Come bask in THE SOFT GLOW of ELECTRIC SEX!
This is the World Premiere of us sharing the record LIVE with you.
So excited to explore and get down with you!
8/2/12 9:30pm at The Virgil 4519 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles.
Performing with Andre de Santanna, Leo Costa, Bryan Velasco, Alberto Lopez, Matthew Haze, DJ BNS, and special guests!
http://www.facebook.com/events/466542366707359/
Photo by Piper Ferguson. Album art by Andre de Santanna.
yesterday i woke up and i didn’t want to get out of bed. you know that feeling when you just feel stuck in the mud. after my dance class last night i realized that i MUST embrace that dance is my therapy. it can bring from a point of the lowest frequency to sublime ELATION!!!
i’ve always denied the dancer in me. even after class, a woman came up to me and asked if i was a dancer and i said “no, i’m a singer.” why??? i don’t know why. maybe because i don’t have the typical dancer history which would qualify me as a real dancer? though i was a late bloomer (i wasn’t formally trained until college!), i had it in me. my dance background consisted of taping the fly girls on “in living color” and my childhood best friend, Carla, teaching me what she learned in her dance classes. that girl had (and still has) moves. my abuela (who was a dancer in NYC) danced with me a lot and i learned to move through osmosis. she could shake it with the BEST of them. even in her 70s even she could get DOWN. 
it was crazy! then i met alejandro, my now ex-novio, when i was 19. he taught me to dance a salsa that was not my grandmother’s salsa. we trained. 3 hours a day. and when i moved to LA to pursue music, he came with me to pursue his dancing. in LA you can dance salsa every night of the week! coming from North Carolina, that blew my mind! i started dancing with dancers from all over the world and learned so much from the clubs. i took lessons, workshops, even volunteered at the LA Salsa Congress so I could get a free pass to learn. now salsa is like breathing for me. it feels so natural. i can intuitively feel where my partner wants me to move and play within that space, with them and with the music. it’s divine. what killed that for me was when i starting meeting dancers that dance from their egos… they were too busy showing off, trying to flip me, trying to get attention or a reaction, seeing how many times they could spin themselves or me, some wouldn’t even look at me in the eyes or even my face… i was merely a puppet, barbie dollesque being turned, flipped, thrown around the floor so they could have people look at them and think they’re bad ass. egoic dancing doesn’t allow dance to be the divine connection it can and should be damn it! i see the same thing with musicians. when people are so concerned with how they will be received the art suffers. not necessarily skill. but the feeling. it’s devoid of authenticity. we artists need to bring that back!
i so enjoy exploring other genres of dancing… i did some what i’ll call… “classy exotic burlesque” dancing to pay for my schoolin at USC, did a brief stint in a belly dancing company, took a random and not so great tango class with my man (we need to find a better one we just leaned on each other and walked in a circle for an hour), african dance was my favorite class in college- the way the dancer and the drummer commune fascinates me… i took a few hip-hop, ballet, and many jazz classes… and i appreciate them all… i love the strength and fearlessness and solidity of hip-hop, the discipline and beauty of ballet, the sass and extension and funkiness of jazz… they all have their something. now i’m learning samba and i swear my hips are learning a new language.
i’m discovering now how essential it is that we honor and acknowledge and celebrate what we love. thus, i have decided to embrace my dancer self completely. i can’t deny what’s within me. it heals me. it connects me. i think of all the people in the world denying themselves from what they love to do, from expressing that love, and for what? why? i encourage you to own whatever it is you love, acknowledge your passion and celebrate it through authentic self-expression.
For the album release show, I’m featuring each band member during this upcoming show week! It has been so much fun interviewing the M.U.S.I.C. makers and getting deep into their musical heads and hearts! They are all ridiculously talented, intelligent, true artists and I’m honored to make M.U.S.I.C. with them!
Today’s feature: Leo Costa – drums
Leo is amazing at mixing modern drumming with old school concepts. He’s a sensitive player- he intuitively feels what energy, essence, and foundation a song needs. From Rio, Brazil, Leo attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music and graduated with a Professional Music Degree, he studied performance, arranging, and music synthesis which also lead him to production and programming. With dexterity ranging from funky, gritty grooves to the complex feel of samba, jazz, and literally everything in between, Leo Costa plays with an authentic, inspired, and soulful intelligence. Leo added his incredible musical feel on Moments, Abuela, When You’re Away, and Rabo de Galo on M.U.S.I.C. Get to know my favorite batera
-what’s your 1st musical memory?
Listening to my dad’s Stevie Wonder and Jimmy Cliff records and my mom’s Beatles records.
-what’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened while you are on stage?
At a gig one time some dude kept asking if my cajon was electric! Then he starts trying to play it while I’m playing it- in the middle of the set. I had to use one hand to push him away while continuing to play the cajon with the other hand! Another time during a jazz gig, during the middle of a beautiful ballad, the singer fell HARD from the stool and from the floor she tells the band to keep playing (as if nothing had happened)…
-what’s your ultimate dream in music?
I don’t have an ultimate dream… I just want to keep evolving in music, keep developing…
-if you weren’t doing music what would you be doing?
There is nothing else.
-most influential artists to you and why?
Bob Marley, to me is the spokesperson of the 3rd world… he changed my perception on music, politics, life… ‘War,’ ‘Get Up Stand Up,’ ‘Could you be Love’ are some of my favorite songs…. Michael Jackson is a genius in complex simplicity (note: this interview was done 2 days before Michael’s death)…and Billy Cobham, a drummer from Panama, made me realize that this is what I wanted to do at 12 or 13…Also, Djavan for his songwriting, the rhythms in his music, his technique playing and singing…He’s the only artist I’ve been star struck by (other than Prince).
-what makes an amazing song?
What makes a good song to me is constantly changing… lyrics, the artist portraying feeling and a message to the listener, a song that makes people move, makes people feel… especially with my instrument I want to do that (make them feel)…
-what’s your theme song?
My theme song is the same song in different modes.
-do you have musical nickname?
Batera, slang for drummer in Brasil.
-what song were you most likely conceived to?
Probably some bossa nova song.
-first concert you ever went to?
Beastie Boys.
-first album u ever bought?
Faith No More’s Epic
-how can we revolutionize music?
Start by bringing LIVE instruments back and also revolutionizing radio- putting real songs on the radio- not catch phrases.
-indie or major (what’s the way to go?)
Indie with major distribution.
-what inspires you musically?
When people speak through their music passionately and honestly.
-what can an artist do (that you’re backing) to make your job easy and fun?
Give love and respect to their musician’s time and craft… you get what you give with your band (and with your audience)…
-what’s your favorite song from the album?
“Discombobulator” and “Te Necesito”
-advice for up and coming drummers?
Practice hard and run your race.
-what do you hope for the show?
For us to kill it, that everyone digs it… I hope it’s a party and that everyone has fun.
Listen to M.U.S.I.C. at http://www.myspace.com/andreebelle or http://www.andreebelle.com
http://www.myspace.com/leocostamusic
I’m really excited to be performing with The Pangea Collective at the JazzReggae Festival this Sunday! It’s going to be an amazing day- my idol Erykah Badu is headlining along with De La Soul! I’m honored to be a part of this celebration of music, art, culture, and diversity!
