Activist and singer SONiA talks with Katrina Fox about her new album, tango, and her performance at the Mardi Gras Fair Day.
There’s not many artists who can claim to have performed in a bomb shelter in Israel – nor many that would be brave enough to do so – but for American lesbian singer-songwriter SONiA and her band ‘disappear fear’, it was a “beautiful” and “unforgettable” experience.
< br> “The only place people in a group of five or more were allowed to gather was in a bomb shelter,” she explains. “My concert was scheduled up in Karmiel so folks came from various villages around the north and listened to me sing my songs.
In the background of bombs falling all day long for weeks and weeks and not knowing what will be ... in so many ways the essence of what is truly important in life really sounds a lot different than most of what we hear in the chatter of the radio day today in Australia and in America. I was and am blessed with the opportunity to be heard; that is really it. That no bombs hit us that night, that we could be together for a few hours and feel comforted by the music ... it was beautiful and unforgettable.”
For SONiA, it’s important that her music contains a message, and she’s a staunch peace activist, attending rallies and demonstrations and launching an initiative called Guitars for Peace, which aims to put guitars into the hands of children in war-torn countries and the Middle East.
“In the larger picture of time I am essentially leaving this earth with a creation and/or creations that will have a lasting positive effect on the cycles of evolution,” she muses. “To leave only angry, pissed-off and self-pitying ‘she got away’ ballads would not be how I want to be remembered. I want to create inspiring thrusts of light ... great miracles of thunder to live into.” Her latest album, tango, is recorded in four different languages: Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew and English – and is SONiA’s way of bringing the different cultures together in harmony.
“Spanish is hot; very romantic and musical,” she says. “The word for ‘word’ in Spanish is palabra. Ah ...you see just one word and there is music. Hebrew brings a sense of tranquility to the music. Arabic brings a sense of earthly direction and possibility.
I have been attending peace demonstrations nearly my whole life and to sing now in the language of those said to be America’s enemies, to actually walk a little of the walk up the hill, is far more empowering than to just stand in line and say, ‘Yes I want peace.’
“And to actually try to learn the language, this is very important. Part of the very obvious reason that there is hostility between nations is because we literally don’t understand each other. I believe multi-cultural exploration leads us to multi-organic celebrations. Hebrew and Arabic are 6,000 years old.
To get thoughts of our modern day around these words is challenging. But only with this very effort can we begin to experience the divine light of one another and live like the real family we already are.”
SONiA and disappear fear play at the Mardi Gras Fair Day this Sunday, 17 February. Visit www.disappearfear.com for more info and to order CDs.