Cat power pdf
1
28.03.2014 fri 2 DIRECTOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_Paulo Coutinho [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR_Paulo Barbosa [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela CHINA & FOREIGN EDITOR_Vanessa Moore [email protected] DESIGN EDITOR_João Jorge Magalhães [email protected] | NEWSROOM AND CONTRIBUTORS_Albano Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll (Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer) | ASSOCIATE CONTRIBUTORS_ JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | NEWS AGENCIES_ Associated Press, Bloomberg, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | SECRETARY_Yang Dongxiao [email protected] SEND NEWSWORTHY INFORMATION AND PRESS RELEASES TO: NEWSROOM@MACAUDAILYTIMES.COM WEBSITE: WWW.MACAUDAILYTIMES.COM.MO A MACAU TIMES PUBLICATIONS LTD PUBLICATION ADMINISTRATOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Kowie Geldenhuys [email protected] SECRETARY Juliana Cheang [email protected] ADDRESS 2nd Floor 62 Av. Infante D. Henrique, MACAU SAR Telephones: +853 287 160 81/2 Fax: +853 287 160 84 Advertisement [email protected] For subscription and general issues: [email protected] | Printed at Welfare Printing Ltd ISSN 2305-4271 www.macaudailytimes.com.mo MDT’s Website has logged over 64 million page views since January 1st, 2012 up to today. Thank You! Cat Power’s shows can be surprising. She reworks songs, often reinventing them Like us? facebook.com/mdtimes 2 MACAU 澳聞 Catarina Pinto T HE phone rings and se- conds later there it is: the unmistakable melancholia at- tached to her voice. Whether Chan Marshall – be- tter known by her stage name Cat Power – is singing or gi- ving a phone interview from a distant Los Angeles airport: her distinct, slightly raspy voi- ce and the still-strong Georgia accent instantly draw you in to an emotional connection with her. This is an artist who of- ten laughs at her own jokes, a musician in love with people, stirring up emotion whilst un- veiling a bit of her story. “What drew you to the world of music?” I ask her. Answers emerge slowly, shaped by si- lent pauses, laughter, and un- certainties. “Maybe it was mu- sic that drew me to the world,” says Chan Marshall, 42, who will be performing at the Ve- netian Cotai Arena tomorrow – a concert integrated into the program of “The Script Road – CAt Power iN towN “Music drew me to the world” Macau Literary Festival.” The American singer and songwriter named Chan (pro- nounced Shawn) “has built up a substantial cult following of people addicted to her gor- geous melancholia (…) For her fans, Chan is this generation’s Nick Drake or Nina Simone – with just as much eccentricity and tragic-romantic mystique,” says The New York Times. Yes, the mystique was all there in an interview with the Times over the phone, hurrie- dly conducted in between che- ck-in and boarding at the Los Angeles airport. The mystery and eccentricity were not left out either. “I was probably some six months old when someone might have sang some ta ta ta ta ta… yeah, it was music that drew me to the world, and I never thought that was possi- ble. I mean I just loved to sing, every little kid loves to sing,” she continues, recalling why she started singing in the first place. Those more familiar with her work know that her shows can be surprising. Many are pre- pared to expect anything, to be introduced to songs that she has reworked, often rein- venting them. “This concert [in Macau] is super specific,” she tells the Times, adding that “being invited back to China after I was just there, and in this respected literary festival, is an honor.” It makes her feel privileged because, in her own words, she is not a saint: “I mean I wasn’t born… my fa- mily, my heritage, well it isn’t a fancy world...” Last year, Chan performed in Shanghai, sharing her music with China: which, as descri- bed by the New York Times, has “strains of most home- grown American genres: folk, rock, gospel, blues, and coun- try, all sung in a soulful voi- ce that’s usually described as smoky (…)” What was it like to perform in China? To broad questions, Cat Power responds with a “wow!” “How was it like?” she asks, putting emphasis on her Georgia accent. “It was like landing in a place where I have never been before, and from the moment I arrived, learning about everything I was allowed to and able to wit- ness…That’s one of