this conversation

 Chat with Adriana Calcanhotto
Adriana: From the moment you arrived home at the end of the tour, and the trip came to an end,
no more arranging of luggage here and there, how did the seed of this album started? Were you
already thinking about the album issue or it was just aimlessly in the air?
Marisa: When the tour came to an end I was sort of dived into a moment of silence, that kind of
thing, you know? Real and total deflation of the mind. I already had some of these music done,
ready or started during the tour, but I needed to relax at home for sometime, I needed this period of
life, normal thing of the everyday life… Without much interruption, without much discontinuity,
without much adaptation to different realities… every blessed day one hotel, a different food, a time
schedule, a time zone, a different language.. At this moment, I had more opportunity to meet my
partners, finish those things already started, watch shows of other singers or musicians and cherish
or nourish the relations, which lead to the transformation of this new work. Then, I started doing the
musical aspect. Actually, this album is a selection of some music which I made during these last
three or four years. Some were even made during the period of recording.
Adriana: Did you compose them with the album already on the way?
Marisa: Yes, two or three occurred during the recording. And some were already recorded by other
persons, such as the “Bem Aqui”, by Dadi, “O Que Você Quer Saber De Verdade”, by Arnaldo, and
“Verdade, Uma Ilusão”, by Brown.
Adriana: And so, when you composed, being that you were already recording, you composed by
inertness of being in movement with those things, or you had the necessity of doing the album, to
complement things?
Marisa: Not at all. The music I remembered having done during the process was as a result or
consequent to my passage through Los Angeles, when I met Rodrigo Amarante. I had never done
anything with him before then, but there was always the mutual interest. One day we met at the
studio because we were recording a music for the last Red Hot + Rio, “Nu com a minha música”, by
Caetano Veloso and Devendra Banhart. During this period in which we were in the studio, the idea
of recording music came up. It already there with some words, something that we did together at
that moment, with some pieces of the musical letter. Later, he continued all alone. When he came
to Rio, he brought with him what he already did. So then, we made the finishing touch and I found
that it had to do with the rest of the entire album. It is all about the is desired and about paying the
price for it, even though it looks crazy for everybody around. The music is in the first person and it
says: “Go, you can talk, you can write, I will surrender myself”. It is about the recognition and the
conquest of desire.
Adriana: I found it interesting that the album talks about these things that you are doing, relating to
the unpredictable about love and how it is just like that. And it has a strong connection with this
music that talk about the song, as to how the song goes through this, as to how the song expresses
this, and it is so interesting because it is just so much like you. It is your way of making music. I
wanted you to talk about this…
Marisa: I am a singer that is well connected to the tradition of music and the song. I enjoy music
with chorus, with first part, with second part. I very much enjoy the melody. The relation of the song
with love is ancestral. Even the birds sing when they want to attract their partner. So, this is
something that has to do with nature. And, in the truth, my concern when I sing about love today is
to talk in a contemporary form, a love that is present among us today. Then, there are various
questions with which my generation and the persons experiencing the love question today
encounter, such as have a satisfactory and lasting love affair. That is, talk about love as it is really,
not that love so much idealized.
Adriana: I think that the album has this, something unpredictable about love.
Marisa: Yes, there is music that talk about “loving someone has no explanation”. To love someone
can only do well. Love is a form of intelligence, maybe the major one of them. We are going through
so many transformations in the family relations, human relations, and one thing is certain that the
models of the past are no more suitable to us.
Adriana: I think it is really interesting that some very young people will listen to this album and will
have the touch that love is just like that, not so simple like that. It is very much complicated, much
more complex and, thus, so interesting..
Marisa: The love question is one that is relevant in life of everybody. Maybe one or other does not
mind this, but the majority does worry or feel concerned.
Adriana: And what did you play in that album? I saw that you played percussion..
Marisa: We have here at home a collection of instruments that is readily at our disposition. As in
most of the moments it was just Dadi, and I we unfold ourselves in various functions, even only to
simulate what we wanted to record later. "Oh, it could be a keyboard”. Then, we recorded to see
how it would be. Dadi also is a musician super versatile. He plays the guitar; he plays the bass, and
the mandolin. Then we can enjoy ourselves here. A lot of things were substituted latter, when I
called Daniel Jobim, Bernie Warrel or even Pupillo. But some instruments that used to play were
put behind. In “Verdade, uma ilusão”, I recorded only the plates. Latter, Pupillo, listening to what I
played, then only did the box. At the end, the drumbeat, which is heard, is just the two of us
together. We try to distribute the songs in a very intuitive form, much musical and even without
being pretentious.
Adriana: This means, you never thought of sonority for the album, you went song by song….
Marisa: Yes, I went listening to songs and seeing what each of them was asking for. This is a
collection of songs, each one way. The intention was to potentially increase the sentiment of one of
them, what they wanted say. I always thought that I would be the point of connection between this
musicʼs and, in one way, this diversity was always my trademark.
Adriana: And the name?
Marisa: “O Que Você Quer Saber De Verdade” was composed for sometime now and Arnaldo
ended up recording it in his albums. The music is an invitation to silence necessary to be listened
as per the necessity of the sole.
Adriana: I wanted to know about that moment in which you arrived home, at the end of the tour,
brought luggage, with all the old scraps and needed space, time. You were not thinking about
songs, much less in lunching a new album, talk about people. You wanted to know how you were
feeling then…
Marisa: I think it is the moment of expansion and natural retraction. It is a dynamic movement, a
highly musical concept of intensity and alleviation. I am happy because I feel a great desire to bring
this music to the public. I am happy with the result. In a general form, I think that it is a very good
moment because the ideas cause a lot of concern and work. To have an idea is easy, but to turn it
into a good and ideal plan involve a lot of work and time. They got to the real plan means that the
album is being listened to by the people. Of course, the process is pleasurable, is surrounded with
love, with affection and friends, and is important for the result, but the full accomplishment is when it
is with the public. Now this is with the album.
Adriana: And the show?
Marisa: Oh, I already have various interesting ideas for the show. Of the language, of the real
graphic language that we are using in the album, in the album, on the web site and the various
deployment which may become interesting. I have some ideas about the band, of the repertoire, of
the scenography, but this is still in the second plan for me because I am deeply involved in other
questions. For me to be doing the lunching in a way I have never done before, very independent,
through my web site, in a direct communication channel, this involves my having to produce a much
greater content, such as texts, answers, and videos. I think that all is being done today, in this
sense, it is experimental. There is no exact format that has been approved satisfactorily, efficient,
even because this format will become satisfactory much soon. It demands for much involvement on
my part. I cannot simply delegate this to any one, because this is very personal. I am still dreaming
over these things about the show. It will be set for the next year. Chat with Hermano Vianna
Hermano: This that is happening here, to me, is a novelty, because I always listen to the album several
times before doing an interview. It is the first time I listen to something on the spot. I was jotting down
some things that are just the result of a first impression, which I think was your intention...
Marisa: In fact, the intention was not to cause this discomfort you have to have to listen just once and
come here to speak. The intention was to have a nice party and may have a flowing conversation,
because I love to chat and enjoy good conversation, you know? The intention is not just an interview but
an informal conversation about how you heard the record and issues that cause you curiosity.
Hermano: But find this is a good discomfort, because it is a new experience for me. I am much more to
be thinking of something and I only speak about it after thinking about it a lot. I had heard some of these
songs. You said they were demos and I thought they were already records. How was the process from
there to here?
