Lila Downs: Quotes about thinking

“I think that I have influenced several generations of performers in Mexico. I’m proud of that because it isn’t easy in these scenes. But then it is easy because it’s what you love to do, and it’s your passion. Even in your down times, you are always accompanied by your music.”

Lila Downs

On being a folk musician in “Lila Downs Explores Mexican Heritage Through the Pepper in New LP, ‘Al Chile’” https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/lila-downs-new-lp-al-chile-interview-841209/ in Rolling Stone (29 May 2019)
Music and culture

Time , Music , Thinking , Passion

“The sin is about our notion of what is right and what is wrong, and how we bend the truth based on we want and I think. In Catholicism, we tend to do this a lot, and I think it’s very interesting and very beautiful yet very disturbing at the same time. A miracle is about believing and having faith. I think that it these times, and in Mexico, we have been to the point where we have been loosing [sic] faith. It’s really important for me to remind myself that I must continue on having faith, in my people, in my nation, in the woman, and in all the beautiful things that my country represents.”

Lila Downs

On the notion of faith and how it might apply to Mexico and its peoples in “Q&A: Lila Downs, A Sin and A Miracle” https://remezcla.com/music/lila-downs-sin-miracle-pecados-milagros-interview/ in Remezcla (c. 2011)
Heritage and indigenous peoples

Faith , Time , Country , Beauty

“…I remember as a child holding these long notes, so there’s something that’s already there. But I do think it’s a constant question of knowing and taking care of yourself. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have a tequila or a mezcal once in a while…In my case, it’s very important to have it because through that you express the emotion you have from within. Sometimes that gives you some more secrets about how to handle your instruments.”

Lila Downs

On her vocal style in “Lila Downs Reminds Us of the Strength Women Bring to Latin America and its History” https://sheshredsmag.com/lila-downs-14/ in She Shreds (2018 May 3)
Music and culture

Secret , Thinking , Question

“Oh it’s very beautiful to have a very rich heritage from my Indian ancestors. My mother is Mixtec [a native tribe of Oaxaca], and my father was Scottish American. Growing up with those cultures has been enriching. Though, at first very difficult because I was rejected by one culture — in the Mexican Nation there is a lot of discrimination towards the Indian groups. So I struggled with that and with being discriminated as a Mexican. But I think music has been able to erase those boundaries. I think it’s easier to stop talking about those borders, and talk more about the music — to make music so that those borders are erased in a poetic way.”

Lila Downs

On her racial heritage in “Q&A: Lila Downs, A Sin and A Miracle” https://remezcla.com/music/lila-downs-sin-miracle-pecados-milagros-interview/ in Remezcla (c. 2011)
Heritage and indigenous peoples

Beauty , Music , Thinking , Way