Behind the curtain with Kay Lyra by #BlaNYCPRGirls

BlaNYCPRGirls proudly interviewed the amazing Brazilian musician, Kay Lyra this week. The Bossa Nova icon is performing at DROM, in the East Village, May 14th at 9:30 pm (door opens at 9:00). It was a enormous pleasure to be able to get answers from Carlos Lyra's daughter, who is being produced by Madalena Sousa. #amazing #AsuosProduction

Below you can delight yourself with Kay's great vibe and hopefully you will make it to her concert next Wednesday.

Here we go:

BlaNYCPRGirls: Music critic Nelson Motta labeled you as “The daughter of bossa with a crystal voice" celebrating your father, Carlos Lyra, and one of the "fathers" of bossa nova. How do you feel about it!? Are you extra proud that your dad was part of the the first generation of Bossa Nova!?

Kay: I'm very proud!  I like my father's songs so much I always open my shows with one of his songs.  Now it became almost like a tradition.

BlaNYCPRGirls: What were your musical experiences like while you were growing up? If you weren't a musician, what would you be and why? 

Kay: Music was so present in my life and so natural, I thought every family was doing music in their homes.  It is something that unites people and music is a very strong bond between my father and I.  This is a field we can always agree upon.  I always liked classical music and opera as well.  I don't know what else I could be besides a musician, but if I didn't sing Bossa Nova, I could picture myself as an opera singer, but I guess Bossa Nova is running in my veins.

BlaNYCPRGirls: What were your earliest professional gigs like and how did you get them? Is this your first time playing in New York City?  

Kay: My first time playing in New York was at MoMA Nights, on a beautiful day, in the gardens.  It was during the Brazilian film Festival they had at the MoMA museum.   Since then, I've been playing in different events like the one  I played at Sea port,  Brazil Foundation, Be Brazil, etc. 

BlaNYCPRGirls: What is your favorite thing to see in the audience while you are on stage? 

Kay: I love to see people happy!  Sometimes I sing a brazilian music to brazilians who are homesick and they get very emotional with a song, or sometimes I sing Bossa Nova to an audience of americans or foreigners from different countries who never heard Bossa Nova and they are quite delighted with the music.

BlaNYCPRGirls: Your body of work, nowadays, is heavily influenced by bossa nova and jazz, right?  #BlaNYCPRGirls are familiar that you have studied classic genres in Brazil and decided to turned to a more popular song style after moving abroad? Why? 

Kay: I just follow my heart!  It always brings me back home to Bossa Nova!

BlaNYCPRGirls: Do you ever get lost in the music?

Kay: On the contrary, I always find myself in music!

BlaNYCPRGirls: What advice would you give musicians starting out as professionals?

Kay: Never play what you don't love.

BlaNYCPRGirls: Do you have a plan to play in Brazil or your main public is New Yorkers?

Kay: Having dual citizenship I travel a lot back and forth.  I just came back from Rio de Janeiro where I performed at Sala Funarte, at the traditional "Bottle's Bar" (Beco das Garrafas) and a new place called "Godofredo".  And before that, I did a show at Casa de Arte e Cultura Julieta de Serpa, also in Rio de Janeiro.   Now, we are planning to go to the North of Brazil, Argentina and Panama.

BlaNYCPRGirls: And for the future, what are the next work? Are you planning a new cd? What the public can expect?

Kay: I'm preparing three different CDs, but I don't know which one I'm going to finish first. One is for the japanese market.  But I like to record in no hurry so it might take a few months before it's over.  

Mirella Afonso & Mai Dornelles

#BlaNYCPRGirls

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