Ive Mendes ~~ was born in Ceres, Brazil to a farming family of Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Brazilian Indigenous. She grew up singing in Church on Sundays and learning piano. Later she studied music at the University in the capital Goiania and then on to teaching creative arts and music in schools. After seven years of teaching, Ive decided to give it up to and return to her father’s farm, it was then she began to nurture her musical ambitions. After playing various Café Teatro’s in the Capital Goainia and around her local towns. Ive gained quite a following, a majority being part of the local Gay Community. Following a romance with a man from her hometown, Ive wrote her first song Casticais along with another five songs over a span of just three days! Casticais was featured on the CD release from the first Pop Festival in the Capital and the press hailed her as a singing revelation. Ive’s talent and popularity was spotted by a producer from Rio and she went on to record material in Rio de Janeiro. Her first break came when one of her songs fell into the hands of a producer from Brazil’s major soap opera ‘Corpo Dourado’, who used it as the theme to the show. The song ‘Hanime’ went on to be released as a single through BMG. On a mountain in Rio with a friend one day, Ive had a premonition that she would meet Sade’s producer (Robin Millar), after she heard one of Sade’s songs, “Smooth Operator” and her own played back to back on the radio. Following the passing away of her Father and eventually inspired by thoughts of London and an international future she came to live here in 1999, falling in love with the cosmopolitan outlook of the city. She was invited to compose with some English producers in Primrose Hill, London and this is when she decided to stay here. She started working in a clothes shop in Camden Town, where a singer gave her Robin Millar’s number. Ive rang him and left a message on his answer machine. Robin was so entranced by her voice that he immediately called her back and the pair soon hit it off. This was when she faced a tough decision, as this had happened in the same week her mother passed away and soon after, her younger brother. She felt she should return to live in Brazil but came back to London only because of her chance of a future career. Ive’s star of destiny had shone again. With help of award winning producer Robin Millar and her first record label, Mr Bongo, she produced her first album. Aside from the Chicago classic ‘If You Leave Me Now’, Ive wrote all the songs on her self-titled debut album. Album producer Robin Millar, with his productions of Sade, Everything But the Girl and Fine Young Cannibals has achieved sales of over 50 million to date. Now, despite her success in many countries, Ive has chosen to stay living in the U.K. Unfortunately, she has just suffered yet another great loss, her other brother was killed in Brazil, after being kidnapped and she found her sanctuary living in the English countryside. Ive moved back to London when she was recording her second album and now lives in a London suburb but plans to move back to the countryside again when the time is right. She would also like to spend more time in Brazil at the farm where her only brother lives, the farm is on the outskirts of the Amazon forest amongst indigenous people, horses and an amazing diversity of nature and animals. Ive Mendes released her self-titled first album, produced by Robin Millar back in 2002 on the label, ‘Mr Bongo’. Since it’s release, her songs are proving just as popular as they were back then and are still featured on CD compilations, TV and ad campaigns across the world. She is famously known as the ‘Brazilian Sade’ and one of the pioneers of the new Brazilian sound in the international market. Ive became part of this new generation of Brazilian’s doing something called ‘Nu Brazil’ and is proud to be part of that. She is a complex composer and singer with a unique sound, someone who’s music you can not really label by genre . Ive has the ability to make the transition between Bossanova and influences of Modern Soul, Smooth Jazz and Pop, with an originality that makes her unique in the market, Asia and Europe now refer to her as the ‘Brazilian Queen of Smooth Jazz’. Ive Mendes is one of the only Brazilian singers today with this amazing cosmopolitan approach to music and this opened doors for Ive in places that generally Brazilian artists and music were considered to be just about Bossanova, making her mark in many territories like in Latin America, Mexico, Europe, Asia, North America . Her worldwide success is sustained by her renowned intimate live performances with her extraordinary individual charm and charisma that is simply mesmerizing on stage. Her eagerly awaited new album ‘Magnetism’ (produced by Robin Millar with Ive Mendes and the late Mark Smith) was released as a double album in Poland in October 2009 with Sony and has already reached Double Platinum sales status with amazing reviews so far. Sadly, Mark Smith passed away at the end of 2009 leaving Robin and Ive devastated. Mark was very close to Robin, and it was Robin who initially introduced Ive to Mark back in 2000, who then became the engineer and bass player on her first album. Ive was introduced to the Spanish market as a singer comparable to the likes of Sade, Norah Jones, Bebel Gilberto, Bjork and Dido, with influences of the ‘Nu Jazz Britannic’, but also being part of the Acoustic movement that happened in the UK over the last decade. Ive says: “I sing because it’s my destiny and it’s my gift beyond any ambition or career expectations, so I develop ideas in my own time and in my own simple way. I won’t allow the pressure of my musical career to compromise my music by rushing things which should come naturally. I would like to push myself more sometimes but so far my career has worked well in a very organic way. I always work on my musical ideas alone, although my fans are always playing a big part in the final outcome and I share my ideas with friends and those supporting my shows too. I am also blessed to be featured on some amazing compilations and not forgetting a lot of radio stations which are playing my music to the world, my heartfelt love to all of you that share my music”. “At the moment, I am beyond being passionate about making my music, I am more passionate about people connecting to it and being comforted or inspired by it. Each show I do is an unique experience and each song I write or to choose to sing expresses a moment I have lived through or witnessed. I transform all this into a positive experience by embracing pain and joy in the same way and hopefully by doing this make someone enjoy life more through my music or live performances. Just like I sing in my song ‘Natural High’, “If life is so hard, is beautiful too” and “You are more than you think you are, you are” this is so important to remember and this is the message I want to bring to people. I always love to perform to my audience and to receive love back and to feel one with them. It is because of this I chose to interpret ” I don’t wanna know “, by John Martyn. The lyrics to this song were very apt because “I only wanna know about love!” I am not a “Super-Christian” as some people may perceive, I am still vulnerable but I am ok with that because I am nothing without this inner power. I don’t rely on myself and don’t put my trust in any human heart completely. I think we are all very special and we are made to be friends of our maker. I am totally addicted to God’s presence, one day in his presence is more than one thousand elsewhere”. Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ MTL63.Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:44:12 +0000
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