Cootie Catching with Manny Moura

Written By: Penn Elaine For GRRRL Music

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A conversation about her debut album, “a crush is a creative act and her creative process, and then we find out what word describes her crushing style using a cootie catcher!

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Manny Moura is living in the cloud of a fantasy of her own creation. With a bubblegum pink vibe and soft romantic aesthetic, her debut album a crush is a creative act is inspired by a crush she had, but more specifically it deals with her own emotions and feelings while submerging us into the land of limerence and desire.

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, she has lived in the United States for half of her life, so she is in between both countries and is immersed in both cultures. She has always had pop music. Pop music is what she grew up with, and has shaped her to be who she is. A crush is a creative act is an intimate, folk pop, and vulnerable project, while she wears her heart on her sleeve and gives us a peek inside of her mind.

Manny: “[Pop music] is about a sense of belonging, being in between the places and moving so much and the cultures, it was a place to hold on to, like ‘this is what is home’, going back to the artists that I love, and that I grew up with, and that I can feel like they know me.”

manny moura

Penn: “Having a crush is the creative inspiration. Back in school it was almost like a hobby - and I think music is the perfect medium because it is accessible, relatable, and storytelling at its core. How does songwriting create a fantasy space for you?”

Manny: “Well, I think that having a crush was always my main inspiration when I started writing. I was like, ‘What do I do with all of these feelings?’, and I had to put them somewhere. When you are writing you sort of exaggerate and dramatize everything and it is just a nice place to go where you feel in control, because a crush is really just something you make up, so you are basically controlling the whole thing in your mind… it’s not like a real thing. So that is how I sort of associate having a crush with the songwriting and the fantasy and everything together – it's a way that I can create my own world.”

Penn: “I like that, I wouldn't have thought of it in the way of like, this is how you can take the situation and live in it, and make it a space for yourself by writing it down.

“I was watching an [instagram] video, and I liked when you said “certainty kills limerence” and “it lives in the in between real and fantasy”. You put so much time and care into the background of the album. Not just the songs, but [the album] is a whole reality and fantasy. You referenced A Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux and The Lovers Discourse by Roland Barthes, and you also brought up “Enchanted” by Taylor Swift.”

Manny: “I love “Enchanted”, like that song really changed my life when I was however old, 12 or 13 when it came out.”

By the way, Manny has an Enchanted tattoo.

Penn: “Oh yea, I have goosebumps. What other inspiration went into your entire creative process? Whether that was internal, a crush, a time period you remember or hold onto, how did those inspire this project?”

Manny: “It is a specific thing that I went through, a specific crush that was unrequited and you know, caused a lot of turmoil inside that made me write these songs. And I think those references that you mentioned, I didn't set off and be like, ‘Okay I am going to read these books, I am going to listen to these songs, and write this album’, it's just like, I've always been so interested in obsession and desire and romance – the idea of fantasy, so that is always what I consumed. Even when I was just like, very early teens up until now, so it's always been my reference and I think it just comes out when I have to write. When I was making those videos explaining limerence and talking about Simple Passion [and] The Lovers Discourse, [they are] just things that I remember like, oh this really had an effect on me and makes sense within the world of this album. I am so glad that you feel like the album has a world of its own because that is so important to me. And I am a product of Taylor Swift, and eras, and creating different moments in time.”

Penn: “If you were to write a love letter to yourself or to your album, what would be important that you said to it?”

Manny: “It's funny because when I was writing this album, I was really feeling those feelings. “Object of Desire”, I was feeling so insecure and I was feeling like I had to change myself to be loved and feeling so frustrated about the situation. And I named it a crush is a creative act after I was done with the album, so I guess in my letter I would explain that idea, and I would explain that concept that I think I understood through the process of writing where, it wasn't really about the person, it was about understanding yourself and understanding your own need to escape, and how your obsession with somebody is just inside, it is like a process of your own. It isn't really about the other person and [how] that is so beautiful because you can create a whole album out of it and write so many things. So I think I would share that – how I shouldn't feel embarrassed about these vulnerable feelings [and] the insecurities that I was feeling.”

Penn: “That is such an interesting perspective, so do you think that by putting this album together do you think it helped navigate or heal by walking yourself through those feelings you may have felt differently about in the past?”

Manny: “Definitely, and I think it definitely helped me heal, and when I wrote the songs I felt so close to it and so attached to it that I couldn't even imagine putting it out and I think that seeing that from a distance it's like, ‘Oh, I can look at my feelings from back then and then think, I made a song out of this and that is really cool’. And that is why a crush is a creative act, because it is fulfilling to me to create things, and not because it's about this great love that I didn't get, you know? “Specifically I am saying this because this crush that I had was very internal, it was not a relationship – it was a limerence thing. When I speak about that, that's what I am saying, because I think it's different when the other person is very involved.”

Penn: “Like you said, certainty kills that limerence. How did you develop your tracklist?”

Manny: “The tracklist was done before we even recorded it, because I wrote all the songs on my guitar alone before I brought it to the producers. And we had like ten days to record it in the studio and I already knew the order that I wanted because I'm very annoying about the story that I want to tell and how things happened and I wanted it to feel like there was a conclusion. The tracklist was very important, like the order.”

What word best describes your crushing style?

Penn: “Did you ever do these? I made one for us to play with. You're a libra right?”

Manny: “Yea, what are you?”

Penn: “I am an Aquarius! What signs do you find yourself crushing on?”

Manny: “I do have a thing for air signs, like if you are an air sign it is more likely that I will have a crush on you, so Libra, Gemini, Aquarius.”

Penn: “Well they are the best signs.”

Manny: “I think it's like an intellectual thing because air signs are thinking all the time, and I need the person to be like, talking to me all the time and having conversations. There's a charm to it that I really love.”

A-I-R.

Penn: “So there are a few different tropes in the media that relate to crushes. So, do you prefer a fangirl type, y/n crush type of thing? Or a slow burn?”

Manny: “Slowburn, always.”

Penn: “Okay, enemies to lovers or girl next door?”

Manny: “Probably girl next door.”

Penn: “The word I am going to give you is infatuation. It makes me think of having an adjacent window and twirling your hair in the kitchen.”

Manny: “Yes those are so fun, and I love the word infatuation, it is one of my favorites.”

Penn: “These words are just so beautiful and eloquent that, yea in fact I will have a crush, I will have a little creative act.”

Manny: “Exactly. The aesthetic of it - my Libra sign is coming out - but the aesthetic of the words, the writing, everything around it is so fascinating to me. I think you get it.”

It was a huge pleasure to get to chat with Manny Moura. She is so thoughtful, and takes great care of her creative self. You can stream a crush is a creative act wherever you stream your music, and you can find more of Manny Moura here!!