Long Time...
An interview with Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto's father is "the King of Bossa" Joao Gilberto. Her mother is celebrated Brazilian vocalista Miucha Gilberto. Her uncle is famed intellectual songwriter Chico Buarque. But despite being born into this highly musical and hugely talented family she was 33 before she made an album. Amazon.co.uk contributor Paul Sullivan talks to Brazil's most famous musical daughter.
Amazon.co.uk: How was growing up with such an intensely musical and famous family?
Bebel Gilberto: Things were very "uncommon", shall we say. All I wanted when I was a child was to have a normal family, a father that came home after work with a briefcase. Instead of that I had a family that played on stage all the time; even when it was time for me to sleep they just delayed my time to sleep so that I could sing more songs with them! But on the other hand, I was fortunate enough to have total contact with music--I had music lessons without even knowing I was having them, because I was constantly joining in with my family, improvising and memorising melodies that my father wanted me to sing. It was a very smooth way of doing music and I'm very proud of it.
Amazon.co.uk: Did you feel a lot of pressure to be a musical success from an early age?
Bebel Gilberto: When I was growing up I didn't feel any pressure but afterwards the pressure really became strong. One of the reasons that I moved to the USA 10 years ago was because I had lots of pressure from producers and people from record companies who wanted me to do exactly what my father had done. I didn't want that, so I had a lot of problems. It took me five years to find the right people for me to work with.
Amazon.co.uk: At what point did you decide that you wanted a career in music?
Bebel Gilberto: At about 19 years old I got a record deal to do an EP for Warner in 1986, but the Brazilian rock-pop thing was really big at that time and I never felt really comfortable with it. The only person I used to listen to was Sade; I was crazy about her and I still believe that she is the biggest influence I've ever had. She is everything in the world to me. She sings with her heart and she's not totally obsessed with being really successful. When I heard her first album I started writing songs professionally.
Amazon.co.uk: Your debut LP, Tanto Tempo, is a very Brazilian-sounding LP and very bossa-influenced, but it also features some "electronic" collaborations with the likes of Amon Tobin, Thievery Corporation, Towa Tei and Smoke City--how did you hook up with these people?
Bebel Gilberto: After I'd been in New York for a while I met Towa Tei from Dee-Lite. We wrote some songs and I appeared on two of his albums. I was introduced to an audience that didn't know anything about me, that had a background more in electronic music which I really liked. I then began working with Suba, an electronic-music producer based in Sao Paulo, who produced most of my album before he tragically passed away. I met all the others just through various friends and gigs in New York and London.
Amazon.co.uk: On the album you've covered bossa standards by your uncle Chico Buarque, by Marcos Valle, Joao Donato and Gilberto Gil. Why did you choose those artists and those songs?
Bebel Gilberto: The cover of Baden Powell's "Samba da Bencao" happened almost by accident. I was going to write a song over one of Amon Tobin's tracks but when I got home I started listening to the record and thought "Wow, we can do a new version of this", and both of us got very excited about how it would sound with some electronic elements--it's actually one of my favourite tracks on the album. Marcos Valle's "Summer Samba (So Nice)" is just a lovely song and I wanted to sing it in English as the original Portuguese words don't speak so loud to my heart. "Bananeira" was penned by Donato and Gil and I always used to sing it whenever I played live so it has a lot of personal emotions for me. I bought Joao in to do some arrangements and play on it. Chico's "Samba e Amor" I covered as it isn't really well known but it's a great song about making love and writing music until late in the day!
Amazon.co.uk: Have you "updated" the bossa sound do you think?
Bebel Gilberto: I don't like to call my album a bossa album as I think there is a lot more to it than just bossa. Being my father's daughter it'd be too tacky for me to say I'm the new hope for bossa nova or something like that. I always try to avoid saying it. People ask me "So why did you choose those standards? They're bossa," which is true. But they're not exactly "The Girl from Ipanema".
Amazon.co.uk: What does your father think of the album?
Bebel Gilberto: I have lots of problems with my father. I'm his only daughter you know and I left Brazil a long time ago so I'm not going to say our relationship is the most stable in the world. Anything I do my father will criticise so I already gave up (laughs). He likes the album though and that's the important thing.
Amazon.co.uk: Which five albums have influenced you most?
Bebel Gilberto: Anything by Sade, but especially Promise. Urubu by Antonio Jobim--I love the strings on that album. "Quem e quem" by Joao Donato is wonderful. Amoroso by my father. And for something crazy I think Purple Rain by Prince.