"The sound on "Balancê,"" "has been something that people have been enjoying and applauding, and it makes me especially happy knowing that many from my age group liked "Balancê," and identified with it." "And the sounds of "Balancê,"" "is a little like if I were a chronicler of my own life's soundtrack, what surrounds me in terms of sound as a musician and also what I am in the sense of identity, as an African in Portugal;" "is the Lisbon party nights, the Kizomba, Zouk and Funaná, sounds of Cape Verdean bars;" "it is the records on the radio, hip-hop and RB, which have always influenced me since my youth;" "it is a bit of this city in itself, the different languages you constantly hear;" "you hear a lot of Creole and Portuguese;" "There is a lot of 'slang', very informal, very funny, in Lisbon, among the young people..." "And this music that I created is, in a way an attempt to reflect this language in terms of sound and style." "The sound itself, on "Balancê," was something that unfolded and that is also related to personal skills and techniques that I possess." "The fact that I have been singing for many years and that I have had a great curiosity regarding to percussion and asked my percussionists to teach me a few things about it." "Deep down, I am a secret percussionist." "And afterwards, as an aiding device, came the guitar to the rescue." "And so I think it is only natural that I have built the record's sound based on these two elements which I feel I musically master the best and that I have gone down deeper, I love it." "I feel percussion is the heartbeat, very fundamental in our day to day;" "the music of life;" "we all have a beat or pulse, a rhythm, and the city has a great deal of rhythm and counter-rhythm (off-beat)." "With the percussion I tried to find the natural sounds of classical percussion;" "the congas, the skins, the wood instruments..." "It was also an attempt to invoke the identities I wanted to:" "the African scene, the Cape Verdean scene, therefore the use of some traditional and not so traditional instruments, but there was also a kind of recycling in the studio, the search for unexpected sounds, wanting to find the sound of an ambient more than an instrument itself," "so we were able to play with things that are not quite official instruments, playing into the walls, the doorways, to gain something that was fresh." "There is a phrase from a book by Mia Couto, that says," ""Every Man is a Race,"" "so that in fact, each one is a universe, and till now," "I have been able to express this side;" "a more melancholic side of the ballad." "I think that when we learn to sing and learn to listen to songs, it is inevitable that they are not love songs, which is what is played on the radio." "Is one of the great questions of life." "Love, romantic or otherwise, self-esteem and so on." "I like to express this side, even because," "I think that as an interpreter, as a vocalist, it is a bigger challenge to use the quietness of ballads and the weight of interpretation," "The search for the real intensity in a ballad." "Maybe this helps me to let out something melancholic inside of me that I have carried on my path." "Down deep I was born a foreigner." "Born Portuguese, but with dark skin." "With all the integration questions inherited from my parents, that I inherited from history, from our Lusophone history." "And the happier, more moving and funkier side," "I find is also my rebellious side, my youthful side." "I am someone who really likes to dance, I love to laugh." "I also grew up listening to music that raised the spirit;" "I grew up in church and in church, singing is done to praise the spirit and to call on the Holy Spirit and bring joy to people and make them feel happy." "So that is gospel music." "Black North American music is also music with a lot of irreverence;" "I listened a great deal of funk, soul and RB, which are always uplifting." "I love reggae, the infectious capacity it has;" "African songs that are close to my heart:" "The funáná, coladeira, kuduro, kizomba, zouk, semba, that are also musical styles that sometimes are crying but with a smile in their face, they have that innate culture to laugh and the humorous feeling." "I think the other side of the record is a reflection of that;" "in reality it is saying always the same thing, with different colours and temperatures for different ears." "The musicians on "Balancê" are part of the family and without them it would have been impossible for me to achieve my sound and be able to share what I have done in musical terms and the message to the audience," "because it is in the intimacy and in the interaction with them, that I have daily defined myself, that I get to know myself." "And the musicians around me are very generous." "People that are also implied in the mindset I have been talking about." "The question of being active and assertive in our own society." "They are musicians from Guinea and Cape Verde, Angolan musicians," "All live here or came here very young or were already born here." "We are about the same age, we're from the same generation." "They are my brothers, they put up with me." "They are there to help me explore and try new things." "And they also take an active role, as in the case of Ndu that played drums with me for 8 years and even recorded on "Balancê"." "He is a musician that has done an enormous amount of research with sound and rhythm regarding his instrument." "He plays with an uncommon drum set, related with what there is from more ancestral and what there is more avant-garde and experimental on the drums." "It is this communion, all of us are a little like