, and the Pandemic died down, things began to shift for me,” Monica says.

 

Hope 

2022 brought hope, relief, joy, and renewal for Monica. “In February 2022, I got my teaching job, which would change my life. In June 2022, I realized that the spiritual group I was in was a cult, and I left. Also in 2022, I finally started to connect with the music community, performed at open mics again, and got myself a keyboard,” Monica says. 

 

Since then, Monica has committed fully to her career as a musician. Monica teaches music almost full-time, teaching students from preschool age to older adults at her current job. She also performs regularly at venues and is working on her new single at Amplified Studios, in Carlsbad, CA. “Although I’m still growing and there’s still left to heal from, I’m really happy with where I am right now. I feel like I’ve overcome a lot, and it still feels surreal that I’m in such a better place now in my life. Rite of passage maybe?” Monica says, “I hope to be an inspiration to anyone going through struggles of any kind. I strive now to be a whole and balanced person, sharing my love, joy, pain, strife, and hope with others.” 

 

Monica Larrea a.k.a. Musical Monica

Monica now goes by her real name, Monica Larrea, and the nickname “Musical Monica”. Although not fully, Monica feels more at peace with her past and her family and is proud to share her music under her real name. “‘Monica heals’ represents a time of my life when I took on this new persona in order to deal with what I was going through. ‘Monica heals’ did a lot for me. She was vulnerable, and spiritual, doing hard work on a daily basis. I’m proud of her. But now it’s time for the full me to come through,” Monica says. 

 

“Monica Larrea is my raw, true, deep-natured, and multifaceted self. Musical Monica is, once again, my Instagram name. Musical Monica represents the joyful, comedic, light-hearted, and creative side of me that I want to share with the world. 

Monica Larrea and Musical Monica make a great team! I’m still figuring out who I am as an artist (aren’t we all?), but I feel closer now more than ever.”