Have a Cuppa

Wow.  I was asked to be interviewed for the Oasis Living Magazine October 2012 issue of their "Have a Cuppa" section for the band, which is just a little Q & A session.  I twas fun!  Check it out!

Here is the link to the original article!

Have a Cuppa with Lisa Cotturo

Published: Monday, October 01, 2012

English Teacher by Day, Desert Groove's Lead Vocalist by Night Q: How long have you lived in Al Ain? This is going on my third year now. Q: What brought you here and where are you from originally? I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Then I got tired of the cold, so I moved to Las Vegas. Then I got tired of being poor, so I accepted a fellowship with the U.S. State Department to teach at Alexandria University in Egypt. I really enjoyed that and decided to stay in the region and ended up here at Al Ain Men's College, where I teach English. Q: How long have you been singing and playing with Desert Groove? Almost since I got off the plane. The first thing I did was start asking around if anyone knew any other musicians or bands I could get in with. I've been playing for about 15 years and the one thing I wasn't able to do in Egypt was find another group of musicians. Cairo would have been OK, but Alexandria, no. I really missed it. Desert Groove happened to need a singer and I got right in. Q: Do you ever get nervous performing or do you bask in the limelight? I get nervous when it's a new place and a new crowd. I don't know why. Once I've played somewhere and I get comfortable with it, it's OK. But a new place and a new crowd frazzles me a little bit. Q: What inspired you to start singing? I was one of those kids that spent hours alone in my room in front of my mirror, pretending I was singing in a band. It's something I've just always loved to do. I never really thought I was good enough to do it as a job or even as a part-time job. Not until I sang at a passenger talent show on a cruise ship and people were coming up to me afterwards saying, "Hey, you were the girl that sang. You were really good. Are you in a band?" When I said no, they said, "You should be." After that, I pursued it a little and I've been doing it ever since. Q: Who are your musical inspirations? Oh, that changes. I mean, I love David Bowie; he's one of my all-time favorite musicians. I can't sing a whole lot of David Bowie, since his range is slightly different than mine. One of the first singers I tried to emulate would be Pat Benatar. I liked the rock and roll, the high notes; that's fun for me. Q: What's your favorite Middle Eastern experience to date? I spent my 40th birthday at the pyramids in Egypt, doing the Susan G. Komen breast cancer awareness run. It's only like 2 km, but the ambassadors of Egypt were there with their bodyguards, and everyone was wearing their pink shirts and pink hats. That was a lot of fun. Q: What is your favorite city and why? In the whole world? That's tough. Even before I started living abroad, I started traveling because it interested me and living abroad became a way that I could travel more. I'd have to say Key West, Florida is still my favorite. Key West is very accepting of all kinds of people. It's still very much a 'do your own thing,' 'dress how you want,' 'be who you want' kind of city. I love the weather, the ocean, scuba diving… and it's a very free place to be. Q: What is something that most people are surprised to learn about you? I spent eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve. That usually shocks people. Q: If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Probably, being that I'm Italian, it'd have to be spaghetti with tomato sauce. I could eat that forever. Q: What are you passionate about? Right now, I'm passionate about animal welfare. I help Animal Welfare Al Ain out when I can. Some colleagues of mine and I have started a group at the college with some students to go out to pet shops to help educate them on how to care for animals. We're involved in the catch and release program, too. The students are actually volunteering to put together booklets to educate people about how to care for and treat animals. Some of them are really into it, and it's really nice. Q: When you retire someday in the future, where do you hope to be? I don't know if this is an answer or not, but I don't think I've found it yet. I'm still searching for the place where I'd want to retire.