from Brazil to Macedonia

Between music and travel - from Brazil to Macedonia. Eliza is 41 years old and comes from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. For two years she's been traveling around Europe and the Balkans. In addition to traveling, one of her favorite hobbies is to play music. Her experience is out of the ordinary and she shared it with me for Voices Magazine. Eliza was born in the area of CopaCabana in Rio de Janeiro. From a young age, she fell in love with music even though there was no musician in her family. When she was 3, she asked her parents to get her first piano. “I remember the first piano that I had was a very small piano for children. At the beginning my parents didn’t really take me seriously so every year I was asking for a better piano. Then, one day my father bought me a real piano, very old because it was cheaper but I could play real piano’s sheet music!”.After some piano classes, her parents realized that she had a real gift for music.

“I’m conscious that I was very privileged and lucky, not all children could have the chance that their parents are buying them music equipment; it’s expensive! According to my father I had the opportunity to exercise my talent”. Today, the main instrument that she plays is bass guitar, but it took time for her to realize that it was this one that she wanted to play all her life. “When I was 12, I watched a free concert in my city. There was a women’s band playing and one of them was playing with a blue guitar… My eyes were shining!”. Since this day, Eliza knew that she wanted to play bass guitar. Again the same scenario, her father helped her a lot to realize this dream and bought her a bass guitar. Then she never stopped playing. She grew up and started to build her career as a bass guitar player in Brazil. She invested in a lot of base equipment and kept playing in Brazil. Now she never leaves her bass guitar, she always has one of them with her.

Living from her hobbies was amazing, but with the economic situation in Brazil it was necessary to have work in addition. So in 2007, she decided to start her career as a social media manager. The last 6 years before Covid she found an amazing job where she could combine music and social media. She found her place in one of the biggest festivals in Brazil: Rock in Rio festival. This huge event during 7 days is very famous in Brazil and welcomes a lot of famous artists: Drake, Demi Lovato, Post Malone, ColdPlay, Justin Bieber etc. That was a real opportunity for her: “It was amazing to work there, I could build my experiences and my skills in social media management. Also, in Brazil, if you have the name of this festival in your CV, never mind which job it was, after, you can work everywhere!”. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic stopped all music events for two years and Eliza couldn’t continue her career in this festival. It was a period of doubt, but hopefully she could quickly find new jobs and with a nice advantage: working online. That was the beginning of her travel adventure.

“Why should I stay in my home everyday if I can travel and work at the same time?” - that was Eliza’s reflection. Furthermore, as a musician, there were no concerts anymore, she had no hope, the only issue for her was to travel. So first, she started to travel inside Brazil because borders were closed. She spent a few months in an isolated area called Piaui. It was a resourceful moment for her, she could live with freedom in Brazil even if there were a lot of restrictions. Then in 2021, France was one of the first countries to open its borders to Brazilian people who had a negative PCR after the pandemic. “When I heard that I could go to France, I just took my backpack and ran there! Even if it was leaving at 8 620 miles from Brazil, I just really needed to move''. France was the beginning of a lot of trips for Eliza: “When I left Brazil, I thought traveling just 3 months and then coming back to Brazil, but finally I never stopped”. She traveled around 12 different countries in Europe and the Balkans. One of the obstacles for her is that with a Brazilian passport you have the authorization to stay only 3 consecutive months in the Schengen area, then she has to go outside Europe. That’s why the Balkans were also a good option for her. Indeed, in the Balkans she can stay 3 consecutive months in each country. One of her best music experiences during her trip was in Bucharest, in Romania. There, she met a lot of musicians and they always called her to play with them: “I was living the real life of a musician there. They have an amazing music scene, the best one of all my trips, I think”. In Macedonia, Eliza also found her place: “I love this country, the culture and people are really welcoming. I met a lot of new friends here and Macedonia is definitely a place where I will come back”. Moreover, unfortunately for music, she never met a musician who invited her to play music in Macedonia. For her, the scene here seems very strict. For example, she met some bar owners and they don’t really open the door for musicians from outside. Eliza traveled to different cities in Macedonia and she had a very beautiful opportunity in Ohrid. She met a 15 year old girl in the coffee place of the bus station and the girl has a metal band t-shirt; enough to start a discussion with her. “The girl told me that she really likes metal music and that one of her dreams is to have a band. So then, without hesitation I propose to teach her how to play guitar. She fell in love with the bass guitar. Then I decided to leave her my bass guitar for the week-end and she was so happy. When I came back, her eyes were shining and she convinced her father to buy her a bass guitar. So I think I made a new bass player in Macedonia!”.

Finally, it’s kind of the same story as hers which is retold in another country, and that’s the beauty of music!

Eliza is continuing her trip and left Macedonia to Germany where her girlfriend is living. On the 20th of May a new adventure will start for her - she will start a European Tour with the singer Krishna Das in Oslo. For several months she will combine her two passions: music and travel!

Camélia Sghayare