the grea- test gifts I could ever ask for,” she recalls. Summarized in a few words, “it was familiar, normal, beau- tiful, respectful, funny, in- teresting, giving, cool,” she adds. In Macau, expect the unex- pected. “I will not focus on my last album (“Sun”), as I was invited solo. I will sing songs that people may have never heard anywhere, I might do songs that people didn’t ex- pect to ever hear again,” she laughs, adding: “I don’t think it will be an explosion, nor a fun affair…. Actually, I like to think it is an affair but I don’t. I am just going to see, play the guitar and the piano, that’s pretty much it.” Her latest original album “Sun” was critically acclai- med and featured on the Bill- board 10 Best Albums of 2012. Cat Power says the album is “about the current state of now.” Although it was relea- sed two years ago, she be- lieves that it is a timeless re- cord. It took her quite a bit of time to produce and release it, but she says that recording isn’t usually such a hard task: “Usually I just record some songs, but with this album I was told I needed to make a hit record, so it kind of defor- med in my brain and I had to make my own hit record.” The world and its people inspire her, Chan assures us. Composing many of her own songs since the 1990s, Chan Marshall sees herself as a wri- ter too: no wonder she can now be found at a literary festival. “My life has influenced my art, artists that I love make me feel valid (…) and the ones that I love the most and [who] help me not to feel alone are many, many, many. Well, they might not even be writers or musicians,” she explains. With her smoky voice con- quering a very specific fan base, one might ask: “do you feel lu- cky for being able to sing and share your music with others?” Chan Marshall replies sharply: “I think I got trained to feel so lucky, but I know in my heart everybody has the same gift, the same power.” Having struggled with al- cohol and depression issues, she says that the “world’s dif- ficulty is measurable.” She ad- ded: “My s*** is just like no- thing. It can drive me insane and makes me unhealthy but that’s life. And that’s what you do: we live it.” The concert takes place to- morrow at the Venetian Cotai Arena at 8 p.m. “The Script Road – Macau Literary Festi- val” is organized by newspa- per Ponto Final and the Cultu- ral Affairs Bureau.
-
Upload
catarina-pinto -
Category
Documents
-
view
192 -
download
0
Transcript of Cat power pdf
28.03.2014 fri
2
DIRECtoR AND EDItoR-IN-CHIEF_Paulo Coutinho [email protected] MANAgINg EDItoR_Paulo Barbosa [email protected] CoNtRIbutINg EDItoRs_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela CHINA & FoREIgN EDItoR_Vanessa Moore [email protected]
DEsIgN EDItoR_João Jorge Magalhães [email protected] | NEwsRooM AND CoNtRIbutoRs_Albano Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll (Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer) | AssoCIAtE CoNtRIbutoRs_JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | NEws AgENCIEs_ Associated Press, Bloomberg, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | sECREtARy_Yang Dongxiao [email protected]
send newsworthy information and press releases to: [email protected] website: www.macaudailytimes.com.mo
A MACAu tIMEs PublICAtIoNs ltD PublICAtIoN
ADMINIstRAtoR AND CHIEF ExECutIvE oFFICERKowie Geldenhuys [email protected] sECREtARy Juliana Cheang [email protected] ADDREss 2nd Floor 62 Av. Infante D. Henrique, MACAU SAR telephones: +853 287 160 81/2 Fax: +853 287 160 84 Advertisement [email protected] For subscription and general issues:[email protected] | Printed at Welfare Printing Ltd
ISSN 2305-4271
www.macaudailytimes.com.moMDT’s Website has logged over
64 million page views since January 1st, 2012 up to today.
Thank You!
Cat Power’s shows can be surprising. She reworks songs, often reinventing them
Like us? facebook.com/mdtimes
2 MACAU 澳聞
Catarina Pinto
The phone rings and se-conds later there it is: the
unmistakable melancholia at-tached to her voice.
Whether Chan Marshall – be-tter known by her stage name Cat Power – is singing or gi-ving a phone interview from a distant Los Angeles airport: her distinct, slightly raspy voi-ce and the still-strong Georgia accent instantly draw you in to an emotional connection with her. This is an artist who of-ten laughs at her own jokes, a musician in love with people, stirring up emotion whilst un-veiling a bit of her story.
