Carmen Souza was born in Lisbon (81) within a Christian family of Cape Verdeans. Very early she experienced the “Sodade” feeling of missing someone with the long absence of her father due to his work at sea. She grew up in a mixed language environment of Creole, the Cape Verde dialect her parents spoke at home, and Portuguese, always surrounded by the Cape Verdean way of life.
This short interview with Carmen was made by promoter of Open Jazz Festival (July 16.-17. 2015 in Slovakia, Nové Mesto nad Váhom), where Carmen is heading to perform.
Hi Carmen, what were your first beginnings with music?
I started doing music professionally in 2001, when I met Theo Pascal and we started working together, he taught me how to play the guitar and piano and how to develop compositions.
In your music is to feel a great spiritual dimension of who or what inspires most to you when creating songs?
We always look for our spirituality, in our lives, the meaning of being musicians and artists is not only being a good professional or performer but also communicate through the music and songs our philosophy and spirituality, like everything in the world you can communicate empty words or you communicate words with meaning. We try to compose our music or performance with a good portion of meaning ( can be spirituality, philosophy or concept of life).
In 2003 she began to work with Theo, what is your collaboration in the creation of music and songs?
We do all together in terms of creative part, lyrics, melodies, rhythms, arrangements etc, we prepare also not just the music for the cd but the concert itself together, dividing all the good stuff that the music can bring, and also the adventure of it.
What is for you the most important in your creation, and how important is cooperation with the audience during the concert?
The freedom is the most important part. The cooperation and exchange between the artist (us) and the audience is one of the main goals...since we are a kind of artists that believe that music has a huge percentage of the importance of communication, sometimes by words, sometimes by sounds. And that is what we do with Epistola, a musical letter that is open to everyone.
Will your appearance at the festival Openjazzfest first visit to Slovakia? Do you know any musicians from Slovakia?
It is our first time in Slovakia, we are very looking forward and curious to get to know more about the country. We came across some Slovakian bands is a lot of festivals but we haven't had the chance to know better. We would love to know more of Slovakian music, who knows in the future we can develop something with slovakian musicians, we never know.
What you together with Theo offer visitors the festival?
We are offering our authentic music, with a concert full of different moments, more happy, more intimate, more freedom, but always with a good spirit a bringing a warm side of life.
Looking forward to be on Stage in Slovakia…
Tibor Zelenay