Marisa: It was built in layers. So let's say that first there were the compositions, a series of compositions,
all in the head. And then I and Dadi, who lives across the street, started to meet at random, without
appointments, no commitment, but with a lot of good-will on both parties. There is this comfort, because
he knows how to handle a studio and we are quite close. "Oh, Dadi, come over here?" That was almost
every day, in fact: "We kept on recording those songs, at least not to forget them?". So while you do this,
of course you are already finding a comfortable way, a good pitch to sing, a way that it comes out nice,
cool. We kept doing this with all the songs, without much compromise for a good six months. And about
that time when you came to visit, the bases were already recorded. Then I started to do more to enforce.
Now, several things that I did, including some bases, were on top of these references, these movements,
these tones ...
Hermano: That served as a thing to listen for the musicians or other instruments were placed on top of
that?
Marisa: The two cases occurred. Some things were recorded above and others used. In other cases, it
only served as a reference and was recorded again. I started recording the bases in São Paulo with the
power trio Nação Zumbi - Pupillo, Dengue and Lúcio Maia - with things already started. I followed
working on top of many of the very foundations that we had, which were bases of percussion, guitars,
many of which I myself played with Dadi. Then I spent a month in New York in January, I took the HD
with me, and there I met some musicians, some arrangers. I recorded some things there with Bernie
Warrel, Funkadelic keyboardist, who had already recorded with me a few records that I did with Arto. I
looked for a guy who played piano with a pop language and found Thomas Bartlett, better known as
"Doveman", who played with Antony and the Johnsons, David Byrne and Yoko Ono, among others. He
was appointed by Patrick Dillett, who mixed the albums "Mais," "Barulhinho Bom" and "Memórias,
Crônicas e Declarações de Amor."
Hermano: I saw Patrick in the video in that first one that was on the Internet ...
Marisa: He was a partner that I rescued, a wonderful engineer. In "Mais", he was an assistant in the
studio and ended up taking over the record. He worked a lot with Arto also and has been to Brazil
several times. He helped me find these people with whom I made these recordings in New York. Then I
went to Los Angeles and met with Mario (Caldato), with whom I had also thought of doing a few things.
When I worked with Mario, here in Brazil, it was inside a universe of musicians with whom I already
worked, but I wanted to meet some of this team. So he introduced me to Money Mark, keyboardist who
played with the Beastie Boys, and also an American arranger, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, a super young
man who plays viola, cello and violin, from whom I ordered some arrangements. I ended up finding
Rodrigo Amarante there, when we recorded a song for Red Hot + Rio 2. I also met Gustavo Santaolalla,
who is a guy with whom I had already done a few jobs, and who I deeply admire. He is an Argentine
producer who has worked with many people, has composed many tracks for the movies. He produced
the Cafe de los Maestros, Bajofondo and Julieta Venegas, for example. I spent some days with Gustavo,
who is multi-instrumentalist and has a studio with a collection of instruments and sounds that he put at
our disposal. He was getting inspired and it took a ronroco, a guitar, a sitar, a harmonium, I donʼt know, a
pipe.
On the way back to New York I met with another arranger whom I love, Greg Cohen, who had already
worked with me and Arto Lindsay. He'd made "Maria De Verdade", “Magamalabares”, "Alta Noite",
several things I like. I also ordered some arrangements from him. So, I left things all things wrapped up,
I left and continued working in Brazil, doing voices and a few overdubs. I was coordinating it all and
some things that were happening were more like remotely, like Miguel arrangements. He kept on
recording in LA and sending to me. And Greg was also writing in Berlin.
Hermano: And you traveling with an HD under your arm?
Marisa: I traveled with the HD under my arm. This was a very remarkable thing. It was a record that I
did with people working in Los Angeles, Berlin, New York... We communicated via email and Skype.
Music came, music went… For me it was a novelty because I did the last two records only in Rio and this
is a relatively new technology that allows you to it. This was a record quite inserted into my daily life, my
life. Besides much has been done in a home studio, I had this natural time with no deadlines…
Hermano: And who signs the production?
Marisa: The production is mine and the co-production is Dadiʼs, who was my partner throughout this
period, my partner from the beginning.
Hermano: Because there is all this layer, all people who were joining along the way, right on the road…
Marisa: It was done among friends. Many people ended up participating when they came to visit me.
Domenico, for example, came here one day: "Oh, let me play this here." He went there, and the
recording remained. I did not want to choose the music, like "you gotta play that song, thatʼs the idea." I
wanted people to choose the music and the instrument they felt like playing. The idea was to let it flow
naturally in the person. This is a much more musical form of working.
Hermano: You do not depend on technology, but technology only facilitates something that is…
Marisa: The technology itself is neutral. It does not help nor hinders. It depends on how you use it, like
almost everything in life.
Hermano: And it is a very interesting unity because there is the trio Nação Zumbi, Mario Caldato,
Gustavo Santaolalla. Gustavo is a major producer of pop music in the history in the world, the album he
did with Café Tacuba...
Marisa: Not to mention his work for the movies..
Hermano: It's nice that this technology enables close contact with people who are distant and who
otherwise could not participate due to their agendas ... But will people still listen to a record?
Marisa: Yeah, that's an issue.
Hermano: I kept thinking about this: people put on shuffle and you do not have any control over what
will come before and what will come after...
Marisa: I do not know, it's true, people may not listen to the album much more, but I still am releasing an
album, at least this time. It may be that in the future I release from two to two songs, from three to three,
instead of one. I have nothing against it, I think it's pretty cool, but I think that while there still is a
physical product, it serves as a reference format. I think really that the physical product will become a
niche consumption the way the LP is today. It is inevitable and I think it's cool, because I think it is a lot of
matter, it is too much plastic, too much paper. I think the world of the future does not need it, it does not
fit it in it. I think it's quite cool for a mass consumption that even all this is virtual, which can circulate,
that large files can fit in small spaces. I think it is very suitable to the changes that the planet must go
through. But I'm not an artist who is starting now, I'm living this transition. My first job, 89, was released
only on LP and cassette. I come from this world ...
Hermano: I still had the A side and B side, people were wondering what song would go to the A side
and what songs would go to the B side, and CD has changed that. And today technology that made
possible the existence of this record as it is, the way you described the process of production, also
allowed many ways to listen...
Marisa: Yes, and I'm sure that it will cause a revision in the format of the business, the pace of release. I
think for the artist, despite much talk of piracy, how much is lost, I think it is a big win when you do away
with so many intermediaries in the relationship with your audience and be able to reach directly, both
with your words and with your music and your thought. It is what is very best and that's what always
fascinated me in the show. The relationship I built with my audience was through my direct contact with
them. And the possibility do so in many ways is a huge gain.
Hermano: But I think that before that you were already experiencing a new way of dealing, of doing
away with the middlemen in your music. You were the first Brazilian artist to have control of the
phonograms, for example...
Marisa: Yeah, I always tried to be creative beyond my own musical production. How will it be my way as
an artist in this world where I have to deal with different forces: the phonographic industry, the press,
partners, musicians, myself... I always tried to put my creativity at the service of this and find a proper
way to handle these things. I always looked for this way to have my own label, my seal, to have more
independence and maintain freedom. There's no right way, no wrong, but I'm always trying to find mine.
