Silvana Estrada Live in the Studio

Summary

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Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: Silvana Estrada Live in the Studio
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Guest: Silvana Estrada (Latin Grammy-nominated musician and songwriter)
Theme: Creative self-discovery, grief, and hope in music

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around Silvana Estrada’s upcoming album, "Vendrán Suaves Lluvias" ("There Will Come Soft Rains"), her evolving artistry, and the profound personal experiences—including loss and homesickness—that inspired her new songs. The conversation explores her creative process, reflections on grief, embracing vulnerability, and her commitment to authentic self-expression. The dialogue is punctuated with live performances and intimate songwriting insights, inviting listeners into Estrada’s world of Latin American folk and resilience.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Inspiration Behind the Album Title

• Poetic Roots and Hope Amid Darkness
  Estrada shares how the album's title is drawn from a 1918 poem by Sara Teasdale ("There Will Come Soft Rains"), which she first encountered in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles as a child. The poem imagines nature’s endurance, even in humanity’s absence—an image Estrada finds luminous rather than bleak.

  “Even if we don’t have the clarity to stop any war … even if humanity disappeared, the spring and the wind and nature is gonna be here anyway... There’s something really hopeful about that.” (02:00, Silvana Estrada)

• The sense of gentle renewal became central to the album’s vision, inviting listeners to "feel like the breeze and, you know, the softness of the rain." (03:00)

2. Live Performance: “Lila Alelí”

• Songwriting as Diary and Decimas
  After performing, Estrada explains that “Lila Alelí” began during the pandemic as part of her experiment with décimas, a traditional ten-line verse form. The song was born out of homesickness for her hometown and heartbreak, serving as a private diary of longing and loss.

  “I discovered I was super, super homesick. All of these décimas were about my hometown… nature, the flowers, the river. And also, I was a little bit heartbroken by that time.” (07:50, Silvana Estrada)

3. Processing Grief and a Creative Pause

• Loss of a Friend and Restructuring Life
  Estrada candidly addresses the impact of losing her best friend, which led to creative paralysis and existential questions. She describes the challenge of finding meaning and restructuring her beliefs following this tragedy.

  “After knowing that death exists… it’s so silly, we all know that we’re gonna die. But something happens when a person you love dies in a very violent way—it turns the whole world upside down.” (09:43, Silvana Estrada)

• Writing as Healing
  Music was both elusive and ultimately healing:

  “Feels like music doesn’t love you anymore a little bit… But then I, I never quit. I always tried and tried and tried—until one day, even without noticing, I was like, oh, I have a song again.” (11:02, Silvana Estrada)
  She recounts that her creative breakthrough came while staying at the late Chavela Vargas’s house on a residency.
  “I don’t know, maybe just being at her house—maybe she came to you.” (11:55, Alison Stewart & Silvana Estrada)

4. Live Performance: “Al Norte”

(From Estrada’s first EP Primeras Canciones)

5. Why Self-Produce the Album?

• Estrada explains her desire for authenticity and agency, having struggled to communicate her evolving vision to outside producers. Pushback and prescriptive advice led her to take full creative control for the first time.

  “I just want to do what I want to do… there’s no other thing that matters to me, at least, and it’s my album. So we better should do it fun and do it freely and, you know, let’s put our hearts on it.” (16:56, Silvana Estrada)

• She openly discusses the challenges of organization and linear thinking in the production process, but credits collaboration and creative freedom for the album’s sense of joy.

6. Intentions and Hopes for Listeners

• Beauty and Hope Amid Sadness
  Estrada hopes the album brings a sense of wonder and renewal, even as it acknowledges sadness and pain:

  “Let’s acknowledge that this world is… difficult, and to be alive, it’s a bunch of pain, but it’s also a bunch of beauty. In order to feel fully, you need to feel both things: beauty and terror.” (19:19, Silvana Estrada)

• She wants listeners “to find a moment to fall in love with life and fall in love with hope … to feel their hearts, whatever it is inside.” (19:45)

7. Live Closing Performance: “Vimi”

• The episode concludes with Estrada previewing “Vimi” from the new album.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the meaning of hope in darkness:

  “Even if it’s a super dark poem, I always found it super bright and luminous and beautiful.” (02:16, Silvana Estrada)

• On creative burn-out and existential reflection:

  “I guess I’ve been trying to give sense to my life… After knowing that death exists... it’s so silly, we all know we’re gonna die. But something happens when a person you love dies...” (09:10, Silvana Estrada)

• On writer’s block after loss:

  “If there’s someone listening with writer’s block, I swear it’s gonna go away.” (10:53, Silvana Estrada)

• On self-producing despite doubt:

  “I never produced anything... I mean, I produced a couple of songs, but an album, it’s another thing… I’m really bad at organization and linear thinking!… But it was actually pretty fun to do it that way.” (17:31, Silvana Estrada)

