Diego: For a moment I imagined you performing live with full band… exactly like this post

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A post shared by Claire Donzelli (@clairedonzellimusic)

The way you sing is powerful, I imagined you only singing, without playing any instrument. There’s more freedom to give power to the performance, do you agree? So nice the artwork and the reviews about the song too

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19 de outubro de 2020 16:51

Claire: Hi Diego! Thank you so much, that means a lot!! I’d love to perform with a full band again one day and I’m so glad you like my music. And yes, sometimes it’s hard to give the same power and performance when I’m playing an instrument at the same time!

I see that you play guitar! How long have you been doing that for?

Diego: For 15 years. But it’s been only 4 years and some months that I started with the public expression as a composer. Before this I used to play acoustic guitar in religious movements, especially catholic church… I’m so grateful when I talk with someone from another country. I see Berklee College of Music is important in your state, isn’t it?

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Wow that’s awesome! What kinds of songs do you write?

It’s a very good school for contemporary music!

Diego: Mostly I describe them as experimental MPB music, with strong elements of rock and pop. One of my purposes is to export the best Brazil has got to the world, I feel inspired by Kiko Loureiro in this purpose, who’s currently so grateful in Megadeth along with Mustaine! And how would you describe your music and songwriting, Claire?

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Claire: That’s awesome! What is MPB?

Hmm that’s hard. I write a lot of singer-songwriter/acoustic music and folk and rock, but I’ve been getting more into electropop lately. But I just kind of write whatever comes to me. I love writing rich melodies and telling stories ?

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Diego: Música Popular Brasileira or Brazilian Popular Music. Some of its expoents are Milton Nascimento (the singer of that video from Clube da Esquina that I commented on your post), Caetano Veloso and Marisa Monte (a great voice and composer). I think that electropop is a good style of expression, electronica elements sometimes expresses something that acoustic instruments wouldn’t express. What are the highlights of your songwriting, in your own opinion?

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Claire: That’s awesome! What a unique mix of influences. I’m also a big fan of electro pop and I’ll have to check out some of those composers I haven’t heard yet.

I love writing lyrics and melodies and creating an emotional progression with my music that captures people’s attention. Sometimes I have trouble filling out more of the arrangement stuff though or writing for instruments other than piano and voice. What about you?

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29 de outubro de 2020 09:09

Diego: I write songs which create a meaningful whole, when they’re heard together I feel that I could express true emotions and songwriting style. I have the same difficulties you mentioned, but the difference is that I write mainly for acoustic guitar and voice. Sometimes I feel the song isn’t fullfilled when I listen with volume in 100% or 60% (the default and ‘secure’ for smartphones) But I don’t blame myself comparing the way I produce to what is on mainstream. Sometimes I perceive something strange in mainstream music, with excess of dissonance, distortion in electric guitar and synths, too loud productions… this really affects musicians and listeners’ health. Have you ever had this kind of perception? You sing so softly and gives the peace energy in your production, I remember of Together Apart now when I’m writing this.

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29 de outubro de 2020 15:22

Claire: I can definitely relate to that! Sometimes mainstream music just sounds over-edited and distorted depending on who produced it. There’s something really nice about a natural sounding acoustic song. That’s what I was going for when I produced Together Apart. I wanted it to feel kind of intimate and vulnerable. I got someone else to produce Lift Me Higher though haha

29 de outubro de 2020 17:43

Diego: Lift Me Higher is an outstanding production and beautiful song! Why did you decide to get another person to produce it? You seem to be a content creator, in productions… lyric videos and something else… are they your creations?

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29 de outubro de 2020 22:01

Claire: Thank you!! I got someone else to produce it because I have minimal knowledge of producing anything beyond voice and piano and I felt like the song needed more.

Thank you!!! I did make my lyric videos ?

And I still wrote the music and lyrics for Lift Me Higher even though someone else produced it ?

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30 de outubro de 2020 20:14

Diego: I listened to it twice today, one time in the morning and another time now. The first chorus gives a special feeling that it must be heard again… and then the second and complete chorus comes again with a whole special harmony and melody. I bet the chorus uses a chord borrowed from another tone. Am I right? We usually say in Brazil it’s a ‘modular chord’. But I’m not sure if my perception is right here hehe 🙂

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Claire: Thank you!! Ah that makes me so happy to hear! ?? And yes, you’re absolutely right! The chord modulates to another key somewhere in there ?

30 de outubro de 2020 22:34

Diego: The resolution you gave to the harmony through the modular chord is so special that it touched my feeling and at once reminded me of a Sean Lennon’s Song. It’s been almost 7 years that I haven’t heard it! Isn’t it curious? I felt that it needed to be shared with you! The specific part that reminded starts in 3:33 but maybe you like the whole song 🙂

Sean Lennon – Falling Out of Love [HQ Audio]

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Claire:

Aw wow thank you! That means a lot. I’ll check out that song!

Wow that’s a super cool song. I LOVE the chord changes at 3:33 too. And that guitar solo ???

Thank you for sharing this!

Talking about this makes me feel inspired to write more. It’s funny how certain things with harmony and melody can be memorable like that

I decided to publish our conversation, she’ll probably see this on Google and related someday, or because of a simple backlink to her site, she’s a Marketer too. Comments with Gravatar are welcome.