What aspects of your heritage and culture are reflected in your album “Morfo”?
Being from two cultures, some of my songs reflect on duality and transformation, just like that of a butterfly. As a Norwegian Brazilian growing up in Norway, it was on my mind a lot that I was different. The message of my album is to embrace [this] duality and transformation. Though transformation can be painful, it is also necessary for growth. I don’t ever want to be stagnant, so movement is important to me, both in my music and in my soul. Morfo is a project about my Brazilian and Norwegian heritage and how both have influenced me as an artist and a person. I grew up in Norway surrounded by nature; similarly, Brazil has its Amazonian forests. Since I didn’t grow up in Brazil, I [imagined] what it sounds like [through my songs].

How has music helped you champion your culture and heritage?
Speaking your truth has become much more normalised and encouraged than before. It has been important to me as an artist to break moulds and [find] role models I didn’t have in Norway growing up.

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How has your time at Berklee Music College and your international education inspired your creative process?
Berklee has inspired my creative process as the school has so much musical diversity, which I dove right into learning. I had access to many different classes like Ghanaian drumming, Balkan choir, jazz vocals and then a semester abroad studying flamenco and Mediterranean arranging. I learnt many different musical styles that I think find their way into my music a lot.

How has your musical style evolved since “Cleo”, your first album?
My musical style is diverse, but I found myself mostly rooted in the sounds of Cleo, which is soul and RnB. Then I wanted to create music that [counteracts] the heaviness of the past two years with some playful music, and Morfo came out of it. Now I find myself moving back to my initial sounds like the Cleo EP.

What inspired you to become a musician in the first place?
The greatest influences on me are Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, Milton Nascimento and Fugees—lots of hip-hop, jazz and RnB music. According to my parents, I started singing when I was three or four years old. They always saw me performing and miming with a microphone. I always thought I would be an artist some day.

Both of my parents were music lovers, especially my father. We would always play music together loudly in the house—it was like an escape where we could go to a different magical place through music and where everything was possible.

What future projects or songs do you have in the pipeline?
I am working on a new project where I focus on RnB or soul. It feels great going back to the basics.

What are you looking forward to during your time in Hong Kong?
I am really excited to experience the city’s culture, seeing the skyline at night, enjoying a Cantonese opera, visiting old Hong Kong and temples which I love, doing some island hopping, checking out the street markets and trying lots of delicious food.

From April 19 to May 27, 2023. Café Carlyle Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

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