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Timestamps: Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |---------|------------------------------------------------| | 00:39 | Introduction to Silvana Estrada & new album | | 01:44 | Influence of Sara Teasdale’s poem | | 03:11 | First live performance: “Lila Alelí” | | 07:33 | Songwriting process during pandemic, décimas | | 08:43 | Grief and need for a break | | 10:41 | On writing music after loss | | 12:38 | Second live performance: “Al Norte” | | 16:29 | Producing the album herself | | 18:59 | Hopes for what listeners will take from album | | 20:20 | Final performance: “Vimi” (album preview) |

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Summary

This episode offers an intimate look at Silvana Estrada’s healing through music, thematic richness of her new album, and the gentle power of hope in the wake of loss. Her thoughtful conversation with Alison Stewart and emotionally charged performances highlight the importance of creative autonomy, the solace found in art, and the invitation for listeners to embrace both beauty and pain as part of life’s spectrum.

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Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Latin Grammy nominated musician and songwriter Silvana Estrada is set to release a new album. It's titled Vendren Suavus Juvius, which translates to soft rains will Come. It's the first since her critically acclaimed debut Marcita back in 2022, which the new York Times called a tender snapshot of a young woman wrestling with the pain of lost love. Returning to her unique blend of Latin American folk, Silvana's latest album reflects on a life changing period of self discovery, the tragic loss of a close friend, and reconnecting with her intuition. And with me now is Savannah Estrada, here for a special live performance and to talk about the new album, which is out Friday, October 17th. But she will be at National Sawdust this Sunday for an album listening session and a Q and a at 6pm Sylvana welcome to all of it. Hi.

[Silvana Estrada]

Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

So the title of your album comes from a 1918 poem by Sarah Teasdale. Tell us about this poem and how it inspired you.

[Silvana Estrada]

I was very young, I was a kid and I was reading this Chronicas Marcianas, this book from Wright Bradbury. And the end of this little tale was, you know, this poem, this Sarah Teasdale poem, which the actual name of the poem is War Time. And yeah, I was very young and I was very moved by this image of, you know, the poem basically says like, even if we don't have, you know, even if we don't have the clarity to stop any war and we keep in this violent path and even if, you know, humanity disappeared, like, you know, the spring and the wind and the nature is gonna be here anyways with us or without us. And there's something really hopeful about that. Even if it's a super dark poem, I always found it super bright and luminous and beautiful. And that image of the soft rains sticked in my mind for many, many years. And I was writing songs for this album and one of the songs, one of the verses says Vedrans Suaves Juvias there will come soft rains. And then I was like, oh, this is the image. This is the image I want for this album. For the people to feel like the breeze and, you know, the softness of the rain.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's hear a song from your album. What are we going to hear first?

[Silvana Estrada]

Yeah, this is Lila Aleli. Saka la.

[Alison Stewart]

That was beautiful. That was Solana Estrada. Would you please introduce the person sitting to your. I guess your left.

[Silvana Estrada]

Yeah, this is Joe Graz, directly from Canada. Yeah, hello. Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful person, beautiful guitarist, player, beautiful multi instrumentista. And yeah, I'm really excited to be here playing duet, all these tunes we've been playing with the band. So we're, you know, figuring out how this is working. You know, just two instruments and the.

[Alison Stewart]

Last song we just heard. Tell us a little bit about that song when you wrote it.

[Silvana Estrada]

Okay. This last song, Li La li. It's a song that I started to write, I think during the pandemic, because I was learning to do Decimas, which is like a. It's like a poetry form, super traditional from my region and it's all around Latin America. It's like this 10 verses form with specific ways of combining the la Rimas and the vocals. And yeah, I was learning to write Decimas. And I get, you know, during learning all this format and doing my own Decimas, I discovered I was super, super homesick. Yeah, I discovered that all of these decimals were about you, my hometown and how I miss my, you know, the nature, the flowers, the river. And also I was a little bit heartbroken by that time. So, yeah, it's a. It's a really kind of a. Kind of my diary, you know, this song. It's like all the things was going on in my heart at that time.

[Alison Stewart]

I understood that you took a break from music for a little while.

[Silvana Estrada]

Will you tell us why a break from music? I don't know if I actually had. I don't know if I took a break of music, but I definitely had a rough time. Yeah, Yeah, I guess, you know, I was very tired. I've been doing this for. For a long time. I'm not, you know, I'm still young, but I started very, very young. And I've been touring since very, very young, and I was very tired. And also I, you know, I lost my. My best friend. And that really. Yeah, that was super hard to process. I guess I was trying to like, understand my, you know, why am I here? Why am I alive, you know, and not, you know, why I am then the one who, you know, kind of survived or. And I've Been, I guess I've been trying to give sense to my life and music. It's great for exactly that. But at the same time, you know, I was kind of trying to, it took me a while to understand like, what's the purpose of doing songs, what's, you know, what I'm doing with my life. After knowing that death exists, it's so silly. We all know that we're gonna die. Something happens when a person you love dies in a very violent way. It's like turns the whole world upside down and you need to restructure your, basically your thoughts and your beliefs and your joys and your dreams. And I did that. And it took like three years to do that. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Did writing music help you process the death of your friend?

