 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
For FREE Issue - Subscribe Here !
Kika Da Silva Interview
E&E: Good afternoon Kika! I appreciate you taking the time from your busy schedule to do this interview.
K.D. : Happy to be here!
E&E : Diving right in, could you tell our readers a little about yourself. In other words. Who is Kika Da Silva? Describe her.
K.D.: Let's see. You've got one pretty wild artist side, I want to create my own work, make what comes out of me. I could never only be a photographer working for someone, or only doing our peoples stuff. Often I take normal jobs and work there till I get fed up at which point I quit and begin working on my own pieces of art like my books, photo's, movie or videoclips. All my artwork revolves around images and music, usually with a heavy dose of emotions all of it wrapped into stories or in another form of storytelling.
E&E.:Can you tell us more about what your books entail and what inspired you to write them?
K.D.: Yes. My first book was 'Conejo con Ciruelas'. I wrote it in Flemish but it's about my life when I was living in Andalucia. At the time I had a real passion for flamenco dancing and the people that were involved with Flamenco over there. It struck me that many just hang around there and some of them weren't always the nicest people around, so it was quite adventurous.
The second book ' Fé Noches Blancas' is about Ibiza which is very well known for its' night life. It's about my experiences during my stay there and the many colorful individuals I met like drag queens, transsexuals and what others may call freaks or weird people. It includes a music cd with music I felt fitting for the book. And my third book 'Polar Fury' is a punkrock book about the philosophy of anger; what do you do when you're angry. I spent time analyzing people who channel their anger into something constructive, and I like that idea very much. That's probably why I always sympathized so much with the punk movement. I went looking for people from about twenty years ago, talked with them, and put my findings and thoughts into a book and added a music cd with Belgian artists for extra effect.
E&E.: You have travelled a lot in your life, especially to Ibiza. What is it about Ibiza that attracts you so much to this small island and why?
K.D.: Because it's a melting pot of nationalities that I like very much. You have Italians, Spanish, Argentinians and Brazilians, a few Australians, Belgians and French, I tend not to meet many English who are there. It's also quite liberated and free, the only problem these days that limits the freedom is the amount of money everything costs there, due to the tourism it has become quite expensive so that it's not 'free' anymore. Everyone still wants to go there and enjoy the island but they can't always and it's due to that problem. The locals on the island are over commercializing it.
E&E.: Is it the nightlife that has become so expensive?
K.D.: Yes, that too, but its not only the nightlife. Many are raising their prices making the nightlife and other attractions more expensive than necessary.
E&E.: Apart from the people that attracted you to Ibiza, what inspired you to go there the first time?
K.D.: Actually, the movie 'Island of Lost Souls' is based a little on my reasons. In the year 2000, I was living abroad and went through a really tough time in my life, I didn't really want to live anymore. I had tried and fought really hard to get my restaurant business up and running, together with my boyfriend, and to have a good life but pretty much everything had gone wrong. At the beginning of the challenges, I didn't want to give up, I told myself I'm a fighter, I was going to go for it, but at a certain point I had a complete burnout due to the many problems and it was just too much that I couldn't handle it. I went into a very deep depression and moved back to Belgium. But I wasn't happy in Belgium as all my friends had the so called 'ideal' family, with the white picket fence scenario and it just wasn't me, I didn't connect in Belgium. I lot of the people that I knew form the South of Spain had moved to Ibiza and I just followed them. I thought I wasn't going to like the Island but a year later I was living there.
E&E.: Wow, just like that!
