Q&A with livewire Lido Pimienta
First came the Polaris Music Prize and its $50,000 reward. Then came national headlines for an incident at a Halifax concert during which she invited “brown girls to the front.” Then came The Globe & Mail newspaper naming her its 2017 artist of the year. For Colombian/Canadian singer Lido Pimienta, it was a whirlwind finish to her breakthrough year, courting controversy and critical acclaim alike. From her feisty, often confrontational interviews to her all-Spanish sophomore album “La Papessa” to her defiant live shows where feminism and race are front and centre, Pimienta has emerged as one of Canada’s most polarizing and controversial artists. Much of it stems from that uncomfortable night in October at the Halifax Pop Explosion music festival in which a white female volunteer photographer near the front of the stage got into a heated exchange with other audience members and refused to move when Pimienta ordered her to move to the back of the room. Pimienta then invited all “brown girls” to the front, leading to a torrent of both support and criticism online. Asked to elaborate on the incident, Pimienta told Billboard.com she asks men specifically to go to the back of the room “because in my 15-plus years of attending shows, both on stage and in the audience, men make it unsafe for me to be in such places.” But as she heads to the Warehouse Concert Hall in St. Catharines March 8, Pimienta chose not to elaborate on during a Q&A with The Review:
The Review: First off, how has your life changed — if at all — since The Globe & Mail named you Canada’s artist of the year?
Pimienta: “My life has not changed in any particular way. Public recognition is not something I am too concerned about. The Globe & Mail has been very generous to me and I think it is because a few people who work there like what I do. “I am always happy to share anything positive in my music because it makes my family happy, and making them happy makes me even happier. “In all honesty, though, this question keeps being asked: ‘How has your life changed?’ but my question is, ‘Is my life supposed to be any different because someone says I am good at something?’ And also, what does different mean? Am I famous yet? This is still Canada. We do not make a huge deal out of things, even when we absolutely should.”
The Review: The accolades, starting with the Polaris Prize, came in a relatively short time. Did it catch you off guard?
Pimienta: “If a writeup on more obscure music blogs is an accolade, then I was definitely not caught offguard.”
The Review: People might not realize you’re also a single mom while all this is going on. How are you handling that with all the media attention?
Pimienta: “There is nothing to handle being a mom with media attention … I happen to be a mom who sings songs, that is it. If anything, people relate to me more and makes what I do more real.”
The Review: Do you worry people will know you more for the Halifax incident than your music?
Pimienta: “Never.”
The Review: You surely have fans who happen to be white and male, and may feel uncomfortable going to your shows after the recent headlines. Does that matter to you?
Pimienta: *no response*
The Review: How would you approach the U.S. right now? Would you feel unsafe performing there in the current climate?
Pimienta: “People love me in the U.S. and I love them. I just toured there and it was beautiful.”
The Review: It was six years between your first and second albums, is there an urgency to get the next one out sooner?
Pimienta: “No rush, it will see the light when it is time.”
The Review: Are you giving music your full attention or do you see yourself taking detours along the way?
Pimienta: “My music and art are my life. I am constantly working on it, perfecting it, enjoying it and sharing it.”
The Review: What, in your view, is a perfect show? Either yours or someone else’s?
Pimienta: “When the performer is generous, that is a good show.”