Nelly Furtado: Hi everybody! Nelly here.

krystal_19_19 asks: What influenced you the most when making your new album “Whoa Nelly”?

Nelly Furtado: Oh my goodness! Probably old Brazilian records and different albums I liked at the time… everything from Cornershop to Caetano Veloso.

katc_5 asks: How long have you been singing?

Nelly Furtado: I’ve been performing since I was four, and singing since probably before then.

liljbm asks: Nelly, when are you going to get back on the road?

Nelly Furtado: Why? Have you seen my show??

krystal_19_19 asks: When are you coming to Toronto to perform?

Nelly Furtado: October 5 at the Phoenix.

krystal_19_19 asks: Where in Canada are you from?

Nelly Furtado: I’m from an island called Vancouver Island, and a city called Victoria.

zooey_franny asks: Hey, I got a free sampler with one of your songs and really like the Latin sounding beats!

Nelly Furtado: Thank you! You hear that all over “Whoa Nelly” as well as some of those heavy world influences. Glad you like it!

greasyfootlong asks: Is the name Nelly short for something else?

Nelly Furtado: No, it’s not. That’s it! Nelly Kim Furtado.

chuck_of_newyork asks: Hey Nell, do you consider yourself an antithesis to the current group of female pop singers like Britney and Christina?

Nelly Furtado: I’m like their nerdy twin sister who reads too much.

liljbm asks: Nelly when are you going to make a video for “I’m Like A Bird”?

Nelly Furtado: Oh, the video is done! You’re going to see it on TV in the next couple of weeks if all goes well. Request it!

krystal_19_19 asks: Who are your favourite singers/songwriters?

Nelly Furtado: Oh, I like Elliot Smith, Ani DiFranco, The Verve, Jeff Buckley as far as more traditional singer-songwriters go… but I like all kinds of music. Asian Dub Foundation is one of my favorite bands.

chuck_of_newyork asks: I must tell you that I am impressed with your music. It pushes the boundaries of pop and I wondered in one of your songs you talk of changing inflection, is that something you do on purpose to manipulate the listeners? I mean manipulate in the best sense really.

Nelly Furtado: You’re smart! Everything I do, if I change inflection… I think of the album as one huge piece and everything I do is to make the whole big thing work. I try to trick people but in a good way sometimes.

revolvingn asks: Are you upset about the timing of Nelly the rapper?

Nelly Furtado: I’m kinda glad. I think he’s the furthest thing from me–he’s male and a rapper. But I think it’s kinda like free publicity.

liljbm asks: Nelly how did the shows in Florida go? Did you get a chance to go out dancing in Miami?

Nelly Furtado: I wish! They whisked me at 1am after the Miami show! We had to drive from Miami to Orlando. But the club we played at — Power Studios — was great. Miami was packed and both had a good vibe,

twentytwofive asks: Are there any artists you’d really luv to see live someday?

Nelly Furtado: Yes. I still haven’t seen No Doubt live, Korn, Richard Ashcroft of the Verve live. I haven’t seen any of my favorite Brazilian stuff live like Caetano Veloso. I still haven’t seen Elliot Smith, Ani DiFranco… I’d love to see all of them. I saw the Deftones and Incubus over the summer and they were really good. That was fun.

chuck_of_newyork asks: Who are some of your favorite authors?

Nelly Furtado: Oh, my favorite author is Michael Ondaatje. I love Allan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and this little Portuguese writer named Camoes.

chuck_of_newyork asks: How long did it take to write and record the album?

Nelly Furtado: It took in total… well, the oldest song is “Hey Man” and I wrote that about three years ago. But in recording, we were really intense for a year. Six days a week, 12 hours a day. It was a total process of two to three years really.

vala_entertainment asks: Nelly, what do you think about your online street team?

Nelly Furtado: I love my online street team! They’re the best! Hello everybody! Hello Joey! Thank you very much, I talk about the street team all the time! Hello Hello Hello!

pudge104 asks: How do you feel about being on Rolling Stone’s hot list?