K.D.: When I had arrived there, and in that sense, it's the essence of the movie, a lot of people had started their lives over again, a second chance if you will. You don't notice it on the surface as they seem like they are only having fun, enjoying themselves, hanging out, sun, sea & sex. But if you ask them where they came from, and why they moved to Ibiza, then a lot of them tell you a really heavy story about their life before. They talk about challenges like losing a child, a partner committing suicide, their company going bankrupt but people don't really talk about themselves anymore. It's as if a lot of people that arrive in Ibiza feel as if they don't fit in anywhere or don't like their life or the situations they are in don't work and all of a sudden here, in Ibiza they get a second chance. Many who are disciplined enough have a quite heavy and adventurous life, the ones' that aren't disciplined in Ibiza, they fall out of the boat so to speak and that can go really fast. If you don't know what you're doing and just let yourself go with sex, drugs and rock n' roll or with money and lose yourself, it can go really wrong very quickly in Ibiza. People talk of drug problems in Ibiza, but for me the island is like a drug. You can feel really bad with your life, go there for a week, rest and enjoy yourself and come back and feel completely reborn. But.....if you are emotionally unstable and you come to Ibiza, it's as if you are on a highway, it's like the Christmas effect, when everyone is supposed to be happy at Christmas, if you're in this party scene, and you feel bad, then you feel really, really bad. Then it's best to leave the island and come back when you are more stable.
E&E.: You are multi talented, a photographer, writer, singer and producer of short films, if you had to choose only one, which would it be?
K.D.: The singing is more of a fun thing, sometimes I do guest appearances but until now nothing really serious happened. I'm what I would call a good bathroom singer, I like to experiment, and if it's necessary to use my voice, whether it be reading things or singing and adding music, then I will and I really enjoy that. My friend Jorgen Sonck, whom I did the movie with, is a very talented musician. In some parts of the movie I couldn't find the right words or song to 'fit', so we got together and he wrote the music and I wrote the words for the music and that worked out pretty good. But if I had to choose only one of the above, I think I would most prefer to go on with producing and writing movies. The combination of moving images and music is my passion.
E&E.: Is that because you feel you can put more emotion into that ?
K.D.: No, because I have found a great person to work together with now to achieve this. I couldn't do this on my own. My books I wrote because I was able to do so on my own, but this, I prefer much better.
E&E.: Were the books challenging to sell and publish?
K.D.: I don't sell a lot of books as I do everything myself, from the writing of the book, to the publishing, and I don't have a marketing agency I work with. But the funny thing is I meet a lot of people who have my books, whether they bought them somewhere, received them as a gift or whatever, but especially here in Belgium many have them. In Ibiza, not only is my first book pretty widespread, but 'Fe Nochas Blancas' as well, and in the punk scene, many have 'Polar Fury'. I don't know how because I don't really have the channels to market the books.
E&E.: Are the books available in stores ?
K.D.: A few special stores, but mostly online (www.popshop.be). Usually when I give interviews or I make a public appearance, people start calling and asking where they can find my books.
E&E.: What inspired you to begin mixing your photography with writing books and then adding music to it as well?
K.D.: Photography, music, singing, it's all a way of expressing myself. I want a result and I need all these things together to get the result the way I want it.
E&E.: Why do you only use and promote Belgian artists for your work ?
K.D.: Until now, I've only worked in favor of Belgian artists because I'm a very big fan of that music scene and everything that goes on in Belgium. I go from one certain type of music to another, depending on where I feel comfortable at that moment, and I've been doing this for over twenty years. I like this mix between punk, gothic, electronic, rock, flamenco, tango, house, techno, etc. and I just walk in and out of each scene everywhere. I stay as long as I enjoy myself.
E&E.: Do you have a particular music type that you enjoy the most?
K.D.: Yes, but it's more the artists that I really enjoy, so for example in electronic music I like a certain artist, but I don't like ALL electronic music. But I pretty much am fan of the Belgians in general. The variety that you have to choose from is pretty great, just look at the concerts in Belgium, then I think you'll see a lot of Belgian artists that make great music are doing pretty well.
E&E.: As a woman do you feel that you have to work harder in order for your work to be taken seriously?
K.D.: Yes, probably. But there's a small problem on top and that's that I don't always take myself seriously. Some people say that it's not the smartest move marketing wise but I do then remain true to my own personality and that's more important for me.
E&E.: Your latest project is a short movie called 'Island of Lost Souls', can you tell us more about it and what inspired you to make this movie?