Hermano: Today is always a mystery when you're releasing a record. We lived another story of the
phonographic industry. And I see that one person who worked so hard to release an album, to do that
product and put so much into that... And that goes where, right? Will be sold where? There is no more
stores…
Marisa: In fact, as much as all these files move, the production must be maintained, it cannot become
an unviable thing.. Of course, the content still is worth a lot, people are eager to read good texts, listen to
good music, get in touch with knowledge. That stuff is important for people and for us. So, at the same
time, researchers, writers, scientists and artists need subsidies to produce and to survive from what they
produce. Today, for an artist who does a show, live show, the thing still seems safe, but for a composer
who lives exclusively on copyright, it is practically impossible. The guy has to be a taxi driver and
composer, has to have another profession as well. I think everyone who deals with information in general
needs to rethink their models. And music is part of it.
Hermano: I read an interview with Björk, on the release of her next album and there is one thing that I
loved. She thinks things are really improving, everything is moving and that the crisis brings many good
possibilities for those who know how to use it. She says that it is the best time to work with record label,
because no one makes money from record company, then who is on record is because he likes music,
is not there for the money.
Marisa: So that leaves the idealists, who really likes.
Hermano: I think this album is very well worked out. The sophistication is all due to the simplicity of a...
Marisa: Communication...
Hermano: Communication! And I remember you singing once here at home. I think you'd just written
"Amor I love you” and was still surprised by that. I am capable to sing something so simple and so
universal, but I think this record is very explicit, very impressive in its pop quality.
Marisa: Actually, I think this is a feature of the songs, to communicate with people.
Hermano: But I think that proves to be blunt, to be simple, you do not cease to be sophisticated. This is
a characteristic of the poetry of Arnaldo Antunes.
Marisa: Brownʼs too. He takes a word and looks like he'll say something very simple, but he transforms it
into another meaning by some word games. Arnaldo Antunes does that also. He is strict, it is safe for us
when we are composing, that things will be in place, because he knows how to organize. He has the
habit of writing, has an intimacy with the great literature than me and Brown. We are more street, more
than life itself. It is the books.
Hermano: And there's something that is an evolution of his work, but retroactively illuminates other
things, because I think that before there could be a doubt, there had also a certain irony in using popular
forms of writing, but now I think it has a distance of irony, you do like…
Marisa: Of course, if I'm here is because I heard Roberto Carlos and Tim Maia all my life. These things
are very natural for me. It is the same formation, it is what is printed in the form of feeling the music,
living the music.
Hermano: The album will be titled "O Que Você Quer Saber De Verdade." And it's not a question, it's a
statement.
Marisa: It's not a question, it is an object, a goal, it is something you want to know the truth.
Hermano: The album is very interesting because behind the apparent simplicity of some songs, the
message being passed is very complex, very sophisticated... and not put things in one way or the other,
black and white… thinks are mixed and… ...
Marisa: It leaves several questions unanswered. Not everything is conclusive, but I think it causes some
reflections or at least wants to provoke a reflection. This issue of the relevance of values for each of the
hard ... talk about choice, about desire, about self-knowledge and freedom.
Hermano: There are many good songs to make you happy, many songs are you talking about yourself
... and that somehow it is the mission of the philosophy forever in Greece: teaching how to live well. I
think it was much more sophisticated that the origin of this search for truth was disappearing from the
difficult wording of the texts. At the same time, there is another side. Pop is self-help; pop teaches us.
Marisa: We get in touch with a lot of wisdom through songs.
Hermano: And teaching that things are really complex.
“Vai sem direção”, “Vai ser livre”, “A tristeza não resiste” or else, “A vida é curta, curta a vida”. All these
things seem very simple.
Marisa: So large the sky, so short the life…
Hermano: If you stop to think about it, is very complex ...
Marisa: Yes, it is.
Chat with Francisco Bosco
Francisco: Marisa, I would like to start talking about the song "abre-alas" of the disc, "Ainda bem." I
watched the clip in which you dance with Anderson Silva and I would like you to talk a little bit about
what dance is for you, because dance appears many times in the disc, in some lyrics, to start in this clip.
Marisa: I think that dance is a musical body language. I love to dance and attended a few clubs here in
Rio. I became familiar with this language, which is improvisation, surrender; because sometimes we
dance with people we do not know. It is a physical response to music. There are songs that your body
responds intuitively with movement ... this is dance. In the case of the dance in the clip, as the music is
about the celebrating an encounter (“I am glad I found you”), I thought a couple dancing could represent
well this idea. I wanted to invite Anderson because I knew he dance well. I had seen him performing as
Michael Jackson before a fight, dancing with his daughter in her 15 years party and I identified him as a
probable good partner. As I had to make the clip, I thought to call him but did not know if he would like
the idea or if he could do it. Fortunately, everything flowed well and he accepted it. There is no
choreography, we did not rehearse. That is really a physical conversation, led by music.
Francisco: And has he proved to be a good dancer?
Marisa: Great dancer. I think what he does in a fight has little to do with it, because you have to read the
opponent's body. The fight is also a dialogue, as well as dancing. He has this very clear idea, mastering
this language, and what I really liked is that even though he is an athlete, a champion of a fighting sport,
the clip shows how delicate he can be. We can see he is gentle, elegant, and that's one thing I had seen
through his voice. The first thing I told him when I met him was, "I love your voice." Because as he is too
big, too strong, has this counterpoint with the voice. But I think it is his soul. This is what his spirit
translates, that sweetness. So it's really nice to see him so light, so gentle, so sweet, in a world so
feminine, so impact free
Francisco: Marisa, all the time It came to mind the famous quote from Nietzsche: “I would not trust a
God who does not dance. "And your CD has very strong Nietzschean moments: the question of truth,
the question of illusion ... truth, illusion, lie. It has an ethical issue that crosses the whole CD which is to
try to hear more clearly your desire and take the consequences of it, whatever they are, no matter how
serious they are…
Marisa: It is the question of individual commitment to happiness, that you will only be happy for yourself
and nobody else. So, this is a responsibility of each one. There is everything what we have to bear as a
result of choices, but it is very important that each one can figure out what is good for oneself. Obviously,
there is no collective truth, but there is truth in the inward ... The truth only lies within.
Francisco: Before I met you personally, I had, and admiration for you as an artist, an admiration for your
posture regarding a very strong issue in our culture, which is the celebrity culture. A cult of self-image
often causes the person to lose sight of his desire, because he has to feed what is expected from his
image. However, you always seemed like a person with a rare ability to do what it takes to take care of
your image, in the sense of your work to reach as many people as possible. At the same time, you have
an almost secret life, low profile. In this disc, it is as if your conduct had reached a maximum radicalism,
as if you had not to explain anything that was not the nakedness of your desire, what you want for your
life.
Marisa: I think this record speaks of many values. I do not confuse my person with my art. Today there
is a big confusion between art and artist, as if that fine line that divides it no longer existed. But for me it
still exists. Of course it is confused, it is clear that my work is very personal, of course that much of my
life I bring to my artistic thought, but somehow I can separate them. In fact, I feel very comfortable in
serving the music and not have that personal vanity of wanting to appear more than music. Of course I
want to give my best and my work to be beautiful and well done. The music has been around for millions
of years. It will continue and I'm just passing through, so I'm trying, somehow, to fulfill my role in this
process.
Francisco: One thing that I love in "Ainda Bem" it is a very direct, very simple lyric and yet it has a
turning point which is the line "tudo se transformou" (everything changed). This verse of the classic song
of someone you love, Paulinho da Viola, is there in a peculiar way, because in Paulinho's song “tudo se
transformou” it is a love that became a mismatch. In his, it was a close mismatch that suddenly becomes
a match.
Marisa: Disillusionment that lit...