Nelly Furtado: Oh, that’s kinda cool. But I’m even more excited about the review they wrote about my CD and my live show… but being called hot’s kinda cool. Thanks for voting! Hello Kyle! Thanks for the mix tape!

revolvingn asks: Who would you like to work with if you could join forces on a song?

Nelly Furtado: Hmm. I wanna work with DJ Premier. And I still think it would be fun to work with Eminem, Beck… Noel Gallagher of Oasis I’ve always wanted to write a song with… always!

tugal asks: When are you going to start singing in Portuguese? You have given young Portguese artists hope!!

Nelly Furtado: Aww. I already do sing in Portuguese… and my international release has an extra track called “Ondestas” which sounds like Madredeus. Viva Portugal! I’m going to be releasing my album in November in Portugal. I’m for sure going to record an album entirely in Portuguese in the next 2-3 years. It’s very important to me to talk about my identity… and you should too… keep singing and working hard! Check out my sister’s website: http://www.portugalunite.com. It’s got some really wicked information and resources on it. Parabens!

acius_drawflow asks: Who would you compare yourself to if you were explaining your sound to someone who hadn’t heard you?

Nelly Furtado: I usually say that it’s a pop record because I think the songs are hooky and catchy and follow a pop structure. But they are presented in a certain kind of way that involves world rhythms, and they have a hip-hop sensibility in the way I deliver my vocals and the beats. I also think that there’s a modern edge to the program because it’s a technologically friendly album. It’s a little hard to describe, but that’s okay ‘cos people tend to usually like it.

Sonyfish asks: Where can we get the words to “Whoa Nelly”?

Nelly Furtado: Actually, there’s a fan site called the Nelly MP3 something… it’s got MP3 in the title. If you are part of egroups, you can link on to the links and there’s a Nelly site called… on the homepage it’s me performing in Chicago. They’re the photos that Rolling Stone online took and it has all the lyrics to my songs. It’s Kyle’s site and if you’re there, then post the link. But guaranteed, if you check out the egroups site, they’ll hook you up with lyrics. ‘Cos the street team is thorough! Shoutouts to Joey!

eclecticchick81 asks: Nelly: I just wanted to say hi & that I saw you @ Ottawa’s FRESH Festival & I think you’re awesome live! Can’t wait for the album! Good Luck!!

Nelly Furtado: Thank you so much. I remember that show so well… it was my first real hour-long show ever. It was so awesome, it was rainy… thank you for coming to see me in the rain! Remember my orange pants??

chuck_of_newyork asks: Nell, you are different. I like that. I saw your video for “On the Radio” and in it you hold a guitar. I was curious as to whether you play guitar? I know you studied trumpet a bit. How has the technical training influenced or affected your music?

Nelly Furtado: My first instrument was the ukelele when I was nine and then I picked up the trombone and played in jazz band and marching band. So all that rhythm and percussion stuff in jazz band has given me a bit more agility in doing things with my voice. I picked up the guitar about three years ago. I wrote “Hey Man” on the guitar… a lot of my songs are written on the guitar. At the Lilith Fair, I played rhythm guitar. Knowing guitar is important to writing more solid songs and writing better bridges. But I don’t always write that way. Sometimes I just go into the studio and write a melody over the beat. I like to not limit myself… maybe I’ll write some songs with a xylophone for the next record!

acius_drawflow asks: What inspired “Shit on the Radio”? Are you predicting you will lose old fans when your music gets radio play?

Nelly Furtado: No, not necessarily old fans… I don’t know because the way it’s going I think we’re going with our most radio-friendly single. I made indie music for a long time, since I was sixteen. I was into trip-hop for a while, and I made a lot of underground stuff. I guess I had a circle of musician type friends… but I guess I didn’t think I really fit in because my stuff was a little more melodic, and not as cool… Someone once asked me what the biggest risk I ever took was and I think it was making this record. The song is very happy and rejoiceful… and I think people hear that and they can relate. It’s a very self-affirming song and I hope you like it, ‘cos it’s my favorite song on the record.

twentytwofive asks: What would you say is your most emotional song, and favorite to play live?

