A wanderer at heart, singer and artist Sumera has traveled all her life and she spent the past few years alternating between Berlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon and London. Enjoy the exclusive Video premiere of her newest song called “Faith” on C-Heads.

Hey Sumera, first of all your name sounds lovely, does it have a meaning?

Thank you so much. My parents always told me that my name means Princess! I have never been able to confirm this, so it might be parental wishful thinking….

You lived in many different places, London, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Berlin. Where did or do you feel most home and where do you think you will settle one day?

The notion of home being based on a territory is foreign to me. I don’t relate to that. I easily feel at home anywhere I go, but if I’d have to define it, I’d say home is where my parents are. I would love to settle in Cartagena or Lisbon.

How hard is it to always start new in a place?

Not at all. It is challenging and exciting and keeps me sharp.

The song “Faith” is about being a “wild feminist” in the 21st century. I feel that most Western feminists never really speak up for the real serious issues that are still happening all over the world to women, such as child marriage, forced hijabs, genital mutilation etc. and are rather occupied by simply jumping on to that “trendy-calling-oneself-a-feminist” train. What is a wild feminist in the 21st century to you – what are the issues that she should speak up about?

Faith is not necessarily about being a “wild feminist” in the 21st century, it is much more about finding strength in making your vulnerability visible and not having to mimic a masculinized concept of vulnerability vs strength. I am bare, I am hurt and I am powerful. I feel that Feminism has turned into a Pop-Culture Tag and a marketing tool. Within Pop it seems that the act of Self-Expression and SexualFreedom has become the only essence to Feminism. So more than what I would like them to speak up about, I would like them to understand that merging “Feminism” with Consumerism and Individualism is Patriarchy’s trump (for lack of a better word). I wish “trendy-calling-oneself-a-feminist”’s would put in the work it takes to be political by reading up on Dworkin / Firestone / Hooks / etc., learning more about the movement’s intellectual history and understanding that Feminism, without the active goal of an institutional and social change, becomes meaningless. From there on, everyone should decide for themselves what they want to speak up about as long as it moves out of that shallow sphere and becomes purposeful.

“I set very limited timeframes for my songs and accept the song for whatever it has become within that time. It makes working intuitive and personal, which means more to me than striving for perfection.”

You produced and directed the video by yourself. Do you prefer to work on your own or it was an act from necessity?

I always have a very clear vision of what the visuals should be, and for the last two tracks I just wanted to build a visual story that fully relied on my own energy.

How do you know that a song is perfect and you can stop working on it?

I set very limited timeframes for my songs and accept the song for whatever it has become within that time. Faith for example was written in 2 days, and has not changed after that. It makes working intuitive and personal, which means more to me than striving for perfection.

Where can we find you on a Friday night?

In Schwuz, sweating up a storm, reliving the 90’s while lip-synching for my life.

The best advice ever given to you…

Take responsibility for your actions and you will always be free.

soundcloud.com/sumera
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