K.D.: Yes, of course. The second book about Ibiza is actually like a 'research study' to make the film. I wanted to know who I could count on, from the drag queen friends, the deejays, all the people I know, I wanted to find out who I could depend on. Also concerning the Belgian artists, as I had this mega project in my head to mix the Belgian music, not house music, which would be the obvious for Ibiza, but Belgian music by Belgian artists and mix that with Ibiza images. At first I couldn't figure out how to start so I just began asking Belgian artists if I could use their music, and a lot of them agreed and I was quite pleased with that. I did the same thing with the photo's. When working in Amnesia, one of Ibizas' most famous clubs, as a photographer, certain people who I photographed I felt I wanted to work with them more and I asked them if they would be interested in contributing to my project. Once I had that, I needed a story to put everything together, and as it turned out, something happened to me which made me feel really bad and there was my story. At which point I started filming.
E&E.: And what is the expected launch date in Europe and the U.S.?
K.D.: The movie premiered in Ibiza last september. It was shown in one of the best clubs called Space during La Troya, with a huge party. It's a party by a Brazilian. In the 60's & 70's when all the big names like James Brown, etc. came to perform in Ibiza, he was the one that organized all those events. At a certain point he discovered the DeeJay effect, it was much easier as you only needed one person, a few decks, make sure the sound is great and presto! La Troya is a cabaretesque, exotic party which I love. He himself has all sorts of extravagant people surrounding him, it's a little like a family and I feel good being part of that. Anyway, he saw the movie and wanted to have it premiere there during La Troya. But, I think I will be promoting via the internet to be able to reach more people as well as having it shown at music festivals. It's quite challenging as the movie is too laid back and intense for club scenes, there they just wish to use it as visuals, not really as a movie that you sit down and watch, yet it's too short to be called a true movie, and it's too experimental to be called a videoclip so apart from internet I feel television will be the best way to promote it.
E&E.: Ok, great! What can our readers expect when they go see this movie? What message is there behind it?
K.D.: The message behind it is what do you do if you're hurt, if you don't feel okay, do you smile, go out and party? That is the essential message I am trying to bring across. People call it an 'inner road' movie. I can't tell you it's A, nor a Z movie, it's a whole story and you get out of it what you feel you need to.
E&E.: Do you have any other projects planned other than this movie in the near future?
K.D.: I would love to continue with the movie as it's got a prologue and I would like to make a few epilogues as well.
E&E.: You have lived your life pretty intensely, and to the fullest, trying to enjoy every minute of it, can you give our readers some advice on how to go about doing so too?
K.D.: I don't get up every single morning thinking 'yes!' I love my life, but I do try to. I feel that you have to have discipline, to make the best of every situation, not sit around becoming depressed, in your own cocoon, as then you can't let the good things into your life either. You have to keep your eyes and ears open, people say good luck knocks on everyones door, but some people just don't get up and to answer the door. No matter how bad you think things are, you still have to find something positive in the situation, and little by little that small thing becomes bigger.
E&E.: Is there anyone specific that still inspires you to this day? And why?
K.D.: Oh yes! Many things. A woman in Ecuador sitting down and removing the sugar from the cane, in one fluid movement coz she has done it since she was five years old and she's sixty now, I find that inspiring and beautiful, or someone that broke up with his girlfriend and is hurting and instead of going after her and trying to get even, sits down and writes lyrics about it, then has the discipline to write the music for it as well, I find that inspiring. Even food, I used to cook when I didn't feel great, I felt the need to create something and then I would share my food creations with friends. The feeling of creating, then giving to others, that makes me feel good.
E&E.: With all of your accomplishments, do you still have dreams you wish to come true?
K.D.: Yes! A million (laughs). The biggest dream I have is finding 'La Media Naranja', a person who inspires & loves you, whom you travel with, truly make love with, and with whom you can create things that touch other peoples hearts, in a good, stimulating and more inspiring way.
