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Interview Podcast Audio Sara Tavares - Balance

Although she was born and raised in Portugal, the childhood of singer Sara Tavares was steeped in the rich culture of her native Cape Verde.

But once she was finally able to visit her homeland at the age of 15, her roots grew thicker, and in the past few years, the 29-year-old Tavares has established herself as one of her country's most gifted singers, along with the legendary Cesaria Evora.

Currently on tour in support of her latest album, Balance, Tavares spoke with MP3.com about reconnecting with her roots and finding Balance in her life.

MP3.com: Hi Sara, this is Jim Welte at MP3.com in San Francisco. Hello. I guess you were trying to call me, eh? Yes, I was. Is now an OK time? It's fine. I was expecting your call. OK, great. So let's start with the title of the album. I wanted you to tell me about what Balance means to you, because I know the word has different meanings, for instance, in Portugal and Angola. But for you, what does the title of the album mean? Oh, it's about swinging. Swinging, you know, physically, I mean, dancing and having fun and having sense of humor towards life, and also, spiritually and mentally. You know, to accept the ups and downs and learn how to take the best out of that. Got you. To learn how to take the bad with the good and roll with the punches, so to speak. Yes. I know that there's a large population of Cape Verdeans in Portugal and in Lisbon specifically, but how did you personally end up in Portugal? I was born here. Oh, you were born in Portugal? Yeah, I was born and raised here. My parents immigrated from Cape Verde to Portugal in the mid-'70s. Oh, I see. OK. So that's where you've lived all of your life. Exactly. But you returned to Cape Verde later on in life? Yes, when I was about 15 years old. OK, what was that experience like, the first time? Oh, it was wonderful. It was very important for me. To connect with your roots and everything. Yes, and it started a whole process of knowing my personal history and it was very important. And through the years I've been going there very often and it has been doing me so much good, in so many different levels that I cannot even explain to you in words what it has meant for me. Was that first time that you went to Cape Verde, was that the first time that you started thinking about music and the music of where you came from and the music of your heritage and your culture? Or was it already kind of instilled in you before that? Yes, it was already in me, but the first visit strongly stimulated it in me at that time, as did each trip after that that I made to Cape Verde. But I was already singing professionally, so I already had started that surge and that introspection about my own music and my music had to flow from my own spirit. My spirit is somewhere connected with my identity. Right. So, you were already doing music, you were already singing, but going back there kind of just really stimulated all of those thoughts about your connection to your culture and your culture's music. Yes, and traveling back and forth was also a good way for me to know my place as a second-generation Cape Verdean, someone who's already out and who is already reinventing the identity of Cape Verdeans outside. You know, I didn't have the opportunity to grow up there, so I didn't experience the culture that Cape Verdeans experience. So I have a different perspective of my generation. I have my community which is from outside. And it's not only directed to Cape Verdeans, but through the world is about multiculturality. Right. You talked about the fact that Cape Verdeans are scattered throughout the world and that it's important for you to represent that next generation of Cape Verdean Americans and Cape Verdeans in Portugal, and that kind of thing. Yeah, it's important to integrate that reality into who I am as a citizen of the world, because the culture that we live in today tends to put people all the same, for us to dress the same way, for us to think the same way, but we're all different. And so that's why I think it's important for me and for everybody to kind of celebrate their identity, and just to affirm that and to work on it, to be proud of that. Right. Not to be defined by one particular thing, but to celebrate the differences and the similarities and that kind of thing. Yes. Yeah. So, this is your third album, correct? Yes, it's really my second solo album. I had a first album but it was a duet with me and a choir. Oh, I see. Yes, my second solo album. Talk about the process of writing and recording it. Did you do it all in Lisbon? This one, writing, I was traveling, and I recorded it mostly in Lisbon, which is where I live most of the time. I have already toured a bit with this album. Do you write a lot when you're touring? I do fool around, creating little things all the time. So, nobody knows when I really finish them, but they're always cooking as I move around. Right, lots of ideas. Yeah. Right, right, right. And so you're touring the US? Yes. What's next for you for the rest of the year? Once you do the tour, are you going to head back home and begin working on another album, or are you touring Europe as well or what? Well, it has been two years touring and promoting, this Balance album, and in December I stop touring and I stop promoting this album for a while. So then I will be closing the cycle, and I will take some time to breathe and recharge my batteries. And to get more experiences and write about them, that kind of thing. Yeah. Exactly. Sure. Have a life for a while. Exactly. [Laughs.] Well, I very much appreciate you talking the time to talk to us and I look forward to seeing you when you're here in San Francisco. OK, you're welcome and thank you. Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you. Bye.