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How to describe that moment, right after the third bell, when it’s time to go on stage? Anxiety? Fear? Happiness? Probably each artist will have their own definition. Mine is a mix of all of that, added to some components that I do not know how to define (state of super concentration? heightened senses?), because I do not think about it, I just enjoy feeling it. Not so clear? I know, but it is a kind of trance, and how can you define a trance? Could you? Hu?

The moment a concert starts is magical, spiritual, transcedent, but until it comes… what a hard time! I and you what I am talking about, my friend. I am just coming a awesome concert (great audience, good merch sale, lots of fun on stage etc) , preceeded by a bad night. A really bad couple of nights, to be true.

Why?, you are thinking. What happened? Nothing but a simple cold, caused probably by the very stressful situation of producing a show, as an independent musician. If you know what I mean, you have probably experienced a something similar and will relate to my story.

Twenty-four hours before the concert I texted my musician: “We may have to cancel the gig. I will give you a final word tomorrow at ten”. Six-thirty in th morning I was walking up and down my living room, still unsure about what to do.

My nostrils were finally free (a sine qua non condition for singing, as you know), after a couple of breathing-through-the-mouth nights and that was a great pro to keep the gig, on the con side, I was unsure about the quality of my voz as it was. Furthermore, I was unsure about how long this conditon would last.

Drama enough for you for the morning of gig night?

After talking to my dear friends S. and F., which were kind enough to take their time and talk to me, in order to check how my voice sonded, I decided to keep the gig. And I am sure glad I took this somehow riskful decision.

After all, you have to earn Showtime.

Be seeing you!

G. F.

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Last Saturday I went to a music concert. A big production, performed on a huge kind-of-modern-but-tasteless-inside-a-mall music hall.

Yes, I know this is not a very unbiased way to start a piece, but today I am going to take a day off from bias and simply express my impressions of this experience. It all started with my sister’s adoration of an actor who is also a romantic singer with his own band.

Accompanying her was the only reason I stopped my hectic pre-production routine for my next concerts, getting into a car for more than an hour until I reached a neighborhood I do not like (among other things because it is projected for cars and pedestrians feel, well, wrong), with lots of of shopping centers until we reached one of them where a gigantic concert hall is placed.

So far, everything is bad, but it gets worse: for this type of mega-event it is necessary to arrive in advance, which in the end means looking for a long time at the screens next to the stage, on which the concerts of the house for the coming months are presented. The problem is that bright lights that are too close bother me deeply. Alright, we have come this far… let us move on.

The show finally starts and, in addition to the crooner, there are eight musicians on stage, including a single (!) backing vocalist, whose voice is digitally multiplied.The repertoire is vast, the band is very good and the girl does what she can, but besides lining up one hit after another, I learned little about the former heartthrob, whose face, by the way, was much prettier before the procedures. And, yes, I wanted to know more about him.

Strictly speaking about the music, I was expecting more variation in the song format (a duet, at least). After half an hour, everything sounded kind of the same, kind of repetitive and my attention was already on other things, like the high ticket prices, my tight budget and all the challenges of being an independent artist.

Amid this ocean of thoughts, one stood out: my small concert, in a small theater, looking directly at my audience, seemed to me an incredible, unique, special experience. And it all made sense again.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder explores, with his usual mastery, the theme of fear in such movies as Angst essen Seele auf (Fear devours the Soul, 1974) or Angst vor der Angst (Fear of Fear, 1975). In both cases, the protagonists need to deal with an urgency for change that collides with the fear of losing control of the situation.

What is your fear? Do not say you have no fear, because I will not believe you. So, starting from the premise that being afraid is part of the human (and not only) condition, let us talk about this feeling.

Fear has a bad reputation and yet it is very necessary in our life. In fact, like everything else, you just need to know how to use it in your favor. My technique for dealing with fear is as follows: I embrace the fear and break it down into several smaller fears that are easier to deal with.

A good way to start this process is to remember that fear releases several hormones, including adrelanine, which sends us a clear and direct answer (beat it!) and that can even be used as a driving force to move forward.

Our brain is always trying to protect itself/us from changes, because changes mean adjustments. And that includes the classic self-sabotaging thought: “Should I really do this?” which is your brain’s equivalent of saying, “Are we going to be as safe in this new condition, as we are now? It has nothing to do with cowardice, but with self-preservation.In other words: fear makes evolution possible.

That is why I deeply respect my fears, but also, precisely because I want to evolve, I try to calm my ever attentive brain. Right now, for instance, I am trying to convince it that confirming a lecture, two shows, a translation and an article for the end of the month will not lead to my extinction. Perhaps to extreme fatigue, but not to extinction.

The brain is very smart and it might take a while til it can be convinced, but with persistence and confidence I usually manage to make my fears so small, that they look like, I don know, like a battery. Yes, a battey I can use to provide me some extra “zing”, and feed me for my next conquest.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

p.s. This is the 100th post by The Red Flower Press. Hurray! Thannk you for following us!

