Bengal's Corner

Hello, everyone!

I'm finally bringing you one of the most exciting interviews I did recently. This time it's with Brazilian artist Aline de Lima, that recently released her second album Açaí. It's a great work I've been enjoying since last April and it was produced by her and the japanese soundartist Jun Miyake.

Aline de LIma with her soft voice, great rhythm and poetic lyrics, exhibit her talent through out Europe having many shows sold out. Although in Brazil the audience is still knew to her work, she is known to the Bossa community for a while. Last February, she performed in the Festival Montréal en Lumière in Quebec showing some of her new tunes.

The starting point in music for her was during her first trips to Europe and since then never she stopped. Although living in Europe for years and having Paris as her latest home, she carries her Brazilian origins in her heart and her music bringing new rhythms and influences to the international market.

During a quick break in her agenda, we had the opportunity to talk about her career and her new work...

Bengal: Thanks, Aline, for taking the time for this interview. We all at Bengal's Corner appreciate it. How are you today?

Aline de Lima: Thank you too for your interest. Today I’m fine, with some nice projects for my new album.

Bengal: Can you tell us a bit about your story, how did you go from Brazil to France?

Aline: In fact, I’m from the North of Brazil. When I was 18 years old, I had a proposition to go to Europe to learn graphics design in Stockholm. There, I met some people who made me sing in three different bands: Brazilian music, reggae and techno electronic music. But I left all of this to visit Paris and then I met jazz musicians there and I started ask myself why I was meeting a lot of musicians. I decided to stay in Paris and learn music with these guys, playing a lot of Brazilian standards, specially Bossa Nova, and in a later moment, my own compositions. And they liked my songs a lot. So, it was the very beginning of my musical story. I’ve been learning music with musicians and by myself, listening to a lot of CDs, reading a lot of music and artists, playing guitar and singing different kind of music.

Bengal: Great part of your work is Brazilian jazz, Bossa Nova and samba. How is the reception of the Brazilian music in France? And for that matter, other places around the planet, since you had the opportunity to perform practically everywhere.

Aline: Brazilian people are open, they are crazy about music, and when they listen to me they are very surprised and very positive about my career. They say, as French people say, I’ll be a big artist. I like these encouragements because I’ve just started my career, I’ve a lot of things to learn, to try, to see, I take some time because this career is a life project, it’s a very big and important thing for me.

Bengal: You sing in your native language, Portuguese. Is there a language barrier that you notice in Europe or other continents? Differences among audience reactions?

Aline: I think the language is just a support where you put your music and feelings. I like to scat in my way, and saying things without significations, just notes to make the audience sing and feel free to feel the Brazilian beat and good vibes. Often I try to explain the lyrics, but it is not so easy in poetry. But the reactions are good, open, positive.

Bengal: You lived in different places around the world. Which was the most exotic place you’ve been? And the most remarkable moment for you as a singer?

Aline: The most “exotic” for me was Stockholm. This place is the opposite of my reality in the north of Brazil. And my most remarkable moment as a sing, I think that it’ll be when I sing in Brazil. It’s my dream to sing in Brazil, for my family, friends…

Bengal: Although you are not singing in Brazil, you are in contact and worked with many Brazilian musicians. Is there someone you consider an idol, that was a great incentive for you to pursue music?

Aline: My idols are João Gilberto and Elis Regina.

Bengal: How your business partnership started with Vinícius Cantuária that generated this beautiful debut album that is Arrebol?

Aline: I started in 2004, we met in April of that year.

Bengal: You like to mix Brazilian styles. Which other artists you have interacted with in the past or at the present moment?

Aline: Vinícius Cantuária, and recently with the Japanese musician and arranger, Jun Miyake, with who I co-produced my second album.

Bengal: Did you expect the reception this work had? All the success and crowded agenda of shows, the tours, etc?

Aline: Yes, I expected it because we worked a lot to it. But nothing is won, I manager my career and it’s very hard at the moment to make concerts in France, for example. People here know my work, they like it, but the agents are very scared about the economic crisis in the Culture and they don’t want to take risks. My music here is a kind of luxury…

Bengal: And you just released your second album. What can you tell us about this new work? How can you compare both?

Aline: This new album was a way for me to learn new things about production, management, and of course, music. I composed - music and lyrics - 10 songs and arranged some of them, I worked a lot with my musicians and Jun Miyake, the co-producer, but also with the art director of my label, Naïve. For the first album, I just composed the songs and spent my time learning, observing how to make and produce an album. I learnt a lot with Vinícius Cantuária at the Sunshine Box studio, in New York. And with Jun Miyake too, in Paris.

Bengal: Are you working with the same team from the first album?

Aline: No, no. On this second album we can hear my own band and my co-production, and I’m very proud of it.

Bengal: Do you go back to Brazil many times during the year? Can we have any expectations of a tour in Brazil, South America or the United States?

Aline: It would be a dream to play in Brazil, to confront my songs to Portuguese speakers. I would like to go everywhere, and I work for that, being more and more open to all kind of cultures and music. I think that Brazilian music can earn a lot with the World Music, especially African music. Because we have already the jazz, rock and electronic music influences actually.

Bengal: What is your opinion on the Brazilian music nowadays, the music industry/business in Brazil?

Aline: About the industry/business, I haven’t got any for a while. But it’s a music that is always getting new, because Brazilian people have this power of filtering influences and transforming it in a new style, as they made with the Bossa Nova. This music is a cocktail of great music (jazz, choro, baião, boleros, samba…). I think we have to continue this, using the globalization to be more and more open for new horizons, new cultures and (good) influences. The Internet is a powerful way for that.

Bengal: Some say it's easier for a Brazilian artist to 'make it' in the international market - especially Europe - than in Brazil. And apparently this is an old say. Do you agree with that?

Aline: "Easy" maybe it’s not a good word. But in Europe there are places for many artists, from everywhere. People here are curious about other cultures, they go to a concert of Brazilian music or African music “to travel”, it’s an exotic thing for then, a way to discover the world without taking a plane. In Brazil it’s more difficult because it’s a big country and we’re very concentrated in ourselves. But also, we have artist like Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, Elis Regina, João Gilberto, Milton Nascimento, Tim Maia, Caetano Veloso, etc., that put something new in Brazilian Music - classic jazz, Bossa Nova, jazz fusion, soul and funk music, rock. They take a lot of place, they are bigger than anybody, and they started their careers in a moment that Brazilian Music was “virgin” of all foreign influences. Now, we are very influenced by electro music, but that’s all. Maybe one day, Brazilian music industry will be curious about new things, new styles, new artists, so maybe this country will be the biggest music industry in the world. But for a while, they need to know which Brazilian artists have a great success in Europe to accept them in their own country.

Bengal: Aline, we are very excited about your new work. Is there anything else you want to tell our readers?

Aline: Be curious, don’t be a “standard”, be yourself.

Bengal: Thanks, Aline, for your time!

Aline: Thank you for your interest!

Everyone that wants more information on Aline de Lima, check the following links:

Aline de Lima MySpace
Naïve label
More information on the new album Açaí (in French and English)