The Spanish singer living in Chile spoke with Reggae Chalice about the release of her EP “To feel alive”.
“I am from the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. I was born in a small town called Llodio, near Bilbao, in 1986, and I have been in Chile since 2017, I have lived in Valparaíso since then”, account Sistah Lore, singer who in recent weeks released her first EP “To feel alive”.
Although the aforementioned is his first EP, Sistah Lore already has an album published –“We Wanna Be Free” (2020)– and also has various collaborations with a host of artists such as Young Warrior, Vibronics, Yes Ragga, Kai Dub, Higher Meditation, Higher Regions, Reality Souljah, Bass Lee, Bass Culture Players, Roberto Sanchez, Mystical Powa, Sista Kata, Wise Sound, Red-I, Soulsteppa, among others.
In conversation with Reggae Chalice, The singer said that her musical beginnings date back to 2007, but considers that his career begins in 2013, when he released his first song (Back To The Roots) on a vinyl in which they also participated Earl Sixteen y Linval Thompson.
“From there I was lucky enough to be able to travel around Europe.. I have visited countries like England, Italy, France and that gave me a lot of Sound System culture, So for many years I was singing in Sound System style”, comments.
“What I'm releasing now is my first EP, but I released my first album, my first LP, in 2020, we put it out on vinyl (‘We Wanna be Free’). On that album there are several songs that are in combination with Chinitafari, a singer from the port, and is produced by reactor, which is the same producer of the album that I am presenting now”, express.
From reggae to neo soul
Sistah Lore further emphasizes that “This is my first job that is not reggae”, since this EP is closer in style to neo soul.
“I knew soul before reggae and that's why for me it's something special., because it connects me with roots that come from before, It was like the first black music I heard.. For me it has been great to create a neo soul album and also in Spanish because I am used to the fact that in Europe people sing more in English”, emphasizes.
Adem´ás, Maintains that “Until relatively recently, almost all of my topics were in English., but Since I have been in Chile I have needed to connect more with the public and here less English is spoken and when I sing in English few understand me, So out of necessity I decided to do more songs in Spanish.. This album is practically all in Spanish, although it has some English because I like to mix languages”.
—How has the public's response to the EP been??
—The response people have had is amazing., it has been super good, I think you also liked this new style. Along with the EP we released a video clip that many people have told me they liked a lot.. I'm very happy, I really like the album, I am very happy with the result.
—What has this new production left you??
—Thanks to this EP I am opening myself up to different styles and being more versatile.. At some point in my career someone told me that I couldn't do more than reggae because I was limited to just that, so for me it's like a way of saying that I can do more than I even thought myself..
—How do you project the future?
—I'm already scheming in my head to make other styles, There is also some international combination that will be more in Afro style, also something in an urban flamenco style, although I can't go into details, so taking a bit of versatility, always within an urban style, but without straying too far from reggae. I love reggae so I will always continue doing reggae.
From Reggae to astrophysics:
Although music is a fundamental aspect in Sistah Lore's life, She combines her artistic side with her other, very different passion.: astrophysics.
He currently works at the Milenio Institute of Astrophysics in Santiago and also at the University of Valparaíso, specifically in a joint project between both institutions called “Larch”, whose central theme is supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.
“I am an astrophysicist, I did all my physics and astronomy studies in Spain, I did my master's and doctorate in the south of Spain and after that I went to do a postdoc in Rome, in Italy. Then I won a scholarship and came to Chile to do another postdoc and now I'm doing another postdoc”, story.
—How do you get from Spain to Chile??
—Astrophysics was definitely what brought me to Chile. Astrophysics and astronomy in Chile is quite well known worldwide, all the telescopes here, there is also ESO (European Southern Observatory). On the other hand, I also knew Chile because of reggae., I also knew that here is the South Tabernacle.
—And what came first: music or science??
—Music comes before astrophysics, I've been listening to music since I was little. I listened to a lot of soul like with 13, 14 years and then as at 15 I discovered reggae. I didn't speak English there., I had some knowledge, but nothing fluid. So at that time I listened to a lot of music in Spanish, For example, I listened to Gondwana a lot when they released their first album and I had Chile on the map because of them.. So first it was music and then it was astrophysics. I really liked astronomy since I was little and I had in mind to study physics and then be an astronomer., but I started singing before I started studying physics, so the music came first.
—¿How do you combine such different areas??
—Giving lectures on astrophysics helped me a lot to remove the shame of singing in public., so music has helped me for astrophysics and astrophysics has helped me for music, then in my life I need that balance between my square scientific mind and my dreamier artist mind..