Francisco: So talking about it, what are the Brazilian or international composers you think are more
present in the musical conversation of this disc.
Marisa: I do not know if it happened ... I think there are things I grew up listening to, things that I do not
think, but are somehow working and acting there, floating. Nor is all mine. I have a group, a collection of
authors, composers, and partners who worked with me. Somehow, they are collections that cross each
other, because many of the situations described in the disc are not things that necessarily the three
partners are living at the same time, but somehow everyone knows how it is. For example, find someone
and feel that wonderful discovery. Most of my partners is of my generation and we grew up listening to
Brazilian pop music and more traditional Brazilian music, from Dorival Caymmi, Noel Rosa, to Tim Maia,
Roberto Carlos... Also Los Hermanos and other contemporary composers, through all stages of rock, like
Titãs, Renato Russo, Cazuza... These are multiple experiences and I think that not only influences the
music, but also what you read. It could be about the history of Brazil, could be fiction, could be
romance...
Francisco: What do you most enjoy reading?
Marisa: I like Brazilian literature very much.
Francisco: Novel or poetry?
Marisa: I like novel best. I read poetry too, but I cling more to novels. I love Machado, José de Alencar,
João Ubaldo... these are the things I read and read again. Sometimes a Latin American book appears
and I read it too, but it's very nice reading a text that was originally written in Portuguese. I like that
feeling more than reading translations. Of course I also read translations, but it's so nice when you find a
text that was originally written by someone who speaks Portuguese. It is different. We know that João
Ubaldoʼs text in "Viva o povo brasileiro" will be translated to German, but it will never be read as we can
read it here.
Francisco: This book is an especially great, right? Because it has multiple Portuguese languages within
the same Portuguese, Portuguese of the sixteenth century...
Marisa: I have great admiration for João Ubaldo, he's amazing. I think that he is the Brazilian writer
alive that I love most. I always read his column in the newspaper. Anyway, I read many books. I read a
little of everything: Miguel Sousa Tavares, Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Marquez,
Darcy Ribeiro...
Francisco: There is partnership between you and Amarante in this album, with a hint of Brazilian pop
music in the early 60s (jovem guarda), and has a composer that you are presenting to the greater public,
which is André Carvalho ...
Marisa: In fact, Maria Gadú recorded a song that André plays frequently in the radio. He is the son of
Dadi. When I started playing with Dadi, André was 12 years old. I've known Andrew for a long time and
he is developing a language as a composer very interesting, very peculiar. I think the hardest thing for a
composer is to find a particular way of expressing himself. He made his first album recently and the
music that I recorded is in this album. I got this song in my head for days, like that: "Nothing, nothing,
nothing, everything, everything, everything, everything, anything and everything, I do not know." That is,
you know, truth - illusion... This relativity of things and this quest for accuracy of focus in a world so
scattered... I was blown away, I learned to play it at home... It's always like that they end up in the
albums. And then yesterday, I saw that he was quoted in the Brazilian Literature Academy, on [Pereira]
Merval's taking office. Another academy member, Marcos Vilaça, used in his speech a piece of music
that Maria Gadú recorded: “todos os caminhos trilham pra gente se ver, todas as trilhas caminham pra
gente se achar” (all the paths for us to meet, all the tracks we go to find ourselves). I mean, this kid goes
far (laughs).
Francisco: One thing I found striking is also the song "Verdade, uma ilusão" (Truth, an illusion), which
is a kind of ballroom foxtrot. It has a reference to dance too ... it is a dance.
Marisa: It is also a dance, a conversation of two people who are dancing. It has this language...
Francisco: And there is this verse: "Verdade, seu nome é mentira" (Indeed, your name is lie). This song
seems a little on Nietzsche in (Gafieira) Estudantina ... I want you to talk a bit about what you think of
these ideas of truth - illusion. What is truth, what is illusion?
Marisa: Truth, according to my friend Ernesto Neto, it exists only when no one is looking, because, if
someone is looking, it becomes version. So the truth exists only on an individual basis. There are several
versions, there are individual truths, but not this absolute truth. Even laws of physics are questionable.
Some time ago the world was square, it no longer is, the fastest thing that existed was the light, but it
seems that it no longer is. So the truth is something that we're always looking, but it is always impossible
to achieve. However, it lies within, it exists within each one of us. It is as if the person were experiencing
all that loving delight, but knowing that everything is an invention of the mind. The person wants to live it,
even though this may be all a bit fanciful and elusive.
Francisco: So illusion is the only truth. To use a word that you used when we talked and I think one of
the most beautiful of the Portuguese language, this is a very easy album. It has something to free
ourselves, free the other. It's not an album full of mazes; it is all clear, right?
Marisa: He talks about various subjects, but always in a way that flows. It is not problematic, it is well
detached. It is light, well solved, "Seja Feliz" (Be happy). “Bem Aqui" (right here), "Hoje Eu Não Saio,
Não" (Today I do not go out), "Ainda Bem" (Good), "Depois" (After), "Amar Alguém” (Loving Someone),
"Aquela Velha Canção" (That old song). I think there is good life permeating all these songs, or at least
have a will, a search of that good living, of enjoying. It's better like than not like, it is better to be happy
than be sad, it's better solving than living problems. Because if you fight life, you lose.
Francisco: Life likes who likes it ... How do you see, within your path, this new album?
Marisa: I've done several albums, I've had several partners. I see that I have more control over the
production means, I still have more experience and willingness to work. I have several ambitions ... I
think I made this album at a very cool moment because I was more at home, I had time, I had a
daughter. A very quiet, very pleasant moment, that I could live music, live the creation ... And read a lot,
live affection, live love and be nourished. This detachment that I give when I get a time without traveling
much is great because I see my life. You know when you're out of the storm, and you can look and have
a clearer view? So it was a very good moment for me and I think it shows a concern to enjoy life, listen to
my heart and find what's relevant to me in all the options that exist on this planet. Also because I think
we live a moment with so much information that people's minds do not realize it.
Francisco: Well, how do you deal with it, Marisa? Because, like you said, we live in a very busy time,
lots of information and people know that the history of thought and art is linked to idleness, emptiness,
laziness. How do you protect yourself from it, from this excess of information? Do you try to create a
vacuum in order to create?
Marisa: I try to open a space to create in everyday life ... An idea comes when you are driving, bathing,
playing guitar alone... You keep that collection of ideas there, and sometimes when I meet a partner,
there are things that I've started doing that we do together.
Francisco: Do you hear music a lot?
Marisa: It's funny because it has a specific dynamics... When I play less, I hear more, and vice versa.
When I record a lot, I listen less, because I'm in the studio all day and when I come home at night I do
not want more music. I want to be quiet, read a book. But music is always present. Now I have heard
quite a lot because I'm not in the studio all day, so I can be willing to listen, my ear is willing to listen …
Francisco: Always song or jazz, classical music...?
Marisa: I hear a lot of classical music. I really like piano. Chopin, Philip Glass, Debussy, a concert ...
and I listen to music of all time, like jazz, but I have also heard Melody Gardot, an American singer I find
very interesting, Pink Martini, Antony & The Johnsons, Regina Spektor, Adele. .. I'll hear different things.
I buy many songs in iTunes: Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, José Gonzales, Kings of
Convenience, Mané do Cavaco, Mina, Nat King Cole, Originais do Samba, Tom Jobim, Dona Ivone,
Clementina... For me, this is very nice facility today. Because I confess that I was too lazy to import all
my CDs into the computer. So today, if I want to hear something, I can buy on the spot. It's very
practical. So, you know, occasionally I feel like hearing something I did not hear for a long time, like
Simon and Garfunkel. I'll go there and buy, I can hear again, remember how it is...
