Earlier this week we sent our questions and soon we got them back with an amazing and discovering interview full of confidentiality and truth.
Fuck Yeah Music Stories: Hello Luísa. We know you started your music life at 12 years old. Which dreams to you remember to have at the time?
Luísa: I started playing the guitar at the age of 12 but I don't think i realized at the time that music would become such an important part of my life. At that time I enjoyed playing and that was all.
FYMS: You can say that your career per se started with your trip to Boston. What can you tell us about that experience?
L: Studying in Boston was definitely one of the best choices I made in life. When I arrived there I knew I wanted to be a musician but I also knew i had to find myself in music, I had to find my sound. Those 4 years in college were crucial to me. By playing with many amazing musicians from all over the world and by taking classes from lots of great teachers I was able to figure out my identity as an artist.
FYMS: Which is your opinion about the Portuguese music? Would you bet on any artist to have success internationally?
L: Since I got back to Portugal i have been overwhelmed with how much we have grown musically. There are amazing new artists. There are musicians i think deserve and should be a success internationally like Bernardo Sassetti, Ana Moura, António Zambujo and Deolinda.
FYMS: Which is your biggest dream?
L: To have a House with a garden where I can grow my own vegetables. Have a studio in that same house where I can write and record. But of course the most important thing would be to play all over the world.
FYMS: How would you describe Luísa as a person and as an artist?
L: As a person I think I have my ideas very organized, I always know exactly what I want and what I don't want. I like to think I'm funny, I love to cook I like theatre a lot and riding my bike. As an artist i am the same but i put all of it into melodies, chords and lyrics.
FYMS: Which is the person/artist that inspires you the most?
L: The music of Keith Jarrett inspires me a lot. I am more inspired by the art than the artists in general.
FYMS: We know you received several nominations for awards, in Boston. Did those nominations changed your way to face music?
L: No, not really. It is always good to have our work recognized but it should never become the reason why we do it. I know this sounds cliché but I really try to keep thinking this way.
FYMS: Tell us an artist you would give everything to trade with.
L: Mozart, he was the greatest.
FYMS: This year you played before the respected Jamie Cullum. Tell us about that.
L: 1 year ago I went to see Jamie play in NYC. I never thought 1 year later I would be opening for him, it was great! The stage was in a beautiful place and Jamie is a very very nice guy.
(excerpt of Luísa Sobral's show on CoolJazz Fest this year)
FYMS: Can you associate songs to moments of your life?
L: Of course. Moments, places and people.
FYMS: All right… Which is your favorite song?
L: I don't have a favorite song but i guess my favorite album is Keith Jarrett's "Melody at Night With You".
(Keith Jarrett's Melody At Night With You)
FYMS: You were sixteen years old when you stayed in third place on the TV show Ídolos. How did you feel at the time? Did you feel many changes in your life?
L: Besides the fact that people recognized me on the street nothing changed. "Ídolos" made me understand I still needed to find myself as an artist and that was a good thing.
FYMS: Which were the experiences that have marked you? Would you do the show again?
L: No, I don´t think I would do it again. Now that I grew up I do not agree anymore with competing in music
FYMS: Do you remember what you thought the first time you went to stage?
L: No...
FYMS: In your album “The Cherry On My Cake” you have 13 songs but only 3 in Portuguese. How do you feel better, writing in Portuguese or English?
L: I lived 5 years in the US so English became the most natural language for me to write in. Now that I am back in Portugal I have been writing more in Portuguese as well.
FYMS: How do you inspire to write your songs? Is there any method or special place? What gives you more inspiration?
L: I am inspired by books, movies, places, stories people tell me and experiences i live, so basically everything that surrounds me.
FYMS: “Saiu Para a Rua” from your album, is a collaboration with Rui Veloso. What would you tell us about that opportunity?
L: It doesn't... It's a song of his and Carlos Tê but he does not sing with me.
FYMS: Which will be your future during the next months?
L: We will be playing around Portugal and we will also have a mini tour in Spain.
FYMS: You studied Music, at Berklee College of Music, in Boston. If you would given a chance, where and what would you study?
L: That was the opportunity and that was the one I chose.
FYMS: Do you have any ritual before coming to stage?
L: No, I don't believe in those things.
FYMS: Which was the place that you enjoy to play the most? Is there a place you would love to play but didn’t have the chance to, yet?
L: The prettiest place we have played at was the "Mosteiro de Alcobaça". I would love to play in Paris.
FYMS: How is your relationship with Jazz?
L: It's great. I love "him" and I hope "he" loves me to.
FYMS: You have a band – João Hasselberg, Carlos Miguel e Filipe Melo – formed in the Hot Club Jazz, in Portugal. Does that give you motivation to improve or do you feel intimidated?
L: The band was not formed in that school. Only Filipe studied there. They are great musicians and I learn a lot from them but I like to think they can learn something from me too.
(Filipe Melo, João Hasselberg, Joel Silva and Luísa Sobral)
FYMS: You pass a lot of time surrounded by men. Are you treated in a different way for being “a girl” or is there a good fellowship between everyone?
L: They are all really nice to me and I guess they do treat me a bit differently because I am a girl but not on stage, on stage we are all the same.
FYMS: How is your relationship with your fans? And how can they contact you?
L: I feel really happy when people send me nice messages and when they say they like my music. I always answer whatever people write to me on facebook or when they send me emails.
FYMS: Which was the strangest moment you ever had with a fan?
L: I have never had a very strange moment with a fan.
FYMS: Besides music, which is your hidden passion?
L: Acting
FYMS: Complete these sentences …
a) One day…
L: … I will do parachuting
b) The best thing people can say about me is…
L: ... that I am generous
c) And the worst is…
L: ... that I am self centered
d) In ten years…
L: … I want to be playing a lot but also I want to start a family.
FYMS: What would you tell to FYMS readers?
L: Thank you for reading my interview and I hope to see you in one of our next shows! A big big kiss!
Special thanks to Luísa Sobral for kindly answering to our questions and to her press contact Inês Cristóvão from Som Sem Trânsito. Credits to the photography authors and video excerpts.
