Hello, Liliana. What’s happening musically and culturally in Portugal this time of the year?
– Hello, in the summer we have many theme festivals about pop, rock, soul, jazz, and so on… but also we are starting to have a few festivals dedicated to Fado and traditional Portuguese music.
We receive many tourists who visit Lisbon and the main neighborhoods (Alfama and Bairro Alto) to listen do Fado in the traditional Fado Houses.
We have lots of concerts, events, festivals, fairs where the institutional entities are committed to culture and tourism as a mean to sell our products.
What is your creative process and what sources of inspiration (e.g. books, television, film) get your creative juices flowing? Is the process different between print and musical media?
– I have different sources of inspiration: traditional / classical and contemporary.
I try to search for old recordings of Fado, the basics and the themes played in very simple chords, where the singer has to style the melody and give his own personal touch.
Bu also I try to listen to some colleagues (fado singers) in the Fado houses, concerts, shows, etc…
Talking and discussing the themes and the lyrics (a very important thing in Fado, are the lyrics) with singers, composers, writers and other people who have known the ancient figures of Fado.
The process is different, when i’m searching for new themes I have to read and search in blogs, books and even old records, but when I need inspiration to sing or give another interpretation to a theme I have to listen, see videoclips (good videos with stories, passion, soul in them, that can lead me to an imaginary story or novel).
You do a very traditional sort of music, fado, on your Corpo-Fado album. What about the style do you find interesting? How can the style speak to younger listeners that may not be familiar with fado?
– Yes I find Fado very interesting for a variety of reasons, first the lyrics are very intense, passionate, soulful and nowadays Fado has become more complex musically, including other instruments besides Portuguese guitar and classical guitar, with many composers composing and arranging themes for Fado, including sonorities from traditional, popular, folk music, turning it more like world music genre.
That is why this new wave of Fado is attracting a younger audience, the people are more aware because of the lyrics that are starting to focus on another thematic and sound differently, the music is changing a little bit so like the singers who perform differently.
In a related fashion, are there specific standards that you would like to cover in the near future?
– I’ d like to have an experience with the sound of celtic music, using hornpipes and some other instruments than can relate to that kind of music, the folk/traditional music in Portugal can coexist with that sound I think, and would be a challenge to sing in portuguese, some melodies associated with this kind of sonority.
2016 is over half-way done. What sort of plans do you have (recording, touring) for the latter part of the year?
– I’m finishing my second original album that is programmed to be launched in the last quarter of this year. I hope people will like it because it has a more fresh approach to Fado and traditional music, with some twists in pop / soul / jazz sonorities that I think are very well connected.
Let’s talk technology. What does your current recording and music production set up look like? What sort of upgrades do you want to add in the future?
– I leave all the tech, setups, features in recording and music production to my great friend and producer Valter Rolo who has accompanied me from the beginning (in my first record Corpo-Fado) and now responsible for this second album, and he’s also the main composer of the original themes (in both records).
How can NeuFutur readers find samples of your music?
– You can find all about me and my music in my official website www.lilianamartins.net
Thanks for speaking with us tonight. Do you have anything else that you would like to tell those reading this interview?
– I thank NeuFutur for this opportunity to talk about me and my artistic work, I hope people will get curious about me, my music, Portuguese music and Fado.
Visit my website and find my Facebook page to know me better…
Thank you very much and best regards!
I appreciate your time.