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qvMagazine's August
Artist of the Month
Monica Naranjo!
Superstar Monica Naranjo
sits down with qvMagazine and reveals
what it's like to be a controversial diva!
Monica Naranjo is arguably the
strongest, most outspoken, and honest female pop diva today.
The first release off her new disc, "Minage," is a
controversial track called "Sobreviviré." This
song has been censored by some radio stations because of its
strong lyrical content. qvMagazine recently conducted a unique
interview with the star in which she spoke about her new CD and
other issues she finds important-including the virtue of honesty
and her feelings on domestic abuse.
Tell us about your new album.
The CD ("Minage")
pays homage to Mina, a great Italian singer. She is the best
European voice to date. It includes nine songs re-written with
original lyrics (not an adaptation) in Spanish. Of the 143 Mina
albums that are available, these nine songs have meant the most
to me. Three of the songs are original. One of those songs, "El
Se Encuentra Entre Tu y Yo," is a duet with Mina herself.
The other two are "If You Leave Me Now" (an English
track), and "Enamorada."
What was it like the first
time you met Mina? How
did you feel? I felt fine. She's a human being just like the
rest of us. It was exciting, though.
Being in the music business
is a lot of work. How do you prepare for that? The most important thing in this business
is to keep the "crazy house" sane and very clean.
Do you meditate, eat certain
foods? You don't drink
or smoke, do you? I'm a very boring person. I don't drink or
smoke. I don't cheat on my husband. It's a boring lifestyle,
but it's sane.
What astrological sign are
you? Gemini. They say
that we're supposed to have a double personality, but nowadays
who doesn't? You could be one person on the streets and a different
person at home-so they say.
What can we expect to see
on your world tour? Something
very cybernetic. Something totally different from what I've done
to this date.
Like a huge computer screen?
Something like that.
It's hard to describe. The stage will be something where the
color silver is prominent. There will be phosphorous lights and
huge ventilators.
Will you appear with your
new black hair and butterfly wings like on your CD cover? Not with wings because that is too close
to being an angel, and I'm nothing close to being one. (laughs)
The wings on the CD cover are butterfly wings and represent a
metamorphosis. What better way to represent that than with a
butterfly!
With your new success and
being sort of a nominated QV ambassador, is it your goal to
acquire a lot more straight fans? For starters, the NO discrimination begins with
the NON separation of people. There is no separation between
the members of my public-everyone is the same. What I hope is
that "Minage" communicates and reaches more people.
Every time I hear someone talking about Monica Naranjo, it's
always about her messages in her songs. I'd like to be remembered
as a woman who said and did what she felt at every given moment.
Where do you see yourself
in 20 years? I don't
know. The only plans I make are from now through tomorrow. I
never plan for the future because I don't know if I'll be alive
then. I don't know what the future has in store for me, and I
don't want to know either.
Apparently, your decision
to record "Minage" right away was because you were
on a very rocky plane flight which almost crashed. Is that true?
"Minage" wasn't
going to be the third album. I had to fly out to Lisbon to promote
my last album. On the way back to Barcelona, one of the engines
on the plane caught fire and we almost crashed. That's what pushed
me a little to do "Minage" right away because I thought,
"You never know what's going to happen."
With that in mind, would you
consider motherhood? Someday,
but not now. To be a mother, I'd have to leave this career. It's
too difficult to manage both motherhood and this job with so
many responsibilities at hand.
I read that you were very
outspoken about domestic abuse. I
come from a country (Spain) where many women die as a result
of domestic abuse. Most of the judges in Spain are women and
they are the worst! This is because the female judges in my country
are afraid that they will be perceived as too feminist. That's
not fair. I come from a country that when a man beats up his
partner, he's simply fined $1000 and given a slap on the wrist.
What do I think of this? I think it's a bunch of shit. Can you
imagine the embarrassment that an afflicted woman feels when
she files a report? I think it's a shame that at the beginning
of the new millennium these things still occur and justice isn't
served.
What would justice be? A man who beats up his partner should
pay with very high penalties. Not financially, but rather in
jail. Domestic abuse occurs in all levels of society, not just
the lower ones. So sometimes, you see these millionaires getting
off easily by paying a large sum of money. That is not the way
to penalize. Something like that should be paid with many years
of jail time. Domestic abuse affects so many people including
children and it's a terrible shame.
What piece of advice could
you give to your QV fans who read qvMagazine? I think that the best advice would be
to live life to the fullest and to love. It doesn't matter how
you love as long as you love. Don't pay attention to what the
bad tongues say. "De poco en vida no valiste si envidiosos
no tuviste" (You didn't mean very much in your life if you
had no one to envy you) is a Spanish saying my grandmother used
to say. In this case, it applies indirectly. There is a great
deal of frustrated people who criticize homosexuals in a homophobic
fashion and I've always said that those people who criticize
homosexuals in a negative way are scared individuals who are
nothing but frustrated QVs themselves.
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