E&E.: Thank you so much for your time and I wish you a lot of success!
K.D.: You're very welcome!
K.D. : Happy to be here!
E&E : Diving right in, could you tell our readers a little about yourself. In other words. Who is Kika Da Silva? Describe her.
K.D.: Let's see. You've got one pretty wild artist side, I want to create my own work, make what comes out of me. I could never only be a photographer working for someone, or only doing our peoples stuff. Often I take normal jobs and work there till I get fed up at which point I quit and begin working on my own pieces of art like my books, photo's, movie or videoclips. All my artwork revolves around images and music, usually with a heavy dose of emotions all of it wrapped into stories or in another form of storytelling.
E&E.:Can you tell us more about what your books entail and what inspired you to write them?
K.D.: Yes. My first book was 'Conejo con Ciruelas'. I wrote it in Flemish but it's about my life when I was living in Andalucia. At the time I had a real passion for flamenco dancing and the people that were involved with Flamenco over there. It struck me that many just hang around there and some of them weren't always the nicest people around, so it was quite adventurous.
The second book ' Fé Noches Blancas' is about Ibiza which is very well known for its' night life. It's about my experiences during my stay there and the many colorful individuals I met like drag queens, transsexuals and what others may call freaks or weird people. It includes a music cd with music I felt fitting for the book. And my third book 'Polar Fury' is a punkrock book about the philosophy of anger; what do you do when you're angry. I spent time analyzing people who channel their anger into something constructive, and I like that idea very much. That's probably why I always sympathized so much with the punk movement. I went looking for people from about twenty years ago, talked with them, and put my findings and thoughts into a book and added a music cd with Belgian artists for extra effect.
E&E.: You have travelled a lot in your life, especially to Ibiza. What is it about Ibiza that attracts you so much to this small island and why?
K.D.: Because it's a melting pot of nationalities that I like very much. You have Italians, Spanish, Argentinians and Brazilians, a few Australians, Belgians and French, I tend not to meet many English who are there. It's also quite liberated and free, the only problem these days that limits the freedom is the amount of money everything costs there, due to the tourism it has become quite expensive so that it's not 'free' anymore. Everyone still wants to go there and enjoy the island but they can't always and it's due to that problem. The locals on the island are over commercializing it.
E&E.: Is it the nightlife that has become so expensive?
K.D.: Yes, that too, but its not only the nightlife. Many are raising their prices making the nightlife and other attractions more expensive than necessary.
E&E.: Apart from the people that attracted you to Ibiza, what inspired you to go there the first time?
K.D.: Actually, the movie 'Island of Lost Souls' is based a little on my reasons. In the year 2000, I was living abroad and went through a really tough time in my life, I didn't really want to live anymore. I had tried and fought really hard to get my restaurant business up and running, together with my boyfriend, and to have a good life but pretty much everything had gone wrong. At the beginning of the challenges, I didn't want to give up, I told myself I'm a fighter, I was going to go for it, but at a certain point I had a complete burnout due to the many problems and it was just too much that I couldn't handle it. I went into a very deep depression and moved back to Belgium. But I wasn't happy in Belgium as all my friends had the so called 'ideal' family, with the white picket fence scenario and it just wasn't me, I didn't connect in Belgium. I lot of the people that I knew form the South of Spain had moved to Ibiza and I just followed them. I thought I wasn't going to like the Island but a year later I was living there.
E&E.: Wow, just like that!
