Interview with Erica Viegas

Category:  Audio & Visuals

At the outset thanks for accepting our invitation!!!

1. Could you please tell us little bit more about yourself, about your growth curve and getting to where you want to?

E: I was born in Bahrain, but my parents are originally from Goa and I moved to Canada when I was three. Music has always been a bit part of my life, since I could talk! I started taking piano and singing lessons when I was around 10 and have continued doing music on and off and writing my own songs through school and then University. I finally decided to take a step and record my first CD of these songs...which luckily have been getting some great exposure. If you want take a listen, clips can be found at www.ericaviegas.com

2. You are a perfect example who is way ahead of others in turning imaginations into actions. Can you please share with us during all these formative years of yours, at any point, had you ever thought you would reach where you are right now?

E: It was always a hope of mine to record, and to be able to spread my music to a wider audience. Everyone has different passions and music and writing was always it for me. That being said, I did have times (and still do) where I doubted my own abilities, or wondered whether it was worth going for something seemingly so "risky". I think everyone has these moments of self-doubt, and if we didn't, we wouldn't be human (or else I need to learn the trick ) I think it's a fine balance between believing in yourself, stepping through fears, and doing things because you truly love what you are doing.

3. Your appetite for life to achieve more looks like insatiable; can you please shed some light when exactly you decided to pursue your dreams?

E: I started performing a lot around my city, Edmonton, Canada at open stages and places that really supported musicians and gave them a chance to try out their original music. I had been performing other people's songs for awhile, and felt that doing my own songs was a whole new experience: much more vulnerable, but also a lot more exciting in terms of connecting with an audience. Other people started encouraging me to make a recording, and in many ways that was just the push I needed to finally take a step forward!

4. While doing some research on you, I realized that at a young age, you always wanted to make it big, who was your role model then and who is it now?

E: I think that children often dream without inhibitions, so yes, I believe I probably believed in myself even more as a child, with thoughts that dreams could be "big or hard" to achieve never having crossed my mind at that point. My mother, uncles and cousins were the first people I ever heard music come out of, so I would say they will always be the first influence. So many artists over the years have been inspiring to me...more and more I appreciate artists who put a lot of themselves, their lives, and their stories into the things they do. I love songwriters who are great story tellers, and let us see a bit of themselves in the music they create.

5. As people say success begets success and without doubt it aptly applies for you. Could you please let us know about the secret of your amazing success as you made such a quick rise? Can you please share the same with our readers?

E: I suppose in some ways, it is always easier for someone else to see you as "successful" than to see yourself in that way, because you know the work, the good and bad times, and the background to everything you have done. I think luck is always a factor, as is a really firm intention of what you are hoping for.

Mostly I really really just LOVE people...I like connecting with them, hearing their stories, hearing what moves them...and relationships with people matter a lot to me. I think I try my best to care about other people, remember people that I meet, and stay in contact. When things happen in my life I am grateful they want to connect back...and share what they find with other people who matter to them!

6. To say the least your journey must have been a saga of ups and downs. Could you please share with us the firsthand recount of your not so happy yet enriching experiences? Can you please enlighten our viewers/readers the major hurdles you faced and how did you overcome them?

E: Life can be a dichotomy sometimes. I have had some of my greatest highs in certain areas of my life, while at the same time experiencing great lows in others. I think that, in a way, is sometimes the gift of balance that life brings forth. As I said earlier, people have always been a great inspiration to me.

Connecting with people, learning from them, and sharing with them is inspiring! Most songwriters in the world have also found inspiration from losing connection to someone close to them too, and I am no exception. I think every situation comes into our lives for a reason, which we can accept or fight against. We are bound to have happy times and sad times too. Some of my sadder times have ended up being great songs that somehow bring meaning to other people. Some of my sad times have taught me important lessons which have helped move my life forward to a happier place. It's ok to sit in sadness, and grieve for a little while, and I think everyone has a right to come to terms with their own hurdles. But there is also a time to stand up, look around, and move forward from the hurdles too! No matter what hurdles you come across, there is nothing that can ever happen that is bad enough to make the world stop turning, no matter how painful it may seem. And though it's hard sometimes, there is no hurdle big enough to make you stop living or stop trying.

7. In such a short span of time you have achieved a lot which brought laurels from all corners for you. With all these impressive un-ending list of achievements, which honors gives you maximum satisfaction?

E: When someone tells me they could relate to one of my songs. If it brought them joy, tears, laughter, or evoked a stir of emotions inside of them that is the greatest honor I will ever receive.

8. Success in some way is about creating extra-ordinary results with limited resources and you are generating lot of waves despite experiencing so many hurdles in the past, can you please tell us which has been your best or 'unforgettable' performance till date?

E: For me, my recent CD release concert in Edmonton was probably my favorite performance so far. Not because it was perfect, but because I had the most fun! I played with an incredible group of people.

From the opener, Darryl Matthews, to the band (and I had never played with my own full band until that night) featuring my brother Wayne Viegas on guitars, Mathias Silveira on violin, Jered Evangelos on percussion, and Ryan Jacobson on bass, Katie Davey on background vocals and my friend Lisa Nicole Grace who came up and joined us for a song. So many of my friends and family where there to support me, laugh with me, and share in my stories and music. It was also a concrete release of the CD, which has been such a dream of mine!

9. I really appreciate your Attitude of Gratitude and the way you keep mentioning various people for the guidance provided by them to you. I am sure it would be quite interesting to know, who supported you most in your career and kept the hunger continuously alive in you?

E: My family has always been my greatest support. They might not always even agree 100% with what I do, but they love me and stand behind my decisions no matter what. My brother plays with me at almost every show, and was an amazing addition to my CD (and my life). My Mom and Dad are always there to bounce ideas off, listen to me, guide me, and sometimes bring me quickly back down to earth

10. I know you have a burning desire to scale new heights and needless to say you must be having some specific goals which must be driving you. Could you please let us know about your specific goals at this stage of your career and where do you see yourself evolving in the next five years? Can you please also share what are your future plans?

E: I think goals are funny in some ways because they are always evolving. When I first finished recording, my goals were to hear myself on the radio, and have a few people whom I didn't personally know hear my music... and then that happened!!! So there are a few performance opportunities I would love, or things I would definitely like to do, but I also really want to stay grateful for all the wonderful things doing on now, and truly enjoy them instead of always looking to the future. Someone once told me that if we are always looking to the future, when the future finally comes we are in that habit and continue to look to the future, never having enjoyed a single present moment we dreamed for. I don't want that to be me!

11. Would you recommend the younger generation to follow your foot steps and become like you? If yes, What path(studies, courses, experience) do you recommend for the younger generation should choose, to get into a career like yours?

E: I am continuously growing and learning and I don't think that ever stops in life. I would encourage people to know their craft as well as they can, and get used to performing and practicing at every opportunity: school, church functions, community functions...anything! Believe in yourself and the things you desire...you couldn't have dreamt of it if you didn't have the ability to make it come true

We wish you all the best in your career and in your life, as you scale even greater heights!!

Erica viegas website, is filled with more information, Music Clippings and a section where you can purchase her cd online. www.ericaviegas.com

Posted on: 22-03-2010