Mônica da Silva
Encyclopedia
Mônica da Silva is a Brazilian/American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. She is best known for her multi-lingual music compositions that span five languages - English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. Mônica grew up between the U.S. and Belém, Brazil, a city on the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

, and she is a citizen of both countries. Experiencing life in two very different places helped to shape Mônica's original sound, which is a blend of Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...

, MPB
Música Popular Brasileira
Música Popular Brasileira or MPB designates a trend in post-Bossa Nova urban popular music. It is not a discrete genre but rather a constellation that combines original songwriting and updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles like samba and samba-canção with contemporary...

, and Indie Pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

.

Early Life and Career

Monica da Silva was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...

, to a Brazilian mother and an American father, who met while her father was in the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

 in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. She started playing piano and flute at an early age, and was always singing. She was inspired by a wide spectrum of music, everything from Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...

 and Samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...

 from her mother's native country, to The Beatles and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

. Mônica teamed up with her siblings Erica
Blondfire
Blondfire is an indie pop band from New York City composed of the brother-and-sister duo Bruce and Erica Driscoll.- Childhood :The Driscolls were born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to an American father and a Brazilian mother. They spent many summers in northern Brazil, and are citizens of...

 and Bruce Driscoll
Bruce Driscoll
Bruce Driscoll is a Brazilian/American record producer, songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist. He first gained notoriety as one half of the indie pop band Astaire . Co-writing/Producing/Self-releasing songs with his sister, Erica, the duo quickly became iTunes darlings...

, forming a band called Nectar. The siblings embarked on a national tour, playing colleges (NACA
National Association for Campus Activities
National Association for Campus Activities is an organization designed to provide information and resources for campus activities programmers throughout the United States and Canada...

), venues, and festivals (Mobfest), and eventually landed a development deal with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 Publishing. In 2002, Nectar won Runner Up in the Pop Category for the UK Songwriting Contest with the song "Life Out Loud". Soon after, they showcased for many of the US Major Labels, including Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

, Maverick Records
Maverick Records
Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...

, Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

, Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

, and Dreamworks Records
DreamWorks Records
DreamWorks Records was an American record label. Founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG, the label operated until 2005 when it was shut down...

. The US Major Labels all raved about the band, but were unsure about how to market the siblings. One of the labels compared the band to The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...

, a band of Irish siblings who'd had more success in Europe than the U.S. Later that year, the siblings disbanded over creative differences.

Going Solo

da Silva then set off on her own, moving to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, and forming a band called Socialite Fiasco with guitarist and songwriter, Brett Ratner. The two wrote hundreds of songs in their 3 years together, and regularly performed at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 staples like The Double Door
Double Door
Double Door is a concert hall and nightclub located at 1572 N. Milwaukee Avenue, in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and is co-owned by Andy Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan...

, Schuba's, Martyr's, and The Elbo Room. They also recorded an album "Miles From Nowhere". Just before the album's release in January 2007, Brett and Monica had a talk with their Grammy-nominated producer and engineer, Rick Barnes, who suggested that they release the songs under Mônica's name, Mônica da Silva.

Focusing on Brazilian Roots

In December 2007, Mônica met Chad Alger, after responding to an ad he had posted in the musician category on Craigslist
Craigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....

. The ad that Alger had posted, searching for "someone to start a Brazilian project with" intrigued da Silva, who had been wanting to steer her music more toward her Brazilian heritage. da Silva and Alger quickly hit it off, and began playing in a quartet at many clubs around Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Alger was originally da Silva's drummer, but the two began writing songs together in da Silva's kitchen during the blizzardy winter of 2008, with Chad on guitar. The songs they came up, with were a mixture of Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...

 and Indie Pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

, and the lyrics were a blend of Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. Many of the songs they wrote were later recorded on "Brasilissima", Monica and Chad began touring around the United States, heading for South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...

 (SXSW), and showcasing at The Red Gorilla Music Festival in Austin, TX. The two released an album in January, 2011, called "Brasilissima".

Miles from Nowhere

Miles From Nowhere 2007 - Mônica da Silva-Vocals, Keyboards, Programming, Songwriter

Monica released her debut solo album "Miles From Nowhere" in January 2007. Living in Chicago, IL at the time, she teamed up with guitarist and songwriter Brett Ratner and Grammy-nominated record producer Rick Barnes (Ok Go
OK Go
OK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...

, Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys is a Chicano rock power trio from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll," combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown eyed soul, country, and Tejano....

, George Clinton
George Clinton (musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...

, Smashing Pumpkins, Rachel Yamagata) owner of Rax Trax Studio. Her debut album is a collection of catchy, guitar driven Pop and Rock songs. The album gained moderate momentum, and many of the tracks (Haven't Been Around, Amazing, I Know, I Know, Icy) had placements on national and international television and radio, including a Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 Commercial in Asia.