K.D.: When I had arrived there, and in that sense, it's the essence of the movie, a lot of people had started their lives over again, a second chance if you will. You don't notice it on the surface as they seem like they are only having fun, enjoying themselves, hanging out, sun, sea & sex. But if you ask them where they came from, and why they moved to Ibiza, then a lot of them tell you a really heavy story about their life before. They talk about challenges like losing a child, a partner committing suicide, their company going bankrupt but people don't really talk about themselves anymore. It's as if a lot of people that arrive in Ibiza feel as if they don't fit in anywhere or don't like their life or the situations they are in don't work and all of a sudden here, in Ibiza they get a second chance. Many who are disciplined enough have a quite heavy and adventurous life, the ones' that aren't disciplined in Ibiza, they fall out of the boat so to speak and that can go really fast. If you don't know what you're doing and just let yourself go with sex, drugs and rock n' roll or with money and lose yourself, it can go really wrong very quickly in Ibiza. People talk of drug problems in Ibiza, but for me the island is like a drug. You can feel really bad with your life, go there for a week, rest and enjoy yourself and come back and feel completely reborn. But.....if you are emotionally unstable and you come to Ibiza, it's as if you are on a highway, it's like the Christmas effect, when everyone is supposed to be happy at Christmas, if you're in this party scene, and you feel bad, then you feel really, really bad. Then it's best to leave the island and come back when you are more stable.
E&E.: You are multi talented, a photographer, writer, singer and producer of short films, if you had to choose only one, which would it be?
K.D.: The singing is more of a fun thing, sometimes I do guest appearances but until now nothing really serious happened. I'm what I would call a good bathroom singer, I like to experiment, and if it's necessary to use my voice, whether it be reading things or singing and adding music, then I will and I really enjoy that. My friend Jorgen Sonck, whom I did the movie with, is a very talented musician. In some parts of the movie I couldn't find the right words or song to 'fit', so we got together and he wrote the music and I wrote the words for the music and that worked out pretty good. But if I had to choose only one of the above, I think I would most prefer to go on with producing and writing movies. The combination of moving images and music is my passion.
E&E.: Is that because you feel you can put more emotion into that ?
K.D.: No, because I have found a great person to work together with now to achieve this. I couldn't do this on my own. My books I wrote because I was able to do so on my own, but this, I prefer much better.
E&E.: Were the books challenging to sell and publish?
K.D.: I don't sell a lot of books as I do everything myself, from the writing of the book, to the publishing, and I don't have a marketing agency I work with. But the funny thing is I meet a lot of people who have my books, whether they bought them somewhere, received them as a gift or whatever, but especially here in Belgium many have them. In Ibiza, not only is my first book pretty widespread, but 'Fe Nochas Blancas' as well, and in the punk scene, many have 'Polar Fury'. I don't know how because I don't really have the channels to market the books.
E&E.: Are the books available in stores ?
K.D.: A few special stores, but mostly online (www.popshop.be). Usually when I give interviews or I make a public appearance, people start calling and asking where they can find my books.
E&E.: What inspired you to begin mixing your photography with writing books and then adding music to it as well?
K.D.: Photography, music, singing, it's all a way of expressing myself. I want a result and I need all these things together to get the result the way I want it.
E&E.: Why do you only use and promote Belgian artists for your work ?
K.D.: Until now, I've only worked in favor of Belgian artists because I'm a very big fan of that music scene and everything that goes on in Belgium. I go from one certain type of music to another, depending on where I feel comfortable at that moment, and I've been doing this for over twenty years. I like this mix between punk, gothic, electronic, rock, flamenco, tango, house, techno, etc. and I just walk in and out of each scene everywhere. I stay as long as I enjoy myself.
E&E.: Do you have a particular music type that you enjoy the most?
K.D.: Yes, but it's more the artists that I really enjoy, so for example in electronic music I like a certain artist, but I don't like ALL electronic music. But I pretty much am fan of the Belgians in general. The variety that you have to choose from is pretty great, just look at the concerts in Belgium, then I think you'll see a lot of Belgian artists that make great music are doing pretty well.
E&E.: As a woman do you feel that you have to work harder in order for your work to be taken seriously?
K.D.: Yes, probably. But there's a small problem on top and that's that I don't always take myself seriously. Some people say that it's not the smartest move marketing wise but I do then remain true to my own personality and that's more important for me.
E&E.: Your latest project is a short movie called 'Island of Lost Souls', can you tell us more about it and what inspired you to make this movie?
