Interviu: Gabriella Cilmi

Gabriella Cilmi este marea vedeta a muzicii pop care va urca pe una dintre cele doua scene de la B'estfest anul acesta, ca sa ne delecteze cu vocea ei de diva soul si ritmuri tineresti. Domnisoara momentului a stat de vorba cu noi cateva minute despre experienta inregistrarii primului sau album si despre formatia ei.



Sunt foarte interesata sa aflu cum a fost sa-ti inregistrezi primul album Lessons to be learned. De exemplu de unde ti-a venit inspiratia pentru a compune versurile si cum a fost sa inregistrezi melodiile cu echipa de la Xenomania?

A fost foarte interesanta colaborarea mea cu Xenomania pentru ca eu in trecut nu aveam experienta decat cu formatia mea, cantand intr-un garaj. Probabil foarte prost. Pentru ca faceam multe coveruri dupa Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin si Kings of Leon, din materialele lor mai timpurii.

Inainte sa ajunga asa faimosi.

Da, exact. Eram fani ai lor de la inceputuri. A fost prima formatie pe care am vazut-o in concert, si-mi placea la nebunie muzica lor. Deci am inceput sa lucrez cu Xenomania care erau producatori foarte cunoscuti. Lucrasera cu Sugabaes si cu Girls Aloud care nu erau tocmai acelasi lucru. M-am gandit: "Eu nu ascult genul ala de muzica, mie-mi plac mai mult blues-urile vechi si dirty". Asta e genul de muzica ce-mi place.

Deci la inceputul relatiei cu Xenomania ne certam destul de mult, nu ne intelegeam deloc. Dar la un moment dat am gasit o baza comuna. Mie-mi place foarte mult Sweet, o formatie de glam rock. Si am aflat ca albumul lor a fost primul album la care a lucrat Bryan Higgins. Asa ca pornind de aici am gasit tot felul de lucruri pe care le avem in comun. Pana la urma am reusit sa scoatem un album care ne-a luat pe toti prin surprindere, pentru ca nu ne asteptam sa iasa asa de bine.

Cred ca o parte din succesul sau se datoreaza si faptului ca are cantece care sunt diferite intre ele si totusi legate de ceva. Iti dai seama ca sunt toate cantece Gabriella Cilmi.

Da, asta am si vrut. Am vrut sa incerc tot felul de lucruri pentru primul meu album, tocmai pentru ca era prima mea experienta in materie de inregistrari si nu eram foarte sigura unde voiam sa ajung. Imi plac atatea genuri de muzica. Am vrut sa incerc multe lucruri, dar Xenomania a reusit sa confere albumului un sound unitar.

Poti sa-mi spui mai multe despre formatia ta, tipii care miros ciudat pe care i-ai mentionat in blogul de pe website-ul tau?

Beanie este tobosarul, el este tipul cu dreaduri. Este un fel de rocker avangardist pentru ca are propria lui formatie si compune muzica foarte frumoasa, foarte atmosferica. Este foarte cool si mananca mult. Arde repede caloriile pentru ca se bataie mereu si bate la tobe. Adam mai e in formatie, el este foarte sensibil. Un super chotarist. Stie sa cante minunat la chitara. Se arde mereu de la soare cand vine in Australia. Are tenul foarte deschis si o data a uitat sa-si dea cu lotiune si s-a transformat intr-un homar rosu.

Henry canta la clape. Are o mustata amuzanta. Si mai am doi basisti. Tom, caruia ii spunem Saint Tom pentru ca este atat de bun. Il mai am pe Carly care este basistul nostru cu dreaduri. Este indragostit de viata si un vegetarian. Face Yoga si este foarte flexibil. El este cel mai zen.

Cunosti cumva line-upul de la B'estfest?

Da, putin. Mi se pare ca vin The Killers now. Super tare, mie-mi plac mult The Killers.

Da, mai sunt si Franz Ferdinand, si Moby. Dintre artistii de la B'estfest, ai vrea sa faci vreun cover din muzica lor?

Da, sigur, ar fi foarte tare. Imi place mult Sam's Town de la The Killers dar cred ca Take me out al lui Franz Ferdinand este unul dintre cele mai bune cantece inregistrate vreodata.

English version below

I'm really interested to know what it was like recording your first album. Like for instance what was your inspiration for the lyrics, and what was it like to work on the recording of the songs, laying down the beats and the melodies with the guys from Xenomania.

It was interesting working with Xenomania because the background where I come from is just jamming with my mates in the garage. Probably really bad. You know, Led Zeppelin covers, and Janis Joplin covers and Kings of Leon, some of the early stuff.

Before they got so famous.

Yeah, exactly. So we were big fans right from the beginning. They were one of the first bands I ever saw live, I loved their stuff. So when I started working with Xenomania  who were big producers. They worked with Sugarbabes and Girls Aloud, who were not into the same kind of stuff. I thought: "Well I don't listen to that kind of music. I love old dirty blues music. That's the kind of music that I love."

So working with Xenomania in the start we used to disagree a lot. We used to have a lot of arguments. And one day we ended up finding some common ground. I'm a big fan of Sweet, who is kind of a glam rock band and it turned out that it was Bryan Higgins's first album he ever bought. So we ended up finding things that we had in common and meeting halfway. And I think we managed to record an album that was better than we both expected it to be.

And in that I think that you have songs that are very different but at the same time their connected. You can tell they are all Gabriella Cilmi songs.

That's the thing, I wanted to try a lot of things on my record because it was the first record I ever made and I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I like so many different types of music. I just wanted to try a lot of different things but Xenomania ensured that we had a continous sound.

Can you tell me somet things about your band, the smelly guys you mention on your website?

Beanie is my drummer, he's the one with the dreads. He's really an avantgarde rocker, he's got his own band. He makes beautiful atmospheric music. He's pretty cool, he eats a lot. He burns it really fast because he's always shaking, banging on his drums. Adam's in my band, he's really sensitive. A great guitar player, he does incredible things. He gets sunburned quite a lot, when he comes down to Australia. He's got really white skin so one time he forgot to put sunscreen on and he turned into a lobster

Henry, he's my keyboard player. He's got a funny moustache. And I have two bass players. Tom, he's my guitarist tonight. We call him Saint Tom. I used to have Carly who's our other red headed bass player. He kinda loves life and is a vegetarian. Does Yoga, he's really flexible. He's very zen.

Are you familiar with the line-up at B'estfest?

I saw some posters through town and I saw The Killers are playing. I love the Killers.

Would you be interested in doing a cover from The Killers, or maybe Franz Ferdinand? With your cover band.

Yeah, that'd be cool. I love them both so much. I love Sam's Town from The Killers but I think Take me out is one of the greatest songs ever recorded.