Nelly Furtado: Oooh… Oh, my favorite song to play live is “Party.” It’s totally the jam live. It’s the party jam. It’s like the song where we get to jam out and be really good musicheads. And there’s this really long timbali solo and I get to jump around a lot. I love performing it every night because it’s never the same every night and it’s challenging. That song just brings you to the right place every time. Emotional? “Scared of You” is a ballad and I sing in part Portuguese and by the end it creates a bit of an emotional thing. One of my singers tells me that I cry at the end of that one every night! All my songs are fun… it’s all good! You’ll be surprised when you come to the live show — it’s a whole other thing. I mean, the CD is high energy, but the live show is totally different. And I guarantee to invent a new dance move every night for “Party’s Just Begun”! What’s your favorite live song, if you’ve seen me play live?

revolvingn asks: What are you gonna be for Halloween?

Nelly Furtado: I was thinking of being like a scary geisha girl. Like back-from-the-dead geisha girl, crazy face paint, and a kimono and stuff… that would be the number one thing I can come up with now. But I don’t know… any ideas??

Sonyfish asks: Nelly, in the song “Hey, Man” what are you singing after “I don’t wanna ______”?

Nelly Furtado: I’m singing “I don’t want ambivalence no more.” I guess it’s hard to tell what I’m singing there.

revolvingn asks: Have you done any cover songs live? Which would you do if you could?

Nelly Furtado: You know, I’ve been thinking long and hard on plane rides and stuff, and everything’s gone through my mind; a Bell Biv Devoe song, old Mary J. Blige… I thought Pharcyde, “Passin’ Me By”… I want something that’s never been covered before. I know it’s out there… I just haven’t found it yet. Down the line, I’m gonna do a Prince cover… Destiny’s Child would be fun too…

twentytwofive asks: Yer live show was definitely amazing, and I could hear more of the Brazilian instruments than on the CD. Do think you’d put out a live CD eventually, maybe soon?

Nelly Furtado: I’d love to put out a live album. Just start harassing my record label. If everything goes well, I’d definitely like to put out a live album. I’m glad you like my live show so much, we worked really hard on it. We might add another vocalist or a DJ to fill out the sampling and round out the group… despite the fact that we have seven people on stage.

krystal_19_19 asks: What do you do for fun?

Nelly Furtado: I like running a lot. I’m in Victoria right now and I’ve been running every day. I like the fresh air and I’m always in cities that are so full of pollution. I like to write, I keep a journal. I also like a kind of Brazilian martial arts Ð Capoeira. I rollerblade… and… um, I’m boring really, boring! I like going record shopping and going to cool local music events. I went to Stirfry, this DJ jam session in Victoria, and I did some freestyling… that was fun. As far as deejays go, check out Lil Jaz, who scratches on my record!

Sonyfish asks: Nelly, will you have a fan club?

Nelly Furtado: Yes, please start me one! I hope so. I’m so happy with all the fans I have so
far, it’s so exciting. They have chats and I actually read a lot of the egroup messages. They’re so inspiring. They put a smile on my face every day. And then meeting people from egroups has been wicked, so come to my shows! Special thanks to everybody! Special thanks to egroups! Here’s a shoutout to Nick, thanks for the mix CD it rocks, and thanks for coming to all three of my shows! You’re a trooper! Hello to Ed and Dave! Hello to Joey; thanks for being my webmaster at egroups… and thanks! My videos are going to be out soon on MTV, MuchMusic, and maybe VH1. I’m confident about my record, so buy it and add it to your collection! Thanks for coming to the chat and hit my website and egroups and maybe I’ll start putting up some footage from the tour, and a tour diary. So I’m going to be playing Toronto, then a press tour in the States and then I’m going to Portugal and then touring in Germany! And then maybe I’ll come back and tour where people bought the most CDs! (j/k) So thanks to everyone, much love!