ned roberts tem apenas 21 anos e carrega toda a melancolia de quem ouviu muito bob dylan na vida. com seu violão e uma gaita ocasional, o menino inglês liga a webcam de seu quarto coberto por pôsteres e faz covers arrebatadores. no seu repertório cabem muitas versões de dylan, algumas de joni mitchell, outras de leonard cohen. e, também, composições autorais, como “dark brown eyes”, que me lembra tanto nick drake que chega a arrepiar.

o garoto se divide entre york e east sussex, na inglaterra. está no terceiro ano da universidade, onde cursa inglês e filosofia. tem vontade de seguir carreira como músico, mas ainda não pensa muito sobre isso. por enquanto, pega o violão, tenta encontrar sua voz, canta com o coração e emociona gente em qualquer lugar do mundo.

confiram a entrevista que fiz com ele por e-mail. brigada, sino, por me mostrar esse menino tão lindo   =)

* when did you start to sing?

Well, I’ve always done singing from time to time, in primary school choirs and things like that. But I stopped singing in a choir at around 14. When I was 15/16 I remember sitting at the piano and singing and writing songs, or attempting to write songs anyway. But it’s since I first picked up the guitar when I was 17 that I have been singing almost every day. It’s since then that I’ve been finding my voice.

*  what moves you to sing?

What moves me to sing? Well, a desire to sing great songs I suppose. It’s also quite therapeutic for me as well. It can be quite an escape to totally inhabit the song you are singing.

* what inspires you to sing?

Ah perhaps the first reason I gave to no 2. That there are many great songs to sing, and to be fully in command of a song you are singing is a very satisfying achievement. But that only comes with time, as I sing the song more and more. I suppose what also keeps me motivated is that the better you know a song, the more you can do with the vocal, change it around, put little subtle intonations in here and there. Actually some the stuff of youtube is quite old now, and was when I had only recently learnt those songs, so I would hope that I can sing those songs with a better understanding when I perform them today.

* do you remember the first time you ever listened to bob dylan?

not specifically no. It was probably when I was 11 or 12. My dad bought The Essential Bob Dylan, and then the next year bought me and my brother the three acoustic albums. (Freewheelin’, Times, and Another Side)

* is he your favorite artist?

I think I would have to say yes. There was a time when I only listened to Bob Dylan, when I first started to really discover him properly, when I was 16/17. Nowadays I still listen to Dylan more than any other artist but I love all sorts of other styles as well. I listen to a fair bit of jazz, the Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Wayne Shorter type stuff, obviously the other 60s acoustic artists like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young etc… I suppose I have many favourites but Dylan definitely holds a special place.

* which are your major influences?

Well Bob Dylan would certainly be my primary musical influence. Aside from that I’m really not sure. I’m sure that I’ve been influenced by many many different people, places, situations, that I can’t pinpoint specifically.

* do you compose as well?

I do a little. But it takes me quite a long time. I keep planning to record a small EP’s worth of songs. I think I have 5 or 6 of my own that I’m reasonably happy with. But it’s something that I would like to get a lot better at.

* do you plan to make a career in music?

Ah! What a question. I don’t know whether I ‘plan’ to, but I certainly would like to. It just doesn’t seem all that realistic. But yes, that is what I ideally see myself doing. Unlikely I know.