Name: Adriana Calcanhotto
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Nationality: Brazilian
Current release: Adriana Calcanhotto's Errante is out via Modern Recordings.

If you enjoyed this Adriana Calcanhotto interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.  



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

It comes in general from other art forms such as poetry, painting, dance and books. All of this mixed with life, advertisement and the news.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

I do not work with many plans. I prefer to be open to incorporating mistakes and chance; the risk fascinates me.

I consider myself a Darwinian creator; I need errors to create anything.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

Each song will need different, specific ways to be created; it is never the same process.

There is, of course, a modus operandi. But I’m not that methodic, and I believe that a bit of chaos is a benefit.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Not really. I pen songs in my mind at airports, flights, hotel rooms, anywhere. I like to have this focus power and believe in not needing anything external to the creative act; I am not a ritualistic creature. I like very much to pick up the guitar and write a song; it is an absolute pleasure.

Still, sometimes, as a guitar player, my vocabulary seems too limited regarding harmonic paths. So I have been songwriting from rap and hip-hop bases that I choose on the Internet and that my brain understands as samba.

Not writing on the guitar make my melodies freer. I appreciate working in different and new ways.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

If I put music to a poem, I start with the text's original rhythm and extract from it the melody that I will be drawing in more detail.

Putting lyrics to a melody is the most challenging work because you have to respect metrics, prosody, make sense, etc.

When I’m writing music and lyrics, it's possible to work with a syllable more or a note less; all the decisions are mine.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

I created most of my songs on the guitar with music and lyrics written simultaneously. I’m more experienced in that. I also put tunes in poems from different styles, generations and languages.

Each operation will require specific challenges; putting a melody in a poem written by someone needs a lot of work to respect the author’s way of conveying their ideas.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

The lyrics must serve the melody, add to it, and value it.

When I receive a theme from a composer who sends a recording where they sing a specific vowel, I respect and approximate the syllables I will use according to the vowels hummed. It's different if it's "a" or "u", so the vowels given are an essential part of the map I make of the melody in which I'm going to fit my verses.

The best lyrics must wear the tune like a glove and make sense without the song on the paper; this is my goal.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

Sometimes I can spend years working on a song, and sometimes it's a matter of two days. It depends on the circumstances if it is possible to be available writing till the end; if the initial creative act is interrupted, the process can thus waste a long time.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

It's vital to pay attention to ideas that will appear and are not plain. I like to consider new paths that can occur during the process.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Even before the piece is finished, I usually let it lie and retake it many times during songwriting. Except for those songs that are born already done, I need to work on this way of writing and let things lie.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?
 
For each project, I have had different approaches related to production. I like to be present and aware of the major decisions, but it basically depends on what kind of material I have, whether it is mine as a songwriter or a singer's repertoire.

I used to go to mixing sessions but today I listen to some bounces and I give my opinions till I consider everything well done.

Mastering is a fascinating process and is the fine finishing touch to the album or track. I like to think carefully about who will master my records because it is a highly technical job and, at the same time, an art, which requires excellent musical sensibility.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

There is no escape from that emptiness, and it is necessary to create again. It can sometimes be distressing, but going through it is part of the process.

I live a little bit in this emptiness, and little by little, I start to read, listen, watch new things and let time take care of the next steps of writing again.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Making a coffee or a song can be an art, depending on the quality of dedication of the person who is causing it.

During the pandemic, I strongly wished to make bread to help people, but I didn't know how to make bread. So I made some songs and released an album called Só (alone) with these songs; that's what I got instead of working in the oven.



I have no idea how to make bread, but I have been trying to write better songs.