researchers, because as Afro-Portuguese we are part of a generation that has the chance to make our own musical identity." "We are living in that transition between being just fans of what is being done abroad and trying to mimic that in our groups, and starting to explore our own sounds." "Of course this has been done, but never done on a large scale, as a collective movement, even in Portugal." "And these musicians share this and then there are others who do not have much to do with it, as is the case of Júlio Pereira." "I am a fan of Júlio Pereira, we have a really intense and funny friendship, and I have many of these things;" "I grew up getting along with everybody and learning and letting everyone positively influence me." "Then, about 6 or 7 years ago, I met Júlio;" "he invited me as a guest artist in some of his works and he was someone, maybe because we were so different in terms of style, that was very straightforward with me." "I learnt a lot from him because he was so straightforward with his opinions about what he liked or didn't like about me, and that really prompted me." "It was Júlio, who is Portuguese, and should have been the melancholic one, who actually inspired me to create more happy songs." "The guests appeared naturally;" "the songs themselves sometimes asked for another presence." "I'm not saying this in a mystical way, but, for example, there was a song, "Planeta Sukri"" "that when I composed it, I thought a lot about the type of beat that Tito Paris has." "that Boy Ge Mendes has, the modern coladeira has." "And Boy Ge Mendes was in town, that was not a coincidence for me to take advantage of his presence so he could complete the song." "At the end of "Bom Feeling" there was a space to create an informal speech, like they do in Africa or in Hip Hop, a bit of improvisation." "And instead of me doing it, which I am not so great at." "I am better at reading poems and preparing them to tell them." "I did not want it to be so obvious by calling in a rapper to do it." "I remembered André Cabaço who was, since the beginning, a great inspiration to create the rhythmic part on "Bom Feeling"" "that I did a little bit as a nod to the Mozambican style and in an unexpected way that André has of playing the guitar." "Is not actually playing chords, but uses a lot of rhythms and open strings." "And this song is a bit like that." "At the end of the song there was that free space appropriated for him, and he came to the studio and did it." "I did not want to invite him just to sing, which is something that people always do since he is mainly a singer, but he is also a bassist, guitarist, a multi-instrumentalist." "And usually André is invited to sing." "He has been one of the great promoters of this style of improvisation in Mozambique that is called 'Makuaia,' which in Cabo Verde they call 'Finaçon'." "It is a sudden speech, invoking a higher wisdom." "More, there's Melo D, who is also somebody that I have always admired, always followed for his authenticity, for the way he has to be in music, always seeking out, always with his feet on the ground," "but always moving, working with many different musicians." "I find that very interesting." "The timbre that he has is very Motown, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, but he is also very connected to Angola, you can feel the 'semba' in his voice." "You can feel it, that way of ripping the melody that an Angolan has." "I thought the message had something to do with it:" ""The train is gonna pass, wake up Mané, don't miss it by being distracted"." "That was a street talk that I used on that song that I didn't use so much on the others." "I thought I needed that street 'lingo' to make that aesthetic statement and to pass that message on." "It was great, because of his flow." "He is like a separate being." "Hyper frontal and adventurous, for doing this kind of super alternative music style in a country that is already alternative for being peripheral." "In the end, I find Melo D funny, I really liked him and I hope to continue exploring more things with him." "There is a person who also works indirectly in the record, Kalaf." "He works directly because one of the songs has his lyrics, but he also participates indirectly, and more importantly for me, works in it during the composition process as a friend putting up with me." "Everything I would write I would send to Kalaf for him to taste it." "It was not for him to judge and analyze it, but to taste it and to tell me if it would swing." "so, during one year he really participated on my composition process and put up everything that I would write and then he would always say something or answered with a text, with a poem." "That's a bit of how "Lisboa Kuya" was created." "He sent me a note, a postcard, and I transformed that into music." "He was also an important and an interesting person for the record." "Who else?" "Ana Moura." "I never know what to say about Ana Moura apart from that she's fantastic as a singer." "That there's something very intense, authentic and young about her." "She seems to be a very light person, from what I know of her, however, when she closes her eyes and opens her throat, she conveys a lot." "She has this intensity, sometimes it seems she's old." "I admire this because I think, the depth is important in the art one creates." "Ana, being from my generation, is a sister with whom I want to be and share things." "It was my way to pay homage to her and also share her with my audience." "An audience that probably wouldn't be so fan of fado." "Ana is more than fado." "I mean, Ana is Ana." "I decided to record and finish the CD with the song titled, "De Nua"." "Which was a raw theme, sang acappela, and with an end message which is" ""...forgotten and found at the moment of departure..."