The daughter of fado singer Teresa Siquiera, Carminho has been in the world of fado practically since birth, even debuting her musical career at the age of twelve. With such an upbring, it is no surprise she is confident in her skills, as she said during the show, “The performer of fado is always secured in what she is telling.” And Carminho is no ordinary fadista. She wears androgynous outfits, creates hybrids of music styles, and is not afraid to critique aspects of the culture. Carminho feels it is her responsibility to lessen the male chauvinism in fado. One song she performed, she even noted, was rewritten by her. She felt the song continued the infantilization of women in fado, and thought it would be best to flip the narrative on its head. The song, about a woman walking in a garden and being followed by birds, is instead about a man doing the same exact thing.
Watching Carminho is truly a unique experience. No show is the exact same with her. She was sure to let the audience know that she was not only performing songs from her most recent release, but that she was also trying different styles and repertoires of the songs. She also used a loop station during her performance, a device that I never expected to be integrated with fado (for those who are unfamiliar, it is a recording device that lets musician record sound during a live performance, play the audio back, and layer the recordings to sound like there are multiple musicians/singers). But that’s the genius of Carminho, it should be obvious that such a device would fit with fado. Fado is psychological enough, as Carminho puts it, “Everybody dies of love in fado”, but with such enhancement, it makes the music ethereal. If you ever have a chance to witness this talented artist perform, I highly recommend you accept such an opportunity.
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