Sawt Falasteen - Singer Luisa Sonza shares 'unique experience' of Coachella debut

"I don't think I've felt that way, like I was doing something for the first time in a long time," Sonza told AFP in an interview at the Empire Polo Club, where the California music festival is held.

Sonza performed Saturday on the Gobi Stage -- which year after year hosts indie and alternative acts -- in front of a crowd that danced and sang along in an intimate yet energetic atmosphere.

"Doing a show with the new album was almost like being at the beginning of my career again. It was very special, a dream come true," said the 27-year-old singer, who brought along Argentine reggaeton artist Emilia to perform their collaboration "bunda."

Sonza reflected on "Brutal Paraiso," an album she composed to "talk about life and its difficulties and beauties."

"Life is brutal, but it is also a paradise, and it's about going through many different moments," said Sonza, who is from Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil.

The project, released just before Coachella, blended a diverse range of rhythms such as pop, Brazilian funk, R&B and bossa nova -- a mix that, for Sonza, is the essence of Brazil.

"People from outside think that Brazil is just one thing, but Brazil is a country where we are a whole world in one (place). And I think that, obviously, is part of me," she said.

Sonza doesn't see musical genres and their rhythms as a label to fit into, but rather "as the feelings I had to sing about."

The Brazilian star, who is experiencing a meteoric rise in her career, maintained that music is what guides her.

"You have to have the courage to follow what you believe in, to take risks," she said. "I don't like to stay the same; I like to create and discover new things."

"Music keeps me moving, alive," she added.

The Coachella performance, a milestone in her burgeoning career, feels like a taste of what's to come for the artist as she prepares to embark on an international tour -- "showing the world a bit of 'Brutal Paradise'."

D.Qudsi--SF-PST