Francisco: At one point, Clarice Lispector did interviews with people and was a bit sadistic because it
was impossible questions. I will now make a bit of Clarician sadism with you, okay? They are very simple
questions, but the most impossible ones. So, I wanted to make two or three for you. To start with, what is
music?
Marisa: For me it is a means of expression, communication, transmission of wisdom, philosophy,
thought, a way of uniting people. Music are waves full of emotions, poetry. It's interesting because the
matter of music is very abstract. It's not like poetry written on paper, sculpture of a matter, a painting
which is paint on a canvas, something that is palpable. At the same time it has a transforming power so
great ... At least in my life, it is totally transforming.
Francisco: the last question from Clarice: what is love?
Marisa: Love is a form of intelligence.
Francisco: Andy Warhol used to say that being pop is to like things…
Marisa: That's it! Liking is good.
Chat with Marcos Augusto Gonçalves
Marcos Augusto: You havenʼt released an album in five years. I want you to talk a bit about that,
because thatʼs a long time for an artist to go without producing new work. The last time you
released a CD, the Ipad didnʼt even exist yet.
Marisa: Seriously, technology is advancing quickly. In 2006, I released both discs and went on tour
for two years. After the tour, I came out with a live CD and a DVD that showed my daily life as a
contemporary singer, recorded from the time the album was released until the end of the tour.
Then came the movie “O Mistério Do Samba” (The Mystery of Samba), which I produced and was
very involved with, both in the editing and the release… and I had another daughter. This last year,
I was able to record with no rush, no pressure, and it was incorporated into my daily life. I used this
time to work on the album.
Marcos Augusto: Did you have an idea about more or less when you would make the album?
Marisa: I think that came naturally. The desire to record, register and release the songs to the
world isnʼt something that comes from outside. I didnʼt start the album with a set release date in
mind.
Marcos Augusto: Was there a time when you forgot about the album, when you had your
daughter?
Marisa: There was a time when I wasnʼt thinking about the album, but I donʼt stop writing, I donʼt
stop playing the guitar, or living the music. Itʼs a part of my life. Even if Iʼm not here in the studio
every day, recording, Iʼm always making music. And many of the songs are precisely from that
period when I was calmer, with more time on my hands, because I think that you have to have
silence to be able to fill it. When you have a very busy life, with lots of buzz, lots of sound checks,
lots of shows, you get to the hotel and you just want to rest, you donʼt want to keep playing music
and singing. Youʼre tired, you want to read a book and, I donʼt know, knit… something quiet. Iʼve
always needed this change of pace. The only time I mixed two jobs was when I recorded
“Barulhinho Bom”, the live album from the “Cor-De-Rosa E Carvão” tour. It wasnʼt such a good
experience and I think that when I work leisurely I have a better chance of making people enjoy
listening to me.
Marcos Augusto: Was it a good idea to keep up-to-date about what was going on, getting to know
the work of new singers?
Marisa: I saw a lot of artists experimenting with releases involving the public, on the Internet… not
just the artistic content.
Marcos Augusto: There was a time when this increased a lot, right?
Marisa: I think about five years ago...
Marcos Augusto: Because music production and promotion has been changing for some time,
and I donʼt know if itʼs accelerating now but now there is a definite possibility of working with these
new media. Youʼve started doing that now...
Marisa: Social networks have grown a lot in the last five years. The internet already existed and I
was already on it with my site about ten years ago, I think. The site has already had many designs,
many phases and many changes. I was in contact with the public through a forum on the site, but
this Facebook, Twitter and Orkut thing is more recent, since the end of the tour.
Marcos Augusto: It changes your relationship with the public, doesnʼt it?
Marisa: I think there have always been channels for this, but the stage was always the most direct,
because youʼre right there. My career was really built on this direct relationship with the public
because I always went on huge tours, even before the first album. I became known for my work on
stage and thatʼs a very direct, solid relationship.
Marcos Augusto: Is that what you enjoy doing the most?
Marisa: Itʼs very motivating.
Marcos Augusto: Does it barely feel like work?
Marisa: I donʼt think being on stage and everyone singing along with me is considered work. For
me, the work is packing, traveling, being away from home, catching a flight at 12 oʼclock to do a
show at 2. The work itself is all this effort just for making a bit of music. Itʼs the part thatʼs not
visible to the public eye.
Marcos Augusto: Could you do without the album?
Marisa: I think the album is a complementary tool and I think it plays the role of consolidating a
new repertoire, as well as having a much greater reach than the show. I only released an album
after two years as a singer. It started bothering me that I didnʼt have an album because I wanted to
be accessible. You canʼt be on tour everywhere all the time. Today, with the Internet, my music can
reach places that it would never reach before, not even with a physical CD. Iʼve done shows in a lot
of places, like Korea, Macedonia and Macau, for large audiences, and people knew my music. If it
wasnʼt for recorded music, I certainly wouldnʼt be there.
Marcos Augusto: The album is more a concept than an actual physical disc...
Marisa: Itʼs more permanent. The disc will live on even after Iʼm gone. On the other hand, I think
that direct contact with the public is the best way to build a relationship. Just like our conversation
here makes our relationship much stronger than if you were just listening to my music and I were
just reading your articles. Itʼs a real, tangible thing, understand?
Marcos Augusto: Can I make a question about the album itself? Why wasnʼt there any samba this
time?
Marisa: Youʼre the first person to ask me this. Iʼm a carioca [person from Rio de Janeiro], and
samba is like an intimate language for me, but maybe this happened because the last album was
exclusively samba. But there will always be room for them at concerts.
Marcos Augusto: The repertoire features many songs together with Arnaldo Antunes and
Carlinhos Brown. Why hasnʼt there been a Tribalistas show?
Marisa: The goal of the Tribalistas wasnʼt to become a band. Each one of us already had our own
history and career.
Marcos Augusto: The album has some songs that sound like the Tribalistas...
Marisa: Arnaldo, Carlinhos and I already formed a core since ten years ago and we continue
together until today. Weʼre friends and partners, and we admire each other. When we started the
Tribalistas project, we really only wanted to make the album. My son was born around the time the
CD was released and the effect of the music was so strong that we had to do, I donʼt know, about
200 shows. I wasnʼt able to go on tour with my little baby. The project was already a success in
Brazil and around the world: in Italy, Portugal, Spain... Then, when my son was a little bigger,
Arnaldo and Brown were already deeply involved their new work and that was it. I donʼt discount
the possibility of us getting together and doing something special in the future. But if we only did
one or two shows that would never be enough. Tribalistas canʼt be something small, understand?
Marcos Augusto: Does this album mean something to you, in terms of expectations, because I
imagine that after such a long time without releasing an album, you become nervous. Are you
comfortable with the album? Do you think your relationship with the press will be complicated or
not?
Marisa: I canʼt control what people will think, so if Iʼm happy and complete, thatʼs already enough. I
know that I devoted myself and did my best... I canʼt be better than my best. I think the people will
like it, but I donʼt know how it will be received by the press.
Marcos Augusto: In the course of time, and with confirmation that your work was great, you were
almost in the position of some great singers when you started. So now youʼre a Gal, a Bethânia, an
Elis… youʼre a model for new singers, not just as an artist, but as a successful person. And this
actually creates almost unattainable expectations. Do you feel that your public is changing, is
expanding?
