Recentemente entrevistei por escirto uma cantora luso canadiana e uma voz descolhecida alem fronteiras do fado Raman Vieira, e entre portugues e ingles falamos da sua arte e do que ela representa para ela e o valor que esta tem para ela.
1. In what way has the immigrant experience shaped the way you sing the songs you do and choose? I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I am the daughter of Portuguese immigrants from Madeira, Portugal.
Like many second-generation youth, I grew up barely aware of my cultural heritage. But my mother often sang along to a prized record collection of fado music that included many recordings of the world-famous fadista, Amália Rodgrigues and Carlos Do Carmo and more. Also my grandfather whom was a great musician in his own right was a significant influence. He would write a lot of the music for the processions in Madeira, Portugal. I grew up playing the piano and organ that was in his home. Then my mother realized my interests and bought me my first piano and I then enrolled in studying classical music. Music was a great interest to me and so was theater so I took this a step further and decided to study theatre and I attended "The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco." I studied drama, dance and music even though I was well versed in these art forms it was not until I sang Fado did I feel my calling in life.
I therefore had decided to traveled to Portugal for intensive training in Portuguese and began to sing in fado houses and clubs where audiences could not distinguish me from native singers. I felt that I had found my cultural identity.
“It’s in my soul. It’s my passion to sing this music. Thus my journey began...
2- What singer of song in fado you classify has gratly influencied you the most- Dulce Pontes and Amália Rodrigues by far. I love Dulce Pontes because she stays true to the artistic integrity of being herself first and foremost and singing the Fado is an important of her so I think. Amália Rodrigues is a main influence because as a little girl, I grew up listening to her while my mother played her music.
3- Is it hard to show fado to canadians and whats their normal reaction to it? I cannot answer that because I have not yet performed in Canada. I would like to sing in Canada. I been on the Portuguese radio and i have been interviewed by some Portuguese Canadian Radio Hosts and the reaction was very warm and positive. I know we are working on making a performance happen in the area. I will let you know when that happens.
4- Whats your creative process when it comes to creating songs? what inspires you? The music lives inside of me, it is very inspirational in of itself. I consider it to be a gift that I am like a vessel and the music flows thru me easily and effortlessly. Life inspires me, God, love, hardship, sadness, mourning, Nostalgic, Joy. It is very similar to why people write and sing Fado and how Fado was born into existence, it came with a mixture of complex emotions, this is what i write about.
5- In what way the songs the fado singer sings relates with its oun destiny and experiences? Its fado really a "mirror" of the singer life and soul? Art is a mirror of our soul. If we don't like our lives we can always change the decisions we are making, as it is with singing fado. We have the direct choice to sing the emotions we want to be expressing and conveying that to the world. It is an incredible honor to be able to have a platform from which to have the freedom to express. It is what the world needs more of. I think we would have more peace on the planet if more people felt that they had permission to be themselves freely and completely.
6- De que forma e que a experiencia da imigracao moldou a maneira como canta o "alma portguesa" e as cancoes que escolhe?
Os meus pais sao da Madeira. Nasci aqui em California. I love honoring the traditional roots of my family and that is why I sing Fado. I love honoring the traditional roots of my family and that is why I sing Fado. Tenho muito gosto de honrar as raizes tradicionais de minha familia, e por isto eu canto o Fado.
7- Tem a nostalgia algum afeito na pessoa que e nas emocoes das suas cancoes? Espero que sim. Sentimentos de nostalgia vem sempre com o fado. (I would hope so. Feelings of nostalga are a part of fado.)
8- Que imagem emocional tem de Portugal? e como o ve hoje em dia?
Portugal representa-me a terra do meu povo, a terra dos meus raizes. I have a saying in my song,called "My Country Portugal" that goes like this: My country Portugal, your beauty lives inside my soul. From the Fado of Lisboa to my parents homeland of Madeira, eu vou voltar." When I sing this song, I have the crowd singing it with me.
Eu tenho um provérbio em minha canção, chamada " Meu país Portugal" isso vai assim: Meu país Portugal, sua beleza vive dentro de minha alma. Do Fado de Lisboa a minha pátria dos pais de Madeira, vou voltar." do eu; Quando eu canto esta canção, eu tenho a multidão cantá-la comigo.
9- As an artist, you think that only by thinking about the past, can we create a better future? I hope that the Human Race will continue to learn from past mistakes and go forward into creating a better future for our children and the future generations to come. The past has no power over any of us unless we allow it. The value in thinking about the past is in gaining knowledge about what works and what does not work and being able to reflect on the growth we have made as a whole community and as individuals.
10- I know you already edited 3 albums, tell me about them and in which way they show the singer you are.- My first record "Sem ti',--With out you, was my first attempt to record an album both in English and Portuguese and I feel that it was a good first attempt but I am a perfectionist and I was not fully satisfied with the recording so I wrote my songs and I gained the colloboration of musicians and Portuguese poet José Raposo and recorded "Despi A Alma."--I undressed My Soul.
This album has been out for several years and it has a combination of my own compositions as well as the great traditional pieces from Amália Rodrigues. I am happy about my albums however, my most proud piece of work is my recent album released in 2009 called Lágrimas De Rainha.--Tears Of A Queen.
Ir a Portugal e sempre uma experiencia "refescante" pelo facto que voltamos as razies e vemos aquilo que nos faz ser o que somos, familia, amigos, o longo e arido alentejo com as suas aldeias e o seu simples povo, e isso que sinto falta de ver de novo em Portugal, aquilo que o faz portugues, chega da futilidade e da busca de lucro cego e de da sociedade canadiana de ser sempre a mais bela a mais in e tudo mais...e preciso voltar a simplicidade portuguesa.
