Pop superstar Nelly Furtado was in town recently for a showcase. Elliott Danker caught up with this Portuguese beauty (and September’s cover girl) and asked about motherhood, growing up in different cultures and what she’s learnt along the way.
POPCulture Online: Growing
up in a multicultural environment, how has that affected your style of
music?
Nelly Furtado: We
always had culture around us, it was a very colourful upbringing and
music was always around us. My mum spoke to us at home in English
because she wanted to practice her English, we went to night school to
learn Portuguese and I did Portuguese folklore dancing and even sang
Portuguese songs on my ukelele. We even traveled to Portugal too during
summer. I had friends who were multicultural as well and that’s where I
learnt more about different styles of music like Latin music so that’s
where my multicultural taste began thanks to those experiences.
In my life today I’m always searching
for new styles, new music and new inspiration so I think it’s kinda
started my journey as a musical explorer.
POPCulture Online: At the
end of the Spirit Indestructible music video, you become 50 foot tall.
If you could be that big for a day, what would you do?
Nelly Furtado: I’d
probably walk across Canada, then go through the U.S. I’d love to walk
through all the corn fields and yeah I’d definitely kick some butt being
that huge!
POPCulture Online: You’ve
come such a long way since your first album. At one time you were the
“promiscuous girl” and now it’s about the spirit indestructible. Do you
think motherhood has mellowed you?
Nelly Furtado:
Motherhood has changed me more than once, I think even from the
beginning when I was expecting my daughter, the energy kinda influenced
my music at that time. There was a peacefulness and serenity surrounding
my second album Folklore and then with Loose it continued with a sort
of “coming into my own as a woman” and feeling like a rebirth of sorts
as well. It was more like spending more time at home and being more
domesticated, and pursuing hobbies and passions for myself.
In recent years I’ve been more grateful
about life and feeling more spiritual and remembering my essences from
when I put my first album out because it’s easy to forget why you put
out music in this business, especially when all of a sudden it becomes
about deadlines and satisfying people.
And it always helps to have an eight
year old to listen to your demo tapes! They are very honest about what
they like!
POPCulture Online: What do
you wish you knew when you were 18 that you know now?
Nelly Furtado: I
wish I knew that it would take time, because when you’re 17 or 18,
which was when I first moved to the big city and was trying to make it
in the business, I didn’t understand why it wouldn’t happen overnight, I
didn’t understand why you can want something so bad but there are
building blocks to it.
So those were really formative
experiences for me. I think if I hadn’t struggled through that phase I
wouldn’t be the person that I have today nor would I have the
perspective that I have on my career and in turn value my career. So in a
way I would tell myself at 18 that it takes time but then on the other
hand I might not just so I can struggle through it and grow.
Source: POPCulture Online 2012