Marisa: My music has always been this popular. Even before releasing my first album, the lines for
my concert circled around the block at MASP. My language has always been direct, clear, simple.
My first album featured "Bem Que Se Quis", "Xote Das Meninas", "Chocolate". My second one had
"Beija Eu", "Eu Sei", "Ainda Lembro". Of course thereʼs also more sophisticated poetry, like in
"Diariamente", "Bem Leve" or "Maria De Verdade". I like that too. Many of the artists I like are
direct, such as Roberto Carlos, Tim Maia, Jorge Bem, Cole Porter and the Beatles. I think being
simple is a virtue. You can address deep issues by being simple People say Iʼm cult, but I never
intended to be cult, in the sense of making music for just a few people. Sometimes I think my
music is confused with my reserved attitude. And this creates a paradox.
Marcos Augusto: Maybe because you are a person who, say, are not from a popular area... Marisa: My form of expression is very natural to me and I think it's very cool that I can be as
popular without necessarily subjecting me to all the things you expect from a popular artist. Several
moments in my career are very much out of the curve. For example, the first disc is a live, and
Tribal, even without an interview and a tour, sold three million copies. It is one of the most popular
projects I have ever attended and it was also the one that arrived far away from any exposure. Marcos Augusto: And why do you think this happens? Marisa: Because the power of music. I think I make the effort to be clear, as I am doing here
talking to you, it helps a lot too. I like the word well spoken and, as the voice is the only instrument
that articulates words, I like that they to be understood. I like to leverage the sung word and it helps
me to communicate with people through the songs. I like more people that think and speak well
than for people who sing well. I like people who do understand.
Marcos Augusto: Because in a way that is popular music, right? Marisa: I do the same thing as you. People work with communication. Don't You want your book to
be read, that everyone travels with that? That people understand and surrender to that? So, if you
will write one thing that is for half a dozen, you do not need to publish, okay great. I also could not
make music and recording, but I want to communicate with people. This is the purpose of making a
career of making music publicly. Marcos Augusto: You have the ability to do so. It is not enough with wanting, that's something a
bit inexplicable. We know people of talent, finally arriving at a point and not going further. Do not
really know why. Marisa: It's because there are many different talents. This is not the only talent required. There is,
of course, musical talent, the talent to relate to people with whom we work, to learn to articulate.
Anyway, all is communication. Marcos Augusto: Yeah, this is a personal thing, a charisma, I do know what... Marisa: That I do not know, it has no explanation. It is much more subjective. Marcos Augusto: And you think you work too hard, right? Marisa: No, I do not think I work too hard, but I'm very productive. Today I am a mother of a family,
so I have more time and willingness to things that are valuable to me. This is not a question of my
own, but of many women entered the labor market. Be the dentist, lawyer, secretary, waitress ... I
want to have time for my family and at the same time, of course, continue to have space for my
profession. Since I had children I try to strike a balance. I do not want to spend two months on the
road, three times a year. Marcos Augusto: You are now a more mature person than you was before, and now you feel that
maturity, as I imagine that others will too. You end up in some way, learning to save some things,
do not wear so much. The football people says that the most veteran player of the field knows the
shortcuts, the cliché criticism. The guy has not run anymore, but he knows the shortcuts ... Marisa: They talk a lot, for example, that when I started I was more visceral. I make this analogy
with the baby coming into the world, you scream and over time you learn to speak. Today, my
interpretation is much more colloquial, as a conversation here, and I think this is a consequence of
maturity. Marcos Augusto: Your first CD has virtuoso stuff, singing, so... Marisa: Yeah, I was coming into the world, I was nineteen. But I think over time I learned to speak
and to put the tone in conversation. The other day I saw someone saying that if he knew that
maturity was so good, it had accelerated to arrive soon. I agree. I think this whole album, from the
title, reflects my thinking a lot about living well, which is to enjoy life more. You have freedom, you
have time, make choices, listen to your heart, learn to be where you feel comfortable. This
individual and nontransferable pursuit of happiness ... These are questions that maturity brings.
"Seja Feliz", "Hoje Eu Não Saio Não", "O Que Se Quer", "O Que Você Quer Saber De Verdade"
and "Amar Só Pode Fazer Bem", for example, talk about that. I guess I did not think about it before
making the disc, but then, looking at it, one notes the presence of this desire to live well. I do not
know if you live it too, but emergencies are different. Marcos Augusto: And fears, increase with maturity? Marisa: The fears do not increase, they change, right? After you have kids, you're very
responsible... Marcos Augusto: Your eldest son is at what age? Marisa: My oldest son is eight and my youngest daughter will be three. You have a huge
responsibility with those beings that you put in the world. You want to enjoy them and prepare
them the best possible way to adulthood. I was always very careful. I always wanted to preserve, I
never had tendency destructive sense and always had a sense of my weakness. Marcos Augusto: The way you defend... Marisa: preserve me from ...Never had that time to use drugs and drink too much. I've always lived
things in a very smooth way. Over time, fears increases: fear of getting sick, getting hurt, dying ...
fears that I think everyone has. I think that is not fear of death itself, is fear of the process. Marcos Augusto: Gil has a beautiful song, I do not know if you know. Jose Miguel Wisnik called
attention to it in a way he does about the song. The song is called "I'm not afraid of death" and it
says, "I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid to die," which are two different things. Marisa: Yeah. Marcos Augusto: But this idea of finitude, in short, is also an aspect of maturity. In youth, we do
not have much of that. Marisa: We'll leave it to think ahead. You do not feel the years have passed in the same way when
you have no son. You see that eight year old son and see time is on your face ... Motherhood, for
me at least, clearly divided my life between before and after. Marcos Augusto: And you will face a large period of touring now or you're thinking it'll be a
different disk? Marisa: I want to throw the disc first and then stop to think about it. Marcos Augusto: I mean, you want to adjust the rate to its current phase. Good for you that can
do this. Marisa: Good.I'm glad I started early, I work my ass off like mad up to 35 years and went ahead.
Maybe that answers the five years between a disk and another, it may say a little about my
priorities. My career is part of my life, but it is not my life. My goal in life is to be happy and career
is part of it. Marcos Augusto: What else? Marisa: When you talked about the press, I do not know how it will be, but I plan to attend. The last
time we met, we talked about that relationship on culture and the press about how the release until,
like, five, eight years ago. You have to meet everyone on equal terms, but it is very difficult. The
press is very limited in time to hear and appreciate the work, to prepare for an interview. The guy
basically gets hard at night and the next morning, at nine must be in writing to deliver critical to
lunch, but the other newspaper sticks.
