Fortunately, in Uruguay the pandemic has not been as dramatic as in other countries, but it still had an impact on musicians because there were no live performances. For me, this was an opportunity to play a lot to myself and improve my piano skills. Although some people consider it a lost year, I feel that we recovered many things we had lost, such as the values of empathy and solidarity.
Crises are always an opportunity to grow stronger!
For example during the pandemic, I’ve held virtual meetings with musicians and poets from different parts of Uruguay and Latin America. I’m also a member of MYDMUS (Music and Dissidences of Uruguayan Music) which is a self-convened collective that aims to improve the working conditions and visibility of female and dissidence musicians in Uruguay.
I was born in Buenos Aires Argentina and lived there for 23 years, before moving to Uruguay. My parents used to sing in a choir, and my childhood home was always full of music. My parents always played music on the record player. They listened to a mix of Argentinian folk songs, tango, Cuban music, The Beatles, and classical music. Family friends used to come to play the guitar and sing folk and popular songs with us. As a child, I learnt the flute and sang in my school choir but now I sing Capella or accompany myself on the piano, ukulele, guitar or drums. I initially worked as an interpreter, but then I came to feel that I needed to have my own voice and express the music inside myself. When I arrived in Uruguay, I started my professional musical career and I feel very lucky to perform my music with excellent musicians from whom I’ve learnt so much. Now I feel that music is my life’s calling.
My song, No Lo Ves (Don’t You See It), is about all the beautiful things that are part of all our lives. Sometimes we don't notice them because we are so caught up in the pursuit of trivial and material matters. This causes us to forget that we contain one essence and then we distance ourselves from those around us.
'No Lo Ves' describes how important it is to become one unified voice. I hope to remind my listeners to support one another regardless of our differences. In my song, this concept is condensed in the phrase “todos en el mismo andén” which means "everyone on the same train platform”. I think solidarity, together with love, are the most important values for humanity.
We must recognize others as part of the same human web. Everyone is connected to each other and that is one of the most wonderful of life’s miracles.
I like to use my intuition as much as possible when I’m writing music. Most of the time songs emerge from a melody in my head, and then I write down the words and go to the piano and finish the song. I write down those raw ideas in one of my many notebooks and return to them in the future. Sometimes I will finish a song in a few hours or days, and sometimes I write down the ideas and come back to them years later, because I don't like to force the creative process. There are many artists from different backgrounds that are inspirational to me, including Ella Fitzgerald, Erik Satie, the Columbian singer Marta Gómez and the Brazilian singer and guitarist Chico Buarque. Through these influences and my upbringing I have come to explore a variety of styles throughout my career such as jazz, folk music and Candombe, a unique style of music and dance that originated among liberated African slaves in Uruguay.
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