“What drew you to the world of music?” I ask her. Answers emerge slowly, shaped by si-lent pauses, laughter, and un-certainties. “Maybe it was mu-sic that drew me to the world,” says Chan Marshall, 42, who will be performing at the Ve-netian Cotai Arena tomorrow – a concert integrated into the program of “The Script Road –
CAt Power iN towN
“Music drew me to the world”
Macau Literary Festival.”The American singer and
songwriter named Chan (pro-nounced Shawn) “has built up a substantial cult following of people addicted to her gor-geous melancholia (…) For her fans, Chan is this generation’s Nick Drake or Nina Simone – with just as much eccentricity and tragic-romantic mystique,” says The New York Times.
Yes, the mystique was all there in an interview with the Times over the phone, hurrie-dly conducted in between che-ck-in and boarding at the Los Angeles airport. The mystery and eccentricity were not left out either.
“I was probably some six months old when someone might have sang some ta ta ta ta ta… yeah, it was music that drew me to the world, and I never thought that was possi-ble. I mean I just loved to sing, every little kid loves to sing,” she continues, recalling why she started singing in the first place.
Those more familiar with her work know that her shows can be surprising. Many are pre-pared to expect anything, to be introduced to songs that she has reworked, often rein-venting them.
“This concert [in Macau] is
super specific,” she tells the Times, adding that “being invited back to China after I was just there, and in this respected literary festival, is an honor.” It makes her feel privileged because, in her own words, she is not a saint: “I
mean I wasn’t born… my fa-mily, my heritage, well it isn’t a fancy world...”
Last year, Chan performed in Shanghai, sharing her music with China: which, as descri-bed by the New York Times, has “strains of most home-grown American genres: folk, rock, gospel, blues, and coun-try, all sung in a soulful voi-ce that’s usually described as smoky (…)”
What was it like to perform in China? To broad questions, Cat Power responds with a “wow!” “How was it like?” she asks, putting emphasis on her Georgia accent. “It was like landing in a place where I have never been before, and from the moment I arrived, learning about everything I was allowed to and able to wit-ness…That’s one of the grea-test gifts I could ever ask for,” she recalls.
Summarized in a few words, “it was familiar, normal, beau-tiful, respectful, funny, in-teresting, giving, cool,” she
adds.In Macau, expect the unex-
pected. “I will not focus on my last album (“Sun”), as I was invited solo. I will sing songs that people may have never heard anywhere, I might do songs that people didn’t ex-pect to ever hear again,” she laughs, adding: “I don’t think it will be an explosion, nor a fun affair…. Actually, I like to think it is an affair but I don’t. I am just going to see, play the guitar and the piano, that’s pretty much it.”
Her latest original album “Sun” was critically acclai-med and featured on the Bill-board 10 Best Albums of 2012. Cat Power says the album is “about the current state of now.” Although it was relea-sed two years ago, she be-lieves that it is a timeless re-cord. It took her quite a bit of time to produce and release it, but she says that recording isn’t usually such a hard task: “Usually I just record some songs, but with this album I was told I needed to make a hit record, so it kind of defor-med in my brain and I had to make my own hit record.”
The world and its people inspire her, Chan assures us. Composing many of her own songs since the 1990s, Chan Marshall sees herself as a wri-ter too: no wonder she can now be found at a literary festival.
“My life has influenced my art, artists that I love make me feel valid (…) and the ones that I love the most and [who] help me not to feel alone are many, many, many. Well, they might not even be writers or musicians,” she explains.
With her smoky voice con-quering a very specific fan base, one might ask: “do you feel lu-cky for being able to sing and share your music with others?” Chan Marshall replies sharply: “I think I got trained to feel so lucky, but I know in my heart everybody has the same gift, the same power.”
Having struggled with al-cohol and depression issues, she says that the “world’s dif-ficulty is measurable.” She ad-ded: “My s*** is just like no-thing. It can drive me insane and makes me unhealthy but that’s life. And that’s what you do: we live it.”
The concert takes place to-morrow at the Venetian Cotai Arena at 8 p.m. “The Script Road – Macau Literary Festi-val” is organized by newspa-per Ponto Final and the Cultu-ral Affairs Bureau.
