September/October 2008 music feature – Isabel José
Last modified: 22:39:52 CET on 17 Mar, 2009 |
Born and raised in Sweden, in a Swedish-Portugese family; Isabel has always been into music and her voice got really unique with time. Right now, she's studying music and recording as much of it as she can. The most of her songs are slow, focusing on the vocal and backed by minimal amount of instruments. As her influences; next to obviously John and RHCP as well as her brother, Henrik José (Bliss); Isabel lists Tiger Lou, Buck65, John Mayer, Bill Withers, Sean Lennon, Anthony Davis, Tori Amos, Eva Cassidy, Jeff Buckley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jai-Alai Savant, Prefuse73, Mars Volta and The Police. However, she believes that what her music sounds like is, well, herself. And one would have to agree with it, as ms. José's sound is very, very haunting and beautiful - guaranteed for goosebumps and shivers down one's spine.
On Isabel's MySpace page; you can give a listen to another John cover, Going Inside, as well as her author songs. Invisible Movement's warmest recommendation would be to play Scared on your headphones and cut off from everything else in the world for a couple of minutes. Then, you could as well do the same with Taken. Perhaps that will make your day. Perhaps that will touch your heart.
Alternatively, you can download her covers of The Days Have Turned and Going Inside on the readers' covers page. It does not sound as one would expect a cover of a guitar song to sound, it has a completely different vibe, it creates a completely different atmosphere and, when sung by a female, it might as well have a completely different meaning to it.
What else are you doing, apart from studying music?
Isabel: Right now I'm studying music only.. but will star as beauty in Beauty and the Beast this fall, plus I'm working as a drama and song coach/peadagog and doing some live shows with a friend.
What is your approach to recording music?
I started out with a one pound mic, very low-key/fi music making; without understanding anything about the program I was recording in... basically just knowing how to press RECORD. The music I'm making right now is less mainstream and more 'me' ...not that the music I've put on my myspace isn't me.. but when I first started making music, the music I made was very 'different' and I was ashamed/afraid of what others would think about it. Now I'm like "fuck that". I might be making music that isn't comercial, but that's a blessing. And as long as I like it... things are good.
Did knowing music theory change your approach to music?
I feel more confident when I play the piano now, as I'm starting to understand music theory now... without thinking about it. It comes more naturally and I pretty much like when you play outside the rules. When you play in a certain key, there's only six chords you can use.... and there is usually a given pattern those chords follow in.. and i dislike that. When you're listening to a song on the radio, a hit, you can usually sing along with the song even if it's the very first time you hear that song. And I want to keep away from that as much as possible. At least I try to. As a musician you are kind of destroyed. I cannot listen to a song like others would. When I hear music, it's all about the different instruments, what they are doing and how one instrument sounds along with another: the rhythm, dynamics, chords, notes. Is the guitar following the melody of the song? Is the bas just playing the first note of every chord? Et cetera.
What would be your advice to young people wanting to study music?
To study it! You should always try to you what you want to. One time in my life I did nothing cause I wasn't capable of it, and finally I let go, the only thing that was stopping me was ME and fear. And those two are the top reasons in people's lives when it comes to why they don't do things: they dont believe in themselves and they are scared. Those two things should not rule your life. However, studying music is harder than studying science, maths, language or whatever; be aware of that! When you study music, you compare yourself with everyone else instead of yourself.
How to cope with lack of inspiration and confidence?
Doees anyone have an answer to that? You cope with it by forcing yourself to play with your instrument for a certain amount of time every day. You will come across something. Or, you take some time off. You can't always be inspired and creative. But there are a lot of inspirational sources out there that we don't see though. Confidence...that's something you'll have to learn how to cope with.. it's about accepting yourself and what you do, for YOU to be OK with... if you are, then others will be too. And if not, too bad for them. But you will always be struggling with your confidence, always questioning yourself. I still compare myself with others and feel low about my voice cause others are better. But there are always others that are better than you, but there are also others who will think you are better than them.
Many thanks to Isabel for having the time for this beautiful interview.
