An Interview with LORETA

Music has always been my first  and my biggest love, but i grew up around different types of artists like painters, sculptors, and designers. I was interested and exposed to different forms of art at a very early age, so i always wanted to explore and get involved in all of it. I would spend most of my summers in different art studios watching and learning how to paint or do ceramic work etc.  I also learned how to paint on silk. Still to this day i paint paintings. I find it very relaxing and expressive.

I learned how to use a sewing machine when i was little and made sketches of dresses and shoes. I would make my own runway shows at home for my parents and their friends. I wasn't interested in playing outside with the kids, i was happy entertaining myself doing all the art work just as i do today, but it always comes back to the music.

I was influenced by a lot of great artist’s, who still today are the greatest! Michael Jackson, George Michael, Madonna, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Prince, and Whitney Houston. Their music was a huge part of my everyday life. I even did my homework listening to music. They still are my favorite artists and now i also listen to Faith Evans, India Arie, Pink, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Kelly Price, Lauryn Hill, Nikka Costa, Usher, as well as gospel music and classical.

I love reading. Since the day i could read, every night i went to bed with a book. I read at least an hour a day.

I love painting, doing yoga, going to museums, art exhibitions, theatre, musicals, and i absolutely love to cook, especially gourmet, vegan, raw recipes. The harder the recipe, the more i enjoy the challenge. When i have free time, I bake a lot too. I only use organic ingredients and i don't eat meat or meat products. I am also very aware of the dairy industry and animal welfare, so it's extremely rare that i would ever use dairy ingredients in my cooking. I also pay a lot of attention to "Fair Trade" products, it's very important that people who work on tea, rice or any other farms are treated and paid fairly. A lot of farms enslave adults and children, don't pay them and also abuse them, so it's very important  to be aware of that and demand only "fair trade" products. This way we can start our fight against modern day slavery and human trafficking.

I love spending time with my toy poodle Bonnie, she is amazing and that's where my love for animals comes in. I get involved in animal rescues and i love to help and find them loving forever homes. One of my dreams is to build non kill animal shelters, where animals would be well taken care of and would be placed with the right loving forever homes, instead of being put to sleep just because no one wants them. I would also love to have a program that would be placed in schools to educate and teach kids about our responsibility to take care and respect animals from a very young age.

I would have to say Limp Bizkit, Spice Girls and Skid Row, but don't tell anyone.

They usually come together. I do have a notepad where i constantly write down lyric ideas, but since i only write songs when i am inspired, i start playing the piano, the music and lyrics flow together at the same time. I really enjoy that kind of a process, it's like a release of all the bottled up feelings and much easier to put in a song than saying it to a person and sometimes admitting it to yourself.

Absolutely and very soon. I just heard the new production and remixes for my first single. We are preparing the video treatment now based on a concept that is nothing like you've ever seen before. It's just a matter of getting the right team together – great writers, stylists and a visionary director. This video will have a very important message behind it, which i do not want to disclose yet. I want it to be a big surprise.

Touring will be a very big part of my musical life. I love being on stage and having direct contact with the audience. It's one of the most exciting things I am looking forward to. We don't have any exact dates yet, but it will happen for sure. In the mean time i am getting lots of ideas for costumes, presentation, stage design, etc. When i go on stage, as with everything else it has to be very special.