K.D.: Yes, of course. The second book about Ibiza is actually like a 'research study' to make the film. I wanted to know who I could count on, from the drag queen friends, the deejays, all the people I know, I wanted to find out who I could depend on. Also concerning the Belgian artists, as I had this mega project in my head to mix the Belgian music, not house music, which would be the obvious for Ibiza, but Belgian music by Belgian artists and mix that with Ibiza images. At first I couldn't figure out how to start so I just began asking Belgian artists if I could use their music, and a lot of them agreed and I was quite pleased with that. I did the same thing with the photo's. When working in Amnesia, one of Ibizas' most famous clubs, as a photographer, certain people who I photographed I felt I wanted to work with them more and I asked them if they would be interested in contributing to my project. Once I had that, I needed a story to put everything together, and as it turned out, something happened to me which made me feel really bad and there was my story. At which point I started filming.
E&E.: And what is the expected launch date in Europe and the U.S.?
K.D.: The movie premiered in Ibiza last september. It was shown in one of the best clubs called Space during La Troya, with a huge party. It's a party by a Brazilian. In the 60's & 70's when all the big names like James Brown, etc. came to perform in Ibiza, he was the one that organized all those events. At a certain point he discovered the DeeJay effect, it was much easier as you only needed one person, a few decks, make sure the sound is great and presto! La Troya is a cabaretesque, exotic party which I love. He himself has all sorts of extravagant people surrounding him, it's a little like a family and I feel good being part of that. Anyway, he saw the movie and wanted to have it premiere there during La Troya. But, I think I will be promoting via the internet to be able to reach more people as well as having it shown at music festivals. It's quite challenging as the movie is too laid back and intense for club scenes, there they just wish to use it as visuals, not really as a movie that you sit down and watch, yet it's too short to be called a true movie, and it's too experimental to be called a videoclip so apart from internet I feel television will be the best way to promote it.
E&E.: Ok, great! What can our readers expect when they go see this movie? What message is there behind it?
K.D.: The message behind it is what do you do if you're hurt, if you don't feel okay, do you smile, go out and party? That is the essential message I am trying to bring across. People call it an 'inner road' movie. I can't tell you it's A, nor a Z movie, it's a whole story and you get out of it what you feel you need to.
E&E.: Do you have any other projects planned other than this movie in the near future?
K.D.: I would love to continue with the movie as it's got a prologue and I would like to make a few epilogues as well.
E&E.: You have lived your life pretty intensely, and to the fullest, trying to enjoy every minute of it, can you give our readers some advice on how to go about doing so too?
K.D.: I don't get up every single morning thinking 'yes!' I love my life, but I do try to. I feel that you have to have discipline, to make the best of every situation, not sit around becoming depressed, in your own cocoon, as then you can't let the good things into your life either. You have to keep your eyes and ears open, people say good luck knocks on everyones door, but some people just don't get up and to answer the door. No matter how bad you think things are, you still have to find something positive in the situation, and little by little that small thing becomes bigger.
E&E.: Is there anyone specific that still inspires you to this day? And why?
K.D.: Oh yes! Many things. A woman in Ecuador sitting down and removing the sugar from the cane, in one fluid movement coz she has done it since she was five years old and she's sixty now, I find that inspiring and beautiful, or someone that broke up with his girlfriend and is hurting and instead of going after her and trying to get even, sits down and writes lyrics about it, then has the discipline to write the music for it as well, I find that inspiring. Even food, I used to cook when I didn't feel great, I felt the need to create something and then I would share my food creations with friends. The feeling of creating, then giving to others, that makes me feel good.
E&E.: With all of your accomplishments, do you still have dreams you wish to come true?
K.D.: Yes! A million (laughs). The biggest dream I have is finding 'La Media Naranja', a person who inspires & loves you, whom you travel with, truly make love with, and with whom you can create things that touch other peoples hearts, in a good, stimulating and more inspiring way.
E&E.: Thank you so much for your time and I wish you a lot of success!
K.D.: You're very welcome!