There are no suits and ties, no papers to sign or official emails to deal with. When he passes the door of the small studio he has installed on the top floor of his house, Luís Gomes, mayor of Vila Real de Santo António, becomes Luís, the artist, and dedicates himself to a dream: that of composing and record songs.
In the mayor's “sanctuary”, the papers that are seen have song lyrics and, on the computer's desktop, there are several audio and video files, among which the three music videos that Luís recorded with Cuban musician Baby Lores, a of the big names of the reggaeton style, the last of which just hit the internet.
It was in this environment that the team of Sul Informação was received and spoke with a relaxed Luís and with Baby Lores, the artist who challenged him to enter this adventure, last Friday. The private recording studio of the aedile of VRSA served as the framework for a story that started as a joke with friends, but is taking on more and more serious contours.
“It all started because he found me in Havana”, shoots Baby Lores laughing. «Lores is a good friend of a doctor I know and who worked with the Chamber in the scope of the cooperation agreements we had in the area of health. One day, we arranged a meeting at the hotel where I was, for him to present his work, as he was interested in coming to Portugal to play and we had a series of cultural events planned», said Luís Gomes.
“I always thought he had a lot of talent. He is one of the great Cuban artists and will assert himself in the coming years as a great Latin musician», believes the mayor of VRSA.
From here on, “a great friendship” developed between Luís and Lores, where music has always played an important role. «However, Baby Lores ended up giving more concerts to Portugal, contracted by other people, and, due to my love for music, we ended up writing a song together, as a joke. It was the I'm looking for, and it worked very well», he said.
This was followed by Lores' invitations to Luís to participate in concerts. “Once, I went to Cuba on work and he invited me to go sing. And the thing went well», summarizes the Vilarrealan mayor.
“When I met him, it was like someone who holds an important political position, who had official relations with Cuba. But then I saw him DJing at a beach party, which is unusual for a politician. One day, I was playing guitar, and Luís started to sing. And I liked what I heard. It started as entertainment, but I realized that there was an important artistic potential that could be developed», said Baby Lores.
This feedback This positive attitude led the mayor of VRSA to take music more seriously – “when I dedicate time to something, it's because it's important to me and I commit myself to 100 percent” -, even because it has always had a strong connection to music, as well illustrated in the interview with Sul Informação:
However, Luís already has a following in Cuba. “My mother is his biggest fan. She likes her voice a lot, says it's romantic and has a lot of feeling», revealed Baby Lores.
And we are talking about romantic music, as the eight songs that Luís and Lores wrote together are all appealing to the heart. “We're both romantics and just love. I've already tried to write about a bicycle, or something, but it didn't work”, said Luís, laughing.
These themes, which have been played in live concerts, like the one who starred on New Year's Eve in Monte Gordo, are already the embryo of an album that the duo is preparing.
Although there is no “exact date to complete it”, Luís and Baby Lores have been working consistently to record a work together, even taking into account that the former has to be concerned with the fate of a City Council and the second has “his musical career”.
“This is a side project. But we want to close this cycle with an album, which should have 12 songs. We are already negotiating with some producers to commercialize it», revealed Luís Gomes.
And, despite the distance between Vila Real de Santo António and Cuba, working together has not been difficult. “When we get together, I invent melodies with the guitar, which we record with the phone. When I return, Luís has already written the lyrics to the song. It's quick and easy,” says the Cuban musician.
The complicity between the two musicians was very evident in the "mini show" performed by the duo, for the chambers of the Sul Informação:
As for the future and if it is going through a career in the music world, Luís doesn't open up the game, although he doesn't reject the possibility. "Everything has its time, no one can say what tomorrow will be," he shot. But, whatever the choice of the still mayor of Vila Real de Santo António, it will not be hamstrung by political correctness.
“People on VRSA know me well. There are few particulars that people don't know about. And this music has been mobilizing people in the county, who have reacted very well. What is important is to do things well and with dignity. We don't have to be what people want us to be, we have to be what we are and honest to ourselves and to others,” he concluded.
See the photos of the interview and the “mini-show”:
Photos: Nuno Costa e Hugo Rodrigues| Sul Informação
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