Marcos Augusto: The guy is trained to do so.I think the critical urgency, the urgency you have an
opinion about a work, a tricky thing. I take long to form an opinion. Sometimes I hear an album for
the first time and think: "This is boring," but after listening more often I change my opinion. Marisa: It's very difficult for the critic to have to write something down so quickly and to sign it. Marcos Augusto: Exact.Thus, you will generate an industrial process, say, that should be
reviewed by all. Here, everyone is anxious, distressed. These are the opinions given in haste, that
do not hold, and then nobody wants to take the plunge. She is a product that serves, but at the
same time is a product competing in the market. Marisa: And this time everyone loses: the critic, the newspaper reader and artist. Marcos Augusto: But how - with a little thinking - this amplification, spraying and decentralization
process of the media, somehow relativizes the role of the music industry? You also began in that
model. The artist was hired by the powerful label and launched his songs. What the Folha, Veja,
Estadão and O Globo spoke about was a critical business. My impression is that today it is not as
important, nor on one side or the other... Marisa: So why not to sell more disks. It is accessible to anyone who will listen, without buying. Marcos Augusto: But the way the media and the artist operate is as if they were still in that old
model. Marisa: In the last release that I did, we recorded all the interviews and edited them on a DVD. I
had a scene of journalists asking the same thing and I answered the same thing.So it's not that I
was criticizing the press, I was stripping the relationship from my side too. Now the Internet allows
me to provide equal conditions for everyone, so I will try a new experience. I hope it's good for
everybody: for the press, for me and the public. After that first time, I think the rush of the hole is
empty. Then I can slowly get back to giving interviews without all this agony. I do not know how
that will be the reaction, but I think Chico Buarque did an experimented that. I think it was very
positive. I do not know how it goes with me, but I hope it works. Marcos Augusto: Artists have done it. The way people are taking contact with the disc it's
another. The paper theoretically has a function there to guide, to prioritize some way to inform
yourself. Now, the relationship of media culture with cultural producers and artists has changed.
The terms of culture change. They are also cultural products, have your style. There was the
transformation of journalism in to the stars also. Attitudes are almost caricatures, sometimes by the
press in order to get spillover effects for comment. Sometimes a critic destroys a person with the
clear objective of promoting yourself. Marisa: Type Pedro de Lara (laughs), but I think it is dangerous for the critic who makes it.It's not
how you build a career with credibility, the hole is much lower. Marcos Augusto: Some media say that you have this thing about being the "cantorazona," the
marketer to have a company that cares about its success all the time... Marisa: Almost Lady Gaga (laughs). Marcos Augusto: Before Lady Gaga (laughs). It is common to say that Marisa and marketers... Marisa: I They always say that. Before I even had my first disc, they said it was a marketing
strategy of my record company. And I had no label! It is a simplistic and erroneous reading of
success. Marcos Augusto: This criticism is in quotes, as supposed, a person who is worrying about his
work in an obsessive way. If not obsessive, appropriate... Marisa: I think appropriate. No obsession because it's not something that is part of my life... Marcos Augusto: From a careful way, I mean, capricious... Marisa: Careful. I think mine is a feature to be careful. Marcos Augusto: An ability to have a vision of their own work... Marisa: And be careful, right? Normal, I do not think anything else, I think you do it too in your
work. Marcos Augusto: Worse than you. Marisa: Oh, marketer! (Laughs). I think it's okay, you know? Marketers is to be my criticism, I think
it's almost a compliment. I will not give an account to explain and dispel all the misunderstandings
of the world. There is no time, you don't have. I try to do my best, to be happy with what I'm doing.
Those who like it, great. Who does not like it, friendship remains the same and let's go. Then
comes another. It took a lot of whack. Obviously I do not like, especially when the reason has
nothing to do with the quality of the work itself. But it's part, right?
Marcos Augusto: Does, and, on the other hand, you've led many compliments ... Marisa: And I take. I entered the street and get a lot. Marcos Augusto: Because you are a successful artist, people like you. Maybe that's why people
think that to whack at you is not so cruel, because, after all, "she is so well there ... this is for her
to not be thinking too much. " It is natural too, as an artist reaches a point of success and will
remain, there is an expectation of renewal. I think even unconsciously media live this long, right?
The novelty is a crucial thing for the press... Marisa: For the press, the news is a commodity that loses its full value as no longer a novelty. Marcos Augusto: Exactly. I speak of these mechanisms because they are real. It exists not as an
intentional thing that people want to destroy, you or whoever, and they has a new crop of singers
coming ... Marisa: Oh, I have lived through one of these three crops (laughs). Chat with Jéferson Güntzel
Jéferson: Marisa, I think itʼs impossible not to think in tour when you release a new album. Have you
already thought about the tour that is coming up, how is it gonna be? Is it going to be like the other one
at all?
Marisa: Yeah, I already got some ideas for the upcoming gig; how Iʼm going to transpose the sonority of
this album to the stage, and also in what I have already done in other gigs. But Iʼm deeply involved in the
release of the album, in this moment, so Iʼll try to think of the gig a little later. We donʼt have anything
schedule so far.
Jéferson: And now, on the eve of releasing the album, does the opinion of people, their critique, worries
you, or do you get more concerned with the sales of the album?
Marisa: I get curious to know whether the songs will connect in a cool way with people, if they will reach
out to them… Songs are borne on a very personal level, sometimes with one or more writing partners. It
involved us more and more as you record the songs; you produce the album and pass through all the
phases of production until the album finally goes public. The first single was released more than a month
ago, and Iʼm already able to get some feedback through the internet, watching videos of people who sent
videos of themselves playing the song. The song is getting a life of its own, and that goes much beyond
of anything Iʼm able to do for it. And of course, as much as I try and do my best, Iʼm never going to be
able to please everyone, and have a conclusive notion of what the public expects from me. That only
reinforces the need to know what I want, to be whole, with the albumʼs ideals, the lyrics… So, maybe
thatʼs may become part of peopleʼs lives, as did so many other cool songs of other artists, that became
part of my own life.
Jéferson: Vanuza, one of your fans, said the social networks are becoming more and more means of
interaction, advertising, for several projects and companies, etc.. So, they have become, these days,
almost fundamental. Why did it take you so long to join this kind of channel? What are your expectations
for this new album?
Marisa: Well, Iʼd like to thank Vanuza, for her dedication, and for having dropped this question. Iʼve
always had my website, which evolved a lot in the last ten years. I, personally, never had Facebook,
Orkut or Twitter. I still use the old email and phone, so I didnʼt miss more ways to communicate on a
personal level. Today, I log in Facebook and see all the comments of people, I “like” a few things, and
follow up on some things on Twitter. Itʼs very interesting the speed, the waves of answers, and how the
public gives its opinion. All of that is fascinating, but, at the same time, there are still people who havenʼt
joined the social networks, the world that is not virtual, a world of people still care for looking in the eye,
who like to meet and talk.
Jéferson: How does it work, the process of choosing the songs for the album? Is it a choice totally of
you own, or do you ask for your friendsʼ input? Is there any influence from the Record Company??This
question was sent by Manoela Pereira.
Marisa: Manoela, thanks for your question. It is a choice of my own, since Iʼm the one who will have to
relate to the song for by entire life. Iʼm the one who will have to sing it, talk about is… These are songs
and subjects I care for, and I go on singing to my friends closes to my home. The Record Company
doesnʼt take part in this process. Of course there is a group of people to whom I have an affective bond,
who indirectly take part in all this, serving as a reference to me.
Jéferson: Tatiane de Vasconcellos, would like to know if still stands, this desire you revealed some time
ago, of singing with an orchestra.
Marisa: Hi there, Tatiane, thank you for your question. Singing with an orchestra is a dream to me.
Actually, there is a project for a serious of outdoor shows, all free, with a symphonic orchestra, which
would go to some cities in Brazil. That is project unrelated to the next tour. Unfortunately, a project such
as this, free and for large audiences, in totally unfeasible without a public/private partnership. It was
approved by the Rounaet Act, but we were not able to raise the funds this far. Maybe one day?
Jéferson: On this album, is there anyone singing along with you in any tracks?
Marisa: Thereʼs a track of me and Rodrigo Amarante, called "O Que Se Quer" [What we want], where
he sings with me. We wrote this song during a recording session, and I thought it had everything to do
with the album.
