MARIS has bright, neon pink hair that is slightly windswept, and she is looking directly at the camera with a confident, deadpan expression. Her face is decorated with artistic, "Cosmic Pop" makeup: a large, stylized white star with a black outline is painted over her right eye and brow, and her cheeks and nose are dusted with iridescent glitter. She wears a white tank top with the word "AMERICAN" hand-painted in dripping red letters across the chest. Her right arm is raised behind her head, covered in a distressed, bright red fishnet sleeve that is torn and frayed. The overall aesthetic is a playful, DIY blend of 80s-inspired glam and modern indie-pop. — Maris Credit: c/o Facci PR

Next year marks 30 years since the University of South Florida first put together Bullstock, a day-long music festival that brings together a handful of national acts and local names for a free show to help forget about upcoming exams for a night.

With past lineups including the likes of Grouplove and the recently-broken up Coin, this year’s edition includes headliner Ross and Rocky Lynch’s The Driver Era, and up-and-coming theatrical-pop girlie Maris (stylized in all-caps) who will stick to her word during an opening set part of her “Maris Goes To College” tour.

Last week, the 26-year-old Angeleno-turned-Montana girl released “Missing Me,” a new single that asks whether one looks back and smiles at an old photo, or jumps straight to missing the old days. It hasn’t been performed too many times, but we can’t help but wonder if its sentimentality is a reflection of what her next era holds thematically.

Ahead of this set, Maris (who was most recently in town for a co-headlining Ybor City gig with Caroline Kingsbury last fall) told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay via email about the album that changed everything for her. Read her full quote below.

An album that totally changed my life is Gone Now by Bleachers! This album came to me when I lived in New York City, and I was doing anything to get by. I really needed a collection of music that allowed me to slip out of my own problems and into the universal human experience. I became obsessed with the foley in the album, and how each song touched on a feeling of nostalgia, yet felt polished and modern at the same time. There’s so many lyrics that reference the story in the album, and that reference different songs and memories that Jack Antonoff creates for you. Both sonically, and lyrically, each song brings you through what feels like a lifetime and a day. I loveeeee this album forever. —Maris

Tickets to see Maris play Bullstock at USF Tampa’s Lot 35 on Friday, April 10 are sold-out.