What year did you participate in the initiative? What’s your song title?
2021 - “Basta”
What motivated you to compose the song about world peace and participate in the initiative?
When I was a student at Berklee, I moved to a house where I had the pleasure of meeting Utako Toyama. At the time she was finishing her studies and leading her band, Skybridge in which I had the opportunity to play guitar for a couple of events. I was impressed with her songs and her focus on social change through music. It was truly inspiring to see someone so committed to making a positive impact in the world and bringing people from different backgrounds together. So, when she asked if I would be part of this initiative I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what peace meant to me, some of the issues I thought interfered with it, and take listeners on some sort of guided meditation, in my first language, Spanish.
What does your song tell the world? Share with us the background and what brought you to write the song.
Basta means “enough” in Spanish, so it doesn’t sound that peaceful at all. Yet, I wanted to challenge the listener with the question ‘What if?’
"What if we kept our fears, our prejudice, our ignorance, and our egos aside?"
"What if we could coexist without needing to judge and hurt one another?"
How did your song or your participation in the initiative positively impact you?
I was thrilled to write lyrics and compose music for this initiative representing the Dominican Republic. Nowadays, I don’t get the opportunity to write songs as often, so this was a really fun project that allowed me to revisit my songwriting beginnings and to record guitars on!
Besides that, it was great to collaborate with colleagues I admire like one of my favorite singers, Esperanza Delgado, who lent me her beautiful voice and brought this song to life. I also collaborated with my partner who is a wonderful composer and producer, Roberto Prado, who produced the track with me and helped create this mysterious atmosphere I wanted to portray.
How did your song or your participation in the initiative positively impact your friends and family members?
Fortunately, it was well received by friends and family. They were thrilled to get to know this side of me as an artist but also were happy with the content of this song.
How did your song or your participation in the initiative positively impact your community?
… It’s hard to say. The people I know who took the time to listen really connected with the song which means a lot to me already but I guess like many other artists in their beginnings I still battle with “cutting through the noise”.
"It is really hard to get people’s attention nowadays especially if they don’t know you. There’s so much music out there, so much content in general, it is really hard to get an audience that is actively listening, and truly engaged."
If relevant, what are the challenges for you to be involved in social change as an artist and how could Song for World Peace help you?
I think it has to do with my previous answer. There are many wonderful artists out there, and even more music for people to consume and connect with, so many of us still need to find ways to reach our audience, or in other words, find and build that audience. If we could find a way to reach more people through this initiative, find other organizations willing to collaborate with SWP artists, or even create events/ concerts to showcase these songs, it would be great!
What would be a potential impact that you and your music could make, to the world?
… I hope that my career can become a source of inspiration to other women composers in the world, but specifically in the Dominican Republic and Latin America. I want to give back to communities with limited resources through classes and concerts that can help them prepare to reach their goals too.
What’s your goal as an Artist?
I would love to write and perform music with my own Jazz Orchestra around the world. I want to create music inspired by both Dominican and Brazilian rhythms combined with Jazz traditions and harmony. I would love to actively participate in Jazz Festivals like the Dominican Republic’s and Panama’s which make a positive impact in their society by giving back to underserved communities through music lessons.
Anything you would like to promote? - Upcoming releases, events, etc.
I have multiple little projects I am working on right now but don’t have a release date set yet so in the meantime keep an eye out on social media and stay connected! :) Instagram: @aidademoya
Listen to Aida De Moya's song, "Basta"!
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