Mônica Pinto da Silva Driscoll, known professionally as Mônica da Silva, is a Brazilian American singer-songwriter and musician, performing both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie duo

Complicated Animals Complicated Animals is an indie pop, indie band consisting of Brazilian American vocalist and songwriter Mônica da Silva, and musician and producer Chad Alger. The duo perform in their signature, self-coined "indie nova" genre, which mixes indie ...

. Da Silva's sound can be classified as International Fusion, as it is influenced by Brazilian music, namely

Bossa Nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

, but also incorporates elements of

Lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

Electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

Indie Pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

, MPB, and

Worldbeat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural con ...

. Da Silva has released two solo albums ''Miles From Nowhere'' and ''Brasilissima''. Her compositions have been featured in TV & Film, such as the Golden Globe Award winning film Lady Bird (2017), and the Paramount Network series

American Woman "American Woman" is a song by Canadian rock band the Guess Who, released January 1970, from the album of the same name. It was later released in March 1970 as a single backed with "No Sugar Tonight", and it reached number one for three weeks ...

(2018).

Early life

Monica da Silva was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

, to a Brazilian mother and an American father, who met while her father was in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

in Belém, Brazil. Because her mother is Brazilian, da Silva has dual Brazilian-American citizenship. Da Silva grew up living back and forth between the United States and Brazil. She is fluent in English and Portuguese. She started singing and playing piano and flute at an early age.

Career

Early years and Nectar

Da Silva and her siblings

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus * Eric ...

and

Bruce Driscoll Bruce Driscoll (born June 13, 1983) is an American record producer, songwriter, guitarist, film composer, and vocalist. He first gained notability as one half of the pop band Blondfire; co-writing, producing and self-releasing songs with his sis ...

formed the band Nectar in their teens. The siblings performed heavily in their hometown of Grand Rapids, later embarking on national tours of colleges and venues. In 2002, Nectar won Runner-up in the Pop Category for the UK Songwriting Contest with the song "Life Out Loud". Nectar performed at Chicago's premiere music conference and showcase Mobfest, and as a result, landed a development deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Publishing. Although there was some label interest, the band was never signed, and eventually the siblings parted ways.

''Miles From Nowhere''

In 2004, da Silva moved to Chicago, and met guitarist and songwriter

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, ''The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several films ...

. The duo met with Grammy nominated producer Rick Barnes, who agreed to record their songs at his studio Rax Trax. ''Miles From Nowhere'', da Silva's first studio album, was released in 2007. The second song from the album was featured on a promotional video for 3M.

''Brasilissima''

In December 2007, da Silva met drummer

Chad Alger Complicated Animals is an indie band consisting of Brazilian American vocalist and songwriter Mônica da Silva, and musician and producer Chad Alger. The duo perform in their signature, self-coined "indie nova" genre, which mixes indie pop with ...

, after responding to an ad he had posted on

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark ...

. Alger's ad, searching for "someone to start a Brazilian project with", intrigued da Silva, who had been wanting to steer her music toward her Brazilian heritage. Da Silva and Alger formed a quartet, which performed regularly around Chicago. The pair also began writing original songs, featuring Alger on guitar. The songs they wrote were heavily influenced by Brazilian

. Da Silva later coined their sound Indie Nova. Da Silva's album ''Brasilissima'' was released on 3 December 2010. It was co-produced by Alger, and

(

Freedom Fry Freedom Fry is a Los Angeles, California based indie band, composed of Parisian-born Marie Seyrat and American Bruce Driscoll. Career 2011-2014 The duo first met in April 2011 when Seyrat was the stylist on a video for Driscoll's other band Blo ...

, Blondfire), who is da Silva's brother. The first single from the album "Aí Então" was featured on the

Putumayo World Music Putumayo World Music is a New Orleans-based record label that specializes in compilations of world music, jazz and blues. History Dan Storper founded Putumayo in 1975 as a retail store in New York City featuring handicrafts from around the wo ...

compilation ''Brazilian Beat'' in 2012. The song "That’s Not The Way" was included in the programming of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Mr. Pauer collaboration

Da Silva met Latin Grammy Nominated producer and re-mixer Mr. Pauer (Toto Gonzalez), while living in Miami. They cowrote a song called "Vou Voar", which was released on Mr. Pauer's 2015 album ''Orange''. Following the release, da Silva showcased the song on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic with

Jason Bentley Jason Bentley (born July 27, 1970) is an American radio disc jockey of electronic music in Los Angeles, California. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced Nic Harcourt as the host of ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' and as Music Director for KCRW. Previ ...

Santa Monica, CA Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, and also performed at the 2015 Latin Grammy Official Afterparty at MGM Grand (Hakkasan nightclub) in

Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

''Walk on the Wild Side''

In 2016, da Silva released a reimagined cover of

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

’s "Walk on the Wild Side". The song was arranged and produced by

in Miami, FL. The video for the song was featured in the in-flight entertainment of French Airline

Air Austral Air Austral is a French airline, based at the Roland Garros Airport, in the Indian Ocean. It operates scheduled services from Réunion to metropolitan France, South Africa, Thailand, India and a number of destinations in the Indian Ocean. The c ...

in 2018.

''Soldado de Amor''

Da Silva's single "Soldado de Amor" was released on 31 March 2017. Written by da Silva, and her brother

(

, Blondfire), and mixed by

, the song was featured in the 2017

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

series The Replacement, and in the 2018

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

series

Discography

Studio albums

*''Miles From Nowhere'' (2007, Socialite Fiasco Music) *''Brasilissima'' (2010, Socialite Fiasco Music)

Singles

* ''Walk on the Wild Side'' (2016, Socialite Fiasco Music) * ''Soldado de Amor'' (2017, Socialite Fiasco Music)

Collaboration

* ''Vou Voar'' on the album ''Orange'' by Mr. Pauer (2015, Fabrika Music)

Compilations

* ''Aí Então'' on the compilation album ''Brazilian Beat'' (2012,

) * ''Aí Então'' on the compilation album ''Ibiza Beats vol.9'' (2016, Silver Angel Records)

TV and film placements

* ''Back To His Girl'' in the tv series ''

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization i ...

'' (2008, SEVEN24 Films) * ''That's Not The Way'' in the ''

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

'' (2014,

) * ''Soldado de Amor'' in the tv series '' The Replacement'' (2017,

Left Bank Pictures Left Bank Pictures (stylized as LEFT BANK Pictures) is a British film and television production company. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media company to receive investment from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Lef ...

) * ''Back To His Girl'' in the motion picture '' Lady Bird'' (2017,

Scott Rudin Productions Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

) * ''Soldado de Amor'' in the tv series ''

'' (2018,

) * ''Vou Voar'' in the tv series ''

Vida Vida means “life” in Spanish and Portuguese. It may refer to: Geography * Vida (Gradačac), village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Lake Vida, Victoria Valley, Antarctica * U.S. settled places: ** Vida, Montana ** Vida, Oregon ** Vida, Missour ...

'' (2019, Big Beach, Chingona Productions)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:da Silva, Monica Brazilian composers 21st-century Brazilian women singers 21st-century Brazilian singers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women singer-songwriters Brazilian women composers Bossa nova singers Música Popular Brasileira singers Musicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan People from Belém American people of Brazilian descent Record producers from Michigan Singer-songwriters from Michigan 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers American women record producers 21st-century women composers