." "Therefore this is a departure song and at the same time a welcome song to the near future." "Instead of being a conclusive song, it's an opening song." "It was a process, always say that everything is a process, but it really is." "It was a way for the musicians to get to know what I had done with what we had recorded in studio." "How I cooked up what they have provided in studio" "And they became adapted to my view." "The elements that I used are elements common to every one of us." "However, each person has a different view of what this music may be in Portugal, with these African colors, and these musicians who work with me who are also africans have their own mixture, which is their own perspective." "Mainly was a matter of creating a group spirit for something that was one's personal view, which was mine." "I think this is the greatest challenge on the road." "We basically took the "Balancê" with us throughout the world, not to all countries, but we've been almost to the 4 cardinal points." "We played a lot here in Europe;" "during the first year we started playing in Portugal, the CD was edited first here and only afterwards internationally," "In the first months "Balancê" existed in Portugal." "And then we started to go to the Netherlands, Belgium." "The label who works with me is Dutch, the work started in the Netherlands." "And then in countries nearby such as Belgium, Germany." "We did a tour in jazz clubs in Germany which was very interesting with an audience that knows and likes music and that also goes out at night to informal gigs." "With a very attentive and permeable attitude." "I especially liked the German audience, because I thought they do no cling so much to stereotypes regarding what is world music, they are much more open, and I find more jazzy in their heads." "We also played in America, we did 3 tours there, it was interesting." "It was interesting to get to know the theater circuit that they have, the small cultural centers, and to get to know regional America, not only New York's America, that we know of from TV." "And it was very interesting, at that distance, to see how the Portuguese 'slang' survives even more than the standard Portuguese." "And people actually get to realize that." "It was good, it was very good." "More..." "With, "Balancê"..." "I forget most part of the places where we have been." "We have been to so many places." "I didn't travel with the band to Japan, but I went there on my own on a tour with a Japanese jazz musician, the saxophonist Sadao Watanabe;" "Every year, he invites a musician from somewhere in the world who he likes and who is especially in his sight, in order to present the musician to the Japanese audience." "Therefore, I had the opportunity to, with my guitar and a Japanese band, play "Balancê" and "Bom Feeling"." "It was very funny." "There were places that had a special and unexpected chemistry for me, with the audience, as it was the case in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where there is a huge Cape Verdean community." "It isn't a home-Ionging community, but rather young and positive people, integrated in Europe, modern and innovative." "They are not people who only speak about Cape Verdean traditions, but they try to innovate and expand our language." "Many like that would attend the concerts, they would know all the songs by heart, would follow them and pay attention, there was great chemistry in there." "In Boston, United States, where there is another large Cape Verdean community, they would also live the concerts with special intensity, they would mention that a lot in their sites, local sites." "Look, the road to me is a way of learning." "Because it implies the management of another type of energy which is not only creative energy." "90% of the time we are on a plane, inside a car, giving interviews." "We eat badly, don't sleep much." "I have never thought of this side." "I always had the intention of creating music," "I have never thought that going abroad would require so much energy." "It was a process of dealing with a discomfort on the road that I was not used in Portugal, anymore." "Because I have a career with some years which allows me comfortable working conditions; at a technical level, in terms of accommodation and food..." "The side of being welcomed into other people's houses and to live without this out there is a challenge." "It was great to find full houses, seeing the audience from the beginning to the end of the shows, listening to music that they have never heard before, a language that they don't understand, watching a person that they have never seen before." "This receptivity was very interesting as well as the chemistry that happened between me, the musicians and the audience." "I think that there are many good things, but then you want to return to the nest in order to be born again and I'm already in that phase." "Now I really miss home and my safe ground." "The concert at Cinema São Jorge was a happy day, because there was a very good vibe, we were happy being in Portugal." "That day, for some reason, maybe because of the Spring, I don't know, we were at the right place, at the right time and with the right people." "Despite the concert not being perfect, it was a very positive one." "It was a moment in which I felt very fulfilled and in which I, the audience and my band were quite in tune." "That's why I decided to share this DVD with you and I hope you'll enjoy it and that it will give you pleasant moments at home."