Raquel at Estonian Funk Embassy - part 3/3
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Back home, safe and sound, I can now look back and see how amazing this last 3 months were. During December, I had time to learn, work, have fun and.. goodbyes. But I’ll get into it soon enough.
Before that, I have to say that by the beginning of December, I was already feeling that “it’s almost over - what am I gonna do? - I’ll miss this so much” kind of thing. So, I started to take photos of everything, trying to catch those last moments forever.
Before that, I have to say that by the beginning of December, I was already feeling that “it’s almost over - what am I gonna do? - I’ll miss this so much” kind of thing. So, I started to take photos of everything, trying to catch those last moments forever.
This internship was, to me, much more than only work or professional - it was some kind of a life changing experience. So, I began to think about how it gave me so many things to learn about myself and the other, being them directly related to my professional life, or not.
The working life kept going, although the rhythm of live events at ETK slowed down. It gave me more time to Estonian Funk Embassy and its artists. In early December, there was this amazing market where bands and agencies could sell their merchandise - t-shirts, records, posters, everything. I found it completely amazing to have different bands, from the most diverse genres, in the same place, together in one event. My “I hope I can import this to Portugal” alarm rang loudly with this one.
Raili was part of our Estonian Funk Embassy's team ->
Talking about bands, if you know anything about Estonian music panorama, you know how huge Lexsoul Dancemachine are there. But, although they are represented by Estonian Funk Embassy and I had the chance to work close with them, I didn’t see them live until December. I kept hearing all those stories about how amazing their live shows are, but it really took a while to have the opportunity to know what they meant. It was in a fancy private event, but I could totally understand what the buzz was all about. In such a cold country, those guys are pure fire!
By mid December, I got invited to this lovely Christmas Party at Music Estonia. Three months went by so fast we didn’t even had the chance to be together that much, so it felt amazing to be together with that super team that gave me the chance to live this experience. We chatted, we ate, and we drank. We talked about how the holidays were different to everyone in the room, and we all shared stories and experiences. I’m really grateful that I had the chance to meet all these amazing humans - Music Estonia rocks!
Christmas Market in Tallinn
And then, the “goodbye season” was officially open! I forced myself to say a ‘see you soon’ instead of a ‘goodbye’ to everyone. My amazing landlords, that were the sweetest couple and had the most fantastic home waiting for me, my dear ETK colleagues, and the Estonian Funk Embassy’s team and artists. Everyone was super nice to me, so I still miss all of it and everyone.
But, before I left, I had this last assignment. And it was a super important one! I had to schedule an interview with Luiz Black and his wife, Tuula. Luiz is this super talented percussionist I met during Rita Ray’s shows, as he was on stage with her. He’s Brazilian, and he doesn’t know much english. His wife is Finnish, but she speaks Portuguese, so she’s his translator. But when she’s not present, no one can really communicate through words with him. People say he’s the best percussionist the cold countries had ever had - and I can believe it. The problem is, no one has an idea of how big he was in Brazil and other countries.
Me, Luiz Black and
Tuula after the interview
No one knows his story. So that was my mission - to interview Luiz in order to translate it so Estonians could know who this living legend is. Only the release of the interview is lacking, but shouldn’t take too long now!
On my last night, I had to say goodbye to Henrik, my mentor, to whom I’m really, really grateful. We spent lots of time together, and it was great to see how we could do work and still have a nice time. He put lots of trust in me in many situations, and I really appreciate it - as much as I do appreciate every time he would tell me something was not perfect, and that I could still improve it. But, back to my last night in Tallinn, as these goodbyes should be, we ate, drank and chatted about the both the past and the future. After a while, Rita Ray joined us. And she gave me a lovely gift - a signed “Old Love Will Rust”, which meant quite a lot to me.
Estonian Funk Embassy's vinyls in Portugal
So this is it, a really short 3-part summary of my journey in Tallinn. A huge, huge thank you to both Music Estonia and Why Portugal for creating this programme, and specially to Estonian Funk Embassy, in the person of Henrik, for trusting that I could do a great work, and for letting me in all your projects! I already miss Estonia, which I found to be a beautiful country, its people, and even its cold! I hope I can come back really soon and see everyone again. Thank you all from Portugal!
Coming back home
The working life kept going, although the rhythm of live events at ETK slowed down. It gave me more time to Estonian Funk Embassy and its artists. In early December, there was this amazing market where bands and agencies could sell their merchandise - t-shirts, records, posters, everything. I found it completely amazing to have different bands, from the most diverse genres, in the same place, together in one event. My “I hope I can import this to Portugal” alarm rang loudly with this one.
Raili was part of our Estonian Funk Embassy's team ->
Talking about bands, if you know anything about Estonian music panorama, you know how huge Lexsoul Dancemachine are there. But, although they are represented by Estonian Funk Embassy and I had the chance to work close with them, I didn’t see them live until December. I kept hearing all those stories about how amazing their live shows are, but it really took a while to have the opportunity to know what they meant. It was in a fancy private event, but I could totally understand what the buzz was all about. In such a cold country, those guys are pure fire!
By mid December, I got invited to this lovely Christmas Party at Music Estonia. Three months went by so fast we didn’t even had the chance to be together that much, so it felt amazing to be together with that super team that gave me the chance to live this experience. We chatted, we ate, and we drank. We talked about how the holidays were different to everyone in the room, and we all shared stories and experiences. I’m really grateful that I had the chance to meet all these amazing humans - Music Estonia rocks!
Christmas Market in Tallinn
And then, the “goodbye season” was officially open! I forced myself to say a ‘see you soon’ instead of a ‘goodbye’ to everyone. My amazing landlords, that were the sweetest couple and had the most fantastic home waiting for me, my dear ETK colleagues, and the Estonian Funk Embassy’s team and artists. Everyone was super nice to me, so I still miss all of it and everyone.
But, before I left, I had this last assignment. And it was a super important one! I had to schedule an interview with Luiz Black and his wife, Tuula. Luiz is this super talented percussionist I met during Rita Ray’s shows, as he was on stage with her. He’s Brazilian, and he doesn’t know much english. His wife is Finnish, but she speaks Portuguese, so she’s his translator. But when she’s not present, no one can really communicate through words with him. People say he’s the best percussionist the cold countries had ever had - and I can believe it. The problem is, no one has an idea of how big he was in Brazil and other countries.
Me, Luiz Black and
Tuula after the interview
No one knows his story. So that was my mission - to interview Luiz in order to translate it so Estonians could know who this living legend is. Only the release of the interview is lacking, but shouldn’t take too long now!
On my last night, I had to say goodbye to Henrik, my mentor, to whom I’m really, really grateful. We spent lots of time together, and it was great to see how we could do work and still have a nice time. He put lots of trust in me in many situations, and I really appreciate it - as much as I do appreciate every time he would tell me something was not perfect, and that I could still improve it. But, back to my last night in Tallinn, as these goodbyes should be, we ate, drank and chatted about the both the past and the future. After a while, Rita Ray joined us. And she gave me a lovely gift - a signed “Old Love Will Rust”, which meant quite a lot to me.
Estonian Funk Embassy's vinyls in Portugal
So this is it, a really short 3-part summary of my journey in Tallinn. A huge, huge thank you to both Music Estonia and Why Portugal for creating this programme, and specially to Estonian Funk Embassy, in the person of Henrik, for trusting that I could do a great work, and for letting me in all your projects! I already miss Estonia, which I found to be a beautiful country, its people, and even its cold! I hope I can come back really soon and see everyone again. Thank you all from Portugal!
Coming back home
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