Fighting against the wind of Ponta Delgada, I had a sweet chat with producer and singer-songwriter Ana Lua Caiano. We discussed her creative process and how she integrates the inspiration coming from Portuguese traditional music and Musique Concrete.

I filmed this interview as part of my visit at Tremor Festival, a musical experience in the heart of the Atlantic. This festival on the island of São Miguel (Azores) brings together art, territory, and local communities, promoting artistic residencies and celebrating music as a privileged space for connection and encounters. More videos filmed at Tremor are on my channel.

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AR: To take it very general, your music combines some electronic production, experimental pop, and traditional folk. And I want to start talking about the last part — about the Portuguese traditional music and the popular chants. I was wondering, how did you encounter this repertoire and why did it resonate with you?

Ana: I think the first time I had encounters with this kind of music was with Zeca Afonso. He’s a traditional songwriter. He did a lot of songs about the revolution and against the dictatorial Estado Novo regime. But in his songs he also used songs that were from the popular domain — songs that were not registered. So people would sing and would pass through generations.

He has a lot of songs that he recorded that represent those songs that have passed through generations. But then Michel Giacometti also recorded a lot of… he’s a very important person in Portugal. He’s not from Portugal, but he recorded a lot of people singing traditional songs in villages, everywhere.

And nowadays we also have a project that is called A Música Portuguesa A Gostar Dela Própria (Portuguese music liking itself), and it's like the modern version of that — recording people nowadays. It’s a project from Tiago Pereira that goes through every little village in Portugal and records songs that could be lost in 10 or 20 years, and he's recording it. So it's also a good way to find that kind of traditional music.

AR: In a lot of traditional music — and I think also the one that inspires you — there are a lot of percussions. And in your album as well, but you mostly use electronic beats. I was wondering if you want to tell me how you worked on those productions?

Ana: So my project was born a little bit during the pandemic. Before that, I used to play with bands. But because I like to compose and I wanted to continue to create music, I started to use the things I had around me.

I had some traditional percussion instruments and some synthesizers because a little bit before the pandemic I started to research and to learn more about electronic music — concrete music [musique concrète]. And so during the pandemic, I had a little bit of these elements, and I started producing.

That was something that I didn't know how to do, because I always composed music, but then I played with a lot of musicians. So for the first time, I tried to create something that I could play on my own and that I could record on my own. That was the beginning of the project during those times.

So the traditional music and the electronic parts of it, and also the use of day-to-day objects in my songs — because in the pandemic, I didn't have… I had a lot of little bits and instruments, but I didn't have a big quantity. So I started to use the instruments that I had around me — keys, or glasses, or something, anything that I could find in my house, I would use it.

So I think that was a time when I really started to explore everything — everything that could be used as music. And so objects became instruments also.

AR: And what is your connection with musique concrète, avant-garde, and that kind of music?

Ana: So a little bit before the pandemic, I made a workshop with Åke Parmerud — a musician that uses a little bit some principles of concrete music. And he introduced me to the idea that you could use recordings to make music.

So I was in the workshop — the idea was to compose… we had limited time, and with field recordings, the idea was to try to compose. Of course, with concrete music, the aim is not to create something musical in the format as we know. But I took a little bit of the idea of the concrete music and I applied it in a more musical way — in the way I wanted to make music.

But before that, I hadn't even thought about it. Because I studied classical music and jazz music, everything is based on instruments. And so it was very important for me to encounter that other types of music exist — that I didn’t know existed.

I think also for people who are not familiar, hearing this kind of music can be very interesting. Because apart from its historical relevance, I think it kind of represents also the bizarre and uncomfortable things that are just part of our world.

Of course, I applied those ideas in a very musical sense — like to the traditional and to the electronic parts of music — but it was very essential to me to understand that music could be almost anything. So I started to use field recordings as well.

AR: You hear it in the way there are maybe some sounds that are sort of interferences, or some very high-pitched... or also some of the sounds, it feels like they’re very heavy — they have weight. It feels like every texture has a particular sense and meaning.

All these elements that we mentioned — you combine them to make pop songs, or experimental pop songs. And I was wondering, how is your songwriting process? Do you write on keys, like melody and chords, and then add the layers? Or how is the process?

Ana: I studied jazz and classical music, but I don’t think with chords. So the first thing that I put in my music is the melody.

And then I start to — for example, it can happen anytime — usually if I’m bored or I cannot sleep, I start to record things. And then on another day, I recover those. I listen to those recordings and start to select which are the best parts.

So the first part is a melody, and then I start to build the rhythm and everything. I put the melody on top of a rhythm thing that I create, and then I start to add layers and see what happens.