[Silvana Estrada]

Yeah, yeah, big time. Yeah, a lot. At the beginning was very hard. You know, the first year after that happened, I was not able to write. It was super scary. If there's someone listening with writer's blog, I swear it's gonna go away. But yeah, it's super scary because. Feels like music doesn't loves you anymore a little bit. No, it's like, oh, wow, she's turning her back to me after I've been with her all this time. So yeah, it's super scary. And I felt so lost and I was also a little bit angry. I was like, oh, well, I'm gonna also turn my back to you, you know. But then I, I, I never, I never quit. I always tried and tried and tried and tried to write until one day, even without, even without noticing, I was like, oh, I have a song again. And then it came to you. And then another. Yeah, wow. Yeah, I was actually at Chavela Vargas house. I don't know if you know her, she's a, she's like a really historical singer from Mexico. And I was doing a residency at her house. She passed many years ago and Yeah, I don't know, maybe just being at her house, maybe she came to you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.

[Alison Stewart]

It's a little woo woo, but it might be true.

[Silvana Estrada]

No, I'm definitely with you on that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest is Silvana Estrada. She's here to give us a preview of her forthcoming album. I'm gonna try it again. Venzran Suaves Juvias.

[Silvana Estrada]

Yeah, Vendran Suaves Juvias.

[Alison Stewart]

I was close. I was close. We're gonna hear another song. What are we gonna hear?

[Silvana Estrada]

We're gonna listen to Al Norte, which is a song from my first ep, Primeras Canc As a child. Vaya stone Vayastu vayastu Sam.

[Alison Stewart]

That's Silvana Estrada. She just performed a song called Al Norte. You produced this new album? Yes, yes. Why was that important to you?

[Silvana Estrada]

Well, for so many reasons, I guess. I was. As I was telling you, I was a little bit lost, so it was really hard to, like, speak my mind to other people. And I started to have, like, this, like. I don't know, I was, like, trying to make a point and say, like, hey, we need to do this especially. I started, you know, this album trying to work with producers, and it was a little bit hard to me to like, hey, I really want to do this. And it was like, I always received this type of, like, no's, like, big nos, like, no, we can do that. You cannot repeat yourself. You know, all these rules and a little bit of, I don't know, expectations of what this album should be after the first one. And I was like, no, I don't. I don't. I just want to do what I want to do. Like, there's no other thing that matters to me at least, and it's my album. So we better should do. Do it fun and do it freely and, you know, let's put our hearts on it. And yeah, at some point, I decided to do it myself because I was a little bit tired to, like, feel like, you know, I need to fight for my vision. And I was so tired, I was like, no, I'm not gonna fight for my vision. I'm just gonna do. Do it myself. And, yeah, that was a long process because I. I never produced anything. I mean, I produced a couple of songs, but an album, it's. It's another thing. And it's. And also, I'm a very, like. I get distracted very easy. I'm not a. I'm really bad at, like, organization and, like, linear thinking. Linear thinking. I'm really bad at it. Really, really bad at. It's. So it was a super, like, hectic travel just doing this album and producing it. But, I mean, I was lucky enough to find great musicians and beautiful people who helped me. And I guess what I did was just taking decisions in terms of who I wanted to work, what I wanted to be, like, the sounds. And then I also allowed a bunch of people just to create with me. And. Yeah, and it was actually pretty fun to do it that way.

[Alison Stewart]

When people listen to your album, what do you hope they feel? What do you hope they think about?

[Silvana Estrada]

Well, I hope for them to, you know, find a. A little time for beauty and to, like, for, you know, fall in love with life. It's an album full of hope and full of light, even if, you know, most of the songs are about sad things. I think what I was trying to do when I did this album is like, okay, let's. Let's talk about the sadness. Let's not. Let's acknowledge that this world is, you know, difficult and to be alive, it's. It's a bunch of pain, but it's also a bunch of beauty. And in order to feel fully, you need to feel both things like beauty and terror. So, yeah, I hope for everyone who listens, who listens this album just to like, yeah, find a moment to fall in love with life and fall in love with hope and. And maybe, I don't know, get to feel their hearts, whatever it is inside.

[Alison Stewart]

We're gonna hear the last bit of our album. We might have to dip out of it, but keep playing because we're gonna play it again. It's from your forthcoming album, Vendran Suaves Juvias. What are we gonna hear?

[Silvana Estrada]

This is Vimi.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest has been Silvana Estrada, sa.

[Silvana Estrada]

Sing la sa.

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[Silvana Estrada]

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