Interview with Aminata: from Eurovision to her new album

-Hello Aminata, I read on the internet about your origins: your mother from northern Europe and your dad from Africa. Does this aspect influence in some way your music?

Yes, My mother was born in Latvia and father in Burkinafaso (Africa). I think that everything in our life influences us and all together creates our personality. So of course my diverse ethnical background also has an impact on me, and my music as well. For example, I like ethnical instruments of Africa, like percussions, drums and I gladly use these instruments in the arrangements of my songs.

-There 's one person in particular that inspire you when you write your music?

Well, yes. Usually my songs are very personal and I write a lot about myself in them.

Album “Inner voice” mostly is about my relationships, but the songs became so personal in a natural way, because that was the theme which was important to me and I wanted to express my feelings, for example the song “Leave my love bleeding” was written in a period when I felt really bad because of the break up, and “Love Injected” was written when I decided not to be evil and to forgive, because love is bigger than anything else… I had something to say, so this is really my inner voice speaking.

-Who are the artists that you like the most, those who you listen to the most?

-          Actually there are a lot of artists that I really like and one of them is D’Angelo, but I don’t know if he for example really influenced or inspired my record. I also love FKA Twigs and Sia, but it is not like I try to imitate their style. Still, I absolutely respect them for what they do.

-Let's talk now about "Love Injected". This single is truly innovative and has a crazy sound. Tell me something about the history of this song ..

-          The song was made last autumn. Back then I sang background music at Latvian Television broadcast. I came home late in the evening and sat down at the piano. I started humming and words “Love injected” just came by itself. I had a lot of inspiration and I just sat down and wrote it. Actually, the whole song was done within an hour. I wrote it at night like I usually do, because I find it more inspiring. I worked with the piano and synthesizers and recorded everything on my laptop and the song was born. The inspiration came so quickly because back then love injection was my actual person. The song is a tribute to a friend. I call it a transformation, which picked up the relationship to another level. I write what I feel. If you listen to my album, then you can understand what happened to me. Nobody writes songs out of thin air, but their experiences. Then the song makes sense and strength where it itself significant.

-What inspired you the most in the realization of the music video of the song?

All the songs from “Inner voice” came naturally, as well as the video. I am really happy that I found so talented guys, who listened to me, tried to understand my “love story” and the story of the song and created this video. This video is actually the story of the concrete period of my relationships. It is full of symbols that means something to me. The story is – we had relationships, which were damaged, ruined, full of scandals, betrayal and so on… (that is why the room was damaged and the walls, the window… It symbolizes damaged, broken relationships). But in spite of the fact that everything good is gone, we still decide to fight for love, to forgive each other, to burn everything bad we did and to start from the new page, because we understand that love is bigger than everything and it gives us strength to overcome all the problems. So, we do this in the video.

-Why did you think it was suitable for a competition like the Eurovision Song Contest?

-    To be honest, I did not think the song was suitable. Because the genre was not typical for the Eurovision and the theme of the song maybe... But I decided to try, because the Eurovision is a great experience which I will never forget. I was truly happy that I will become a part of it, And I thought, that I should be honest and stay myself. That is me! That is how I feel, that is what I want to tell about. And if I would think about am I suitable or not, then the result would not be so good. I was honest, I was myself and I am very happy about that.

-You ranked sixth during this competition. How did you feel when you realized you are in the top 10 of the best 22 songs submitted to the contest?

After the jury rating I was in 2nd place, but after the audience vote - eight, so in general I was in sixth place. I did not expect to make such a good result! It is a great responsibility to represent my country.

-After the Eurovision, what are your plans for the future? There will be an album and maybe tour?

 I already have my debut album called "Inner Voice”. It is like a mix of all the genres that I like. There are ethnic and electronic elements, but also soul, R&B and pop. It reflects my feelings. This is my emotion, reflection and experience collection. Each song symbolizes my mood and feelings of me taken over a given time.

I have my concert program so In this summer I will participate in different festivals.

-You had the opportunity to get to know "Il Volo", the group that represented Italy? If so, what kind of idea do you have of them?

-          Unfortunately we met very briefly, just a couple of words, like: “Hi, You have a very great performance,” and that’s all… I think that they have amazing voices and I like how they cooperate all together. Each of them has a unique personality, but together they work like an organism and make a very powerful performance, full of energy.

-Did you like their music or prefer another genre of music?

-     My mother is huge fan of this kind of music! In my opinion they are more classic than pop, which is not bad, especially in the Eurovision, because it is about the diversity and we should keep our personalities and be who we are and that’s great, but probably it is not the genre I would like to sing. But as listener I like all kinds of music, like to listen to something new and add this as well song to my mp3 player.