Christy Almeida sings what enchants her from the world, what wonders her, because everything around is part of what she calls creation. It is a call that channels through her songs that refer to love, to hate, to joy and sorrow, in short to life.
Your music shows influences of the jazz, salsa and folk. How do you define yourself as an artist?
Christy Almeida: I am a world folk artist. The stories are from the world. It is jazz, it is folks, has elements of classical, of pop, a tiny of hip hop, tango and hopefully fado. I traveled all over the world. I've listen to all types of music, all does different genres are in my heart. So, when I play, or write, or sing hopefully all my travel around the world had an influence in my sound.
Your first record, Pure, was everything you dream of?
CA: My very first work was with my salsa band, "llanita" and the album was sung in both English and Spanish. Pure blue green from Decca was a big mix, because of the musicians I invited to play in it, were from all over the world. Again it was world folk. I wrote it in a cottage, it took me three month and then we record it in twelve days. I had amazing people; there were musicians from Trinidad, India, England and also American.
You considered yourself like a gipsy?
CA: I think so.
Besides your traveling, what makes you write songs in a cottage and in such a short time?
CA: It is hard to explain, because it is like a yearning, it is a very painful yearning. I do not know if I can explain it. It is something inside me that doesn't let me be. You can live a life, have a boyfriend, get married, have children and suddenly the yearning comes and you said: Sorry I have to go and do this. It grows, it bubbles, and it bubbles and if you don't something with it, it hurts you. The best way to describe it is: (I am pretty sure all humans are like this) there are some people in this earth who are channels for creativity and if you think that creation is all around us, then creativity is the essence of that creation. Find its way thru humans. I am a channel. When it happens, that is all I have to do, that is my job as a human. Everyone has its own job. I do not know what life is about, don't know why we are here, but mine in this life is to create and when I don´t it hurts me. That is when inspiration happens and panic attacks. When I'm really creative I flourish, I shine and when I'm not, I'm dark. And if you listen to that creativity it needs to come thru, that yearning. I also paint, I do not what it is, but I have to it. For a month I can paint, what it is difficult in terms of money, but I do it for a reason and latter I'll find out why. I don't know where it goes, there is an energy that has to be release and if you don't release it is not healthy. Someone can come along and said: Hey, I really like what you paint it here, but maybe we can take just a little bit there and expand it and I can use it for this show in a theater.
When you have that yearning you use it for other musicians? Or you just compose for you?
CA: For the moment I compose for myself, but what it happens is that there are other people that want me to compose for them. Actually, it makes feel that it will help me in life, because as a performer, a writer and female at a point I will like to have children, you can't do both forever without suffering. So, it will be nice to write to other people, because then I can have a life where I can grow flowers, compose and in the morning I can give them to some beautiful lady who will sing them somewhere else. I just write, whatever the guitar gives me and they seem to find their own lives. Once you write a song it goes somewhere. People will say: I liked your song. You recorded it and they take it away and I'll give them to someone else.
So, as a young songwriter, a performer in this technological world, where people copy everything you don't feel a bit hungry?
CA: No, because like I said before I don't believe it is mine. It is not my music, doesn't belong to me, belongs to creation and there for I can't own it. I 'm quite happy given my music away, you allow the gates to open. I try to charge my albums because that pays my band, but if people want to take my music, I don't call it stilling. I know that creativity, creation, the universe always puts a roof in my head, food on my table and a dress on my body. I know that if I do what I do, I'll be invited for holidays somewhere and always get invited to go someplace in the year. Human really worry about money, it is not ours. It is something that we channel from someone else.
What you are saying is that you can live from your music by given it away?
CA: Yes. I was invite here to the Madeira film festival. I am in very lovely hotel, my food is paid and that is from my music, even I give it away for free to people. If you really worry about who has your stuff, like you owned me 20 pounds, you are focusing on lack, you do not have very much. I believe it is ok.
So, what you know already about Portuguese music?
CA: I am going to listening fado. My father listens a lot of world music and also fado.
Is this trip to Madeira going to influence you to write music?
CA: Yes, definitely.
Are you recording a new album?
CA: Yes, I just recorded a solo album, me and a guitar. It is really nice, very gently. And then I am recording this thing called crazy fm, which is just like as pretend radio podcast, it is very silly. From beginning to end is very, very silly in a good way.
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