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Last week I read in the headline of a major newspaper that Brazilians are also working on weekends, reaching an average of up to six hours of work when they should be resting or dedicating themselves to leisure activities.

While the subject of ‘significant loss of time devoted to leisure’ is by no means funny, my immediate reaction was to think, “Oh, dears, tell me something I do not know.”

Maybe my sarcasm is due to the fact that I cannot even remember when I last took a vacation, let alone a whole weekend off work. I was thinking about this sad fact, while looking for a short humor video to watch while having a very quick lunch, in order to relieve the tremendous pressure of having to meet a deadline to… edit a video (the 21st century paradox). And behold, in the sponsored videos, one appears that I am interested in watching not only for more than five seconds, butf right through to the end.

It was a masterclass, by the famous Brazilian philosopher Marilena Chauí, on the rebranding of the concept of work. From “the worst punishment that can afflict a person”, an idea disseminated during classical Greco-Roman societies and which persisted during the medieval period, it was gradually transformed by the bourgeois mentality in a right, a gift. On the other hand, idleness (or any kind of meditative activity) becomes vice and laziness gains the status of sin.

Wow, there is nothing like knowledge that comes from research and reflection, right? But what does this have to do with your reality? I can bet that you have already fallen into at least one of the many frequent traps that cross our paths disguised as catchphrases.

Feeling guilty for not “producing enough”, constant fear of “falling behind” and the frequent comparison with the supposed success-of-social-networks shared by so many people are potent tools in maintaining the ideology of work in times of algorithms and artificial intelligence. After all, what separates you from that apparently millionaire influencer (who maybe owes millions in unpaid taxes) is good planning of your posts and an efficient self-promotion strategy, isn’t it? Well, it is not.

I have been reflecting a lot about the so-called changing of the guard after the popularization of the internet, that is, the fact that the monopoly of a few labels would have been replaced by the theoretical possibility of each and every individual to spread their own music. I cannot say that I have a formed opinion on the subject yet, but my suspicion is that the supposed democratization of access to the network, if it actually happened, does not at all configure an equivalence in use.

Even if we make an effort to think that virtually anyone can upload a video with a song on a large platform, go viral and become a success, how long does this success last? Until the next viral video, probably. Now just think of the amount of work to produce viral videos, one after another, and there is not exactly a ready-made formula, despite the many tips and tutorials available, on how to viralize a music video, much less a sequence of videos.

But then there is no way out? Of course there are many, but all of them will, at some point, go through a totally old school ingredient: money. What about organic engagement? Well, I’m sorry to inform you that this, past the novelty (remember the viral video?) or even for you to become novelty in the first place, the hard truth is that someone (probably you) will have to invest a good amount of money.

The examples are the most diverse, but I will stick to just one, which I consider to be very representative: the streaming platforms. Seen as a true revolution in the way music is consumed and responsible for retiring once and for all the beloved promotional bait of “download your exclusive audio”, streaming platforms, however, use an old model for their releases.

First of all, they can only be done through a distributor, which obviously has costs and considerably reduces the number of people who will actually be able to release a song. There is always the possibility that you will be included in an editorial list, as well as the possibility that you, for example, theoretically win the Lottery. In both cases it is necessary to bet. The simple fact that the list of information to be provided for the submission of a release includes the question “How much do you intend to invest?” it already seems quite significant to me

As I said, I am still forming my opinion about the alleged changing of the guard in the music world, and I would love to hear your opinion about it. After all, because the possibility of reaching out to people is a real and possible revolution that the web offers us.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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Today I read a post from a publisher saying that she had received a letter (yes, a real letter, handwritten and all) from an author. In short: she replied, also by letter, inviting the author to tea.

What a cool story! And I say this not just for the classic bold-move-with-happy-ending factor (I have always been a sucker for that), but also for the, shall we say, side effect: in these times of isolation and algorithmically dictated relationships, having tea with a pen pal sounds almost like a Tibetan monk ritual.

How would you like to get a letter inviting you out for tea (or coffee, or beer)? I would love it, I confess. Between us, if I could, that would be exactly what I would do to celebrate my new single, Pele Adentro, coming out tomorrow.

The single marks five years since the March 1, 2018 debut of my EP La Nueva Milonga. In the show of the same name, accompanied by a guest musician, I sing and tell stories about the influence of Argentina and Uruguay on the Brazilian musical tradition.

The project gave me the opportunity to share the stage with great musicians from different regions, such as the southern guitarist Sulimar Rass and the Venezuelan pianist Silvano Pagliuca-Mena, but do you know what the word milonga means?

The term first appears at the end of the 19th century and refers to gatherings in the outskirts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo with dancing, singing and music, especially rhythms inspired by the Cuban habanera and Spanish tango, incorporated into the rioplatense tango.

Well, since it will not be possible for us to get all together for a onsite milonga, I invite you to dance and have fun right there where you are (“in all the pretty places in your head”, as Stevie Wonder says) to the sound of Pele Adentro.

Click here, choose your favourite streaming platform and enjoy!

Be seeing you!

G.F.