Brasilissima

Brasilissima 2011 - Mônica da Silva- Vocals, Keyboards, Flute, Programming, Songwriter, Producer

Mônica's newest release, “Brasilissima”, on Socialite Fiasco Music, is a follow up to her 2007 debut, “Miles From Nowhere”. The album was produced by da Silva, Chad Alger and da Silva's brother, Bruce Driscoll
Bruce Driscoll
Bruce Driscoll is a Brazilian/American record producer, songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist. He first gained notoriety as one half of the indie pop band Astaire . Co-writing/Producing/Self-releasing songs with his sister, Erica, the duo quickly became iTunes darlings...

(Astaire
Blondfire
Blondfire is an indie pop band from New York City composed of the brother-and-sister duo Bruce and Erica Driscoll.- Childhood :The Driscolls were born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to an American father and a Brazilian mother. They spent many summers in northern Brazil, and are citizens of...

, Blondfire
Blondfire
Blondfire is an indie pop band from New York City composed of the brother-and-sister duo Bruce and Erica Driscoll.- Childhood :The Driscolls were born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to an American father and a Brazilian mother. They spent many summers in northern Brazil, and are citizens of...

, Ivy
Ivy (band)
Ivy is a New York City band composed of a trio of musicians, Adam Schlesinger, Dominique Durand, and Andy Chase.-Lately and Realistic:...

, Brookville
Brookville (Band)
Brookville is a solo project of Andy Chase from Ivy. Brookville toured the United States in November 2006 with pop band Tahiti 80.-Bio:Ivy co-founder Andy Chase is released Brookville's second album, Life in the Shade, on June 13, 2006, on his own label, Unfiltered Records...

, Sleepy Rebels, Freedom Fry, Lana Mir
Lana Mir
Lana Mir is a singer/songwriter born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine, and based now in New York. and released her debut album on Unfiltered Records/Independent Label Group in 2010. Her music is vintage-tinged alternative pop, made distinctive by her Ukrainian heritage.-History:Mir grew up in Kiev, and...

). “Brasilissima” draws from both the Brazilian and American cultures, and is a throwback to the days of Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...

 with plenty of modern elements and edge. The first single, "Aí Então", will be included on the Putumayo World Music
Putumayo World Music
Putumayo World Music is a New York City based record label, now specialising in compilations of music from various nations, regions or musical styles which may be classified as world music.-Etymology:...

 compilation Brazilian Beat.

Music Production

Socialite Fiasco Music, LLC. was formed by Mônica da Silva and Chad Alger in early 2011. The company is a boutique music house that produces and licenses music for use in Television, Film & Commercials.

Accolades

2002 - UK songwriting Contest- Runner Up/ Pop Category with the song "Life Out Loud"

2011 - Pump Audio-Getty Images-Best Overall/First Place- Latin Song "Amor Perdido"

2011 - International Brazilian Press Award Nomination

2010 - 2011 - ASCAP PLUS Award- Popular Division

2011 - 2012 - ASCAP PLUS Award- Popular Division

Influences

João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...

, Antonio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...

, Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...

, Seu Jorge
Seu Jorge
Seu Jorge is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter and actor. Born Jorge Mário da Silva, he was raised in a favela in the city of Belford Roxo in the Baixada Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro state. He is considered by his fans a renewer of Brazilian pop samba...

, Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque...

 

Adriana Calcanhotto
Adriana Calcanhotto
Adriana Calcanhotto is a Brazilian singer/composer. Her melancholic songs are often categorized as belonging to the MPB genre...

, Ceu
CEU
CEU may refer to:*Continuing education units in the United States*Central European University in Budapest, Hungary*College of Eastern Utah*Centro Escolar University in the Philippines*Centro de Estudios Universitarios in Spain...

, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...

, Brazilian Girls
Brazilian Girls
Brazilian Girls was a band from New York City known for their eclectic blend of electronic dance music with musical styles as diverse as tango, chanson, house, reggae and lounge. None of the members are actually from Brazil and the only female in the band is Sabina Sciubba. Other members include...

,

Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...

, Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...

, Bjork
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

, Emiliana Torrini
Emilíana Torrini
Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, best known for her 2009 single Jungle Drum, 1999 album Love in the Time of Science and for performing "Gollum's Song" for Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.-Early life:Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, where, at the age of...

, The Pet Shop Boys,

Vinicius de Moraes
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinicius de Moraes , known as Vinicius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinho , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...

, Kings of Convenience
Kings of Convenience
Kings of Convenience are an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway. Consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies...

, Federico Aubele
Federico Aubele
Federico Aubele is an Argentine singer-songwriter whose music blends a variety of genres and styles: Jamaican dub and reggae, American ambient and hip-hop, Mexican bolero, and Argentine tango...

, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...


External links

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