Jéferson: The fans are wondering if you have used you interpreter side, if you sang songs of any other
artists. In the album you sing a song by Jorge Ben Jor. How did you come up with this choice?
Marisa: This song is called “Descalço No Parque” [Barefoot in the Park], “Ben É Samba Bom” [Ben in
Good Samba], from 1964. The song has such a beautiful arrangement in the original, and I had already
sung it just with a guitar, at home and during tours. Itʼs a ¾ song, that had been in my life for quite some
time, even performing in some gigs. I called over Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and showed him my baseline.
He made a beautiful string arrangement, totally different and surprising to who is familiar with the original
version of Jorge Ben. Miguel is a 27 year-old arranger who plays the violin, the cello, and viola. He also
writes to other instruments, but everything he writes to strings, he records himself. He is young, very
serious, and I enjoyed a lot working with him.
Jéferson: One of the songs I like best, was "O Que Você Quer Saber De Verdade" [What you really
wanna know]. How was it… writing this song?
Marisa: This song I wrote some time ago, with Arnaldo and Brown. Arnaldo ended up recording it in one
of his albums, the “Qualquer”, from 2009, but I always thought about recording it. This song and
"Verdade, uma ilusão" [Truth, an illusion] that had been recorded by Brown, both ours are very
emblematic of the concept of the album.
Jéferson: What about this one, “Lencinho Querido” [Dear Little Scarf]? Youʼve already performed it in a
gig before, havenʼt you?
Marisa: I sang it in the inauguration of a theater in São Paulo, to which I was invited to participate. It was
the “Cafe de los Maestros”, with the participation of me and Gustavo Santaolalla. The “Cafe de los
Maestros” is an Argentinian group, very tradition in tango, an old-school tango group. Then, I started to
research what in the Brazilian universe would fit this language of theirs. Then I remembered of the
tangos recorded in Brazil in the 40ies and 50ies. At this time, Argentinian and Latin music was much
closer to Brazilian, and there were many versions in Portuguese. Some had been recorded by Francisco
Alves, Dalva de Oliveira, Orlando Silva... I found to tangos that Dalva recorded, and that had been hits in
her voice "Fumando Espero” [Smoking I wait] and the other "Lencinho Querido" [Dear Little Scarf]. So, I
recorded here at home, just be and Dadi. We made a baseline with guitars and a few percussion to see
the tone and beat, and send it as reference. The arranger Gustavo Mozzi (of Café de los Maestros)
wrote an arrangement and they rehearsed it on top of that baseline. They sent bank to me the
arrangement of their rehearsal and it was beautiful. When I met Gustavo Santolalla, in Los Angeles, I
told him I wanted this song to be in the new record. Then, we went back there, talked to Gustavo Mozzi,
and he had the multitrack of the rehearsal. He sent us the session, we mixed it, and thatʼs the version on
the album.
Jéferson: "Bem Aqui" [Right Here} is a beautiful song. I loved it. How did this choice happen?
Marisa: "Bem Aqui" [Right Here] is a song of Dadi and Arnaldo that Dadi recorded in his solo album,
with the same name, which was only released in Japan. I enjoyed playing it at home. It is quite reflexive,
talks about being right where you are, about acceptance. The song is beautiful.
Jéferson: I also though was great “Aquela Velha Canção” [That Old Song], that is yours and Brownʼs.
Tell me more about the track, because I think itʼs very cool that you say “Ah, vou te mandar para o
inferno” [Oh, Iʼll tell you to go to hell”, something we never heard you say in a song. I was rather
surprised….
Marisa: That song is mine. I and Brown wrote the lyrics together. Usually, whenever I write a song, there
are a few words that come naturally with the melody. It talks about someone who surrenders to love:
“confesso que fiquei zangada, fiquei chateada, mas agora passou, esqueci, não vou te mandar para o
inferno, porque não quero e porque fica muito longe daqui” [I confess I was angry, I was upset, but now
itʼs over, Iʼll not tell you to go to hell, because I donʼt want it, and itʼs too far away from here]. Itʼs got
somewhat of a Brazilian folk edge, with steel guitars. It one of the ones I recorded with the basic trio of
Nação Zumbi, in São Paulo. Later it received a string arrangement made by Greg Cohen, in Nova York.
Greg is the same guy who wrote the arrangements to "Maria De Verdade", “Magamalabares", "Alta
Noite"...
Jéferson: “O Que Você Quer Saber Da Verdade” [What do you really wanna know}, reminded me a lot
of “Vilarejo” [Small Village], you know?
Marisa: Itʼs also a ¾, as many others: "Beija Eu" [Kiss me], "Velha Infância” [Old Childhood], "Chuva No
Brejo" [Rain in the Swamp] ... ¾ songs give a feeling of continuity. The statement itself, though, is very
different from “Vilarejo”, but musically they belong to the same family.
Jéferson: "Era Óbvio" [It was Obvious], tell me some about this song…
Marisa: I and Arnaldo wrote it on a vacation trip, where we wrote a lot. Two of the ones we wrote in this
trip are in the album. The other is “Seja Feliz” [Be Happy]. But “Era Óbvio” talks about a relationship that
had no closure keeps existing, but only in the world of possibilities. And “Seja Feliz” is just pure
happiness in enjoying life: “tão longa estrada, tão curta a vida, curta a vida” [So long the road, so short
life, enjoy life].
Jéferson: Another one I though was great is “Amar Alguém” [Love Somebody] that talks about loving
two people...
Marisa: "Amar alguém só pode fazer bem" [Love somebody can only make you good]... It talks about
the fact that you donʼt choose who youʼll love, if love canʼt be explained, if love canʼt be contained, why
should it suffer over it? "Amar Alguém" talks a bit about the love not so much idealized, but about how
we actually experience it, because it is rather unexpected, very inexplicable and quite surprising. It was
written on a poem of Arnaldo, from the book “N.D.A.”, Dadi started to write melodies for, and we ended it
together.
Jéferson: And “Depois” [After]? How was it? You wrote it with Carlinhos and Arnaldo, right?
Marisa: Yeah, this one too. The song and the melody are mine, and in the lyrics we talk about the end of
a romance in a very progressive way… evolved, unattached, cool... The person wants the other to be
happy because there is nothing more loving than wishing for that. Ends well, you know? With feelings,
but without hard feelings…
Jéferson: “Hoje Eu Não Saio Não” [No way Iʼm going out today] has kind of a more… Brazilian
Northeastern edge…
Marisa: This one is Arnaldoʼs, Marcelo Jeneciʼs , and Chico Salemʼs and Betãoʼs...
Jéferson: They didnʼt record it?
Marisa: They didnʼt. I think they must have written it in a cheerful moment. They must have been having
a lot of fun, laughing a lot while writing it. Itʼs great because is a very cheerful song. It talks about
someone whoʼs stuck at home and doesnʼt want to hang out. He wants to stay home, heʼs not
depressed, sad, blue. “Não troco meu sofá por nada, neném” [Iʼll not trade my couch for anything, baby].
He might even have company, but thereʼs nothing better for him than being home at that time.
Jéferson: In your previous album, you dedicated “Rio” to your son. Have you written any of these songs
thinking of someone, or do you create a character, for… perhaps, imagining the situation?
Marisa: I think is more of a movie-like situation, something more of imagining a situation. Thatʼs funny,
because when you write a song, people always want to connect it to something youʼre going through. Itʼs
much more about a collection of situations you lived, from experiences within you, which you are
eventually able to access. I donʼt have to be living a breakup to write about breaking up.