Meet Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer. The gorgeous performer acts, sings, plays a slew of instruments, and she writes. You may have seen her on the Nickelodeon show, The Fresh Beat Band, or caught her playing Gina Mendes on CBS’s Criminal Minds. BMG music signed her last year as a songwriter, and this year she recorded her first solo album. Her first video, “Havana,” debuted last week.
Man Cave Daily: What was the inspiration for the “Havana” video?
Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I wrote it about my parents coming to the United States from Cuba, and the song speaks to the sacrifices you have to make sometimes for a better life. I also think that when you love something or someone so much it just becomes a part of you.
MCD: So how does the story of the kids in the video parallel the story of your parents coming to America?
YGN: Well, it doesn’t necessarily parallel the story at all. What’s interesting is that the older couple in the video, who are actually friends of mine, that’s their story, which is crazy, because I didn’t even know that. I just asked them, “Do you want to be in my video?” and they were like, “Of course!” and I told them what it was about and they said, “That’s our story!”
As for the story of my parents, I didn’t want the video to be a literal representation of their story. I wanted it to be more like a short film that captured the spirit of the song. I thought doing it that way was a cool idea.
Pure awesome, that is.
MCD: So is “Havana” part of an album, or are you just releasing the single?
YGN: “Havana” is part of an EP, and I’m going to be releasing a song and a video every couple months or so online. All with the same theme as “Havana.” You’ll hear elements of latin, urban, and soul. I’m also releasing the album under the name Ava Gold. I love the name Gold because of the line “Stay gold, pony boy” from The Outsiders. When he says that line, he means “Stay pure, pony boy.” It’s all about staying pure.
MCD: As long as your agent’s not on your case trying to get you to become “Ava Platinum.”
YGN: That sounds like a porn star name!
MCD: It says on your website you’re a quadruple threat.
YGN: [Laughing] Who wrote that?
MCD: Which of the four are you most passionate about?
YGN: Obviously music is my passion, for sure, I mean I love singing. I love playing instruments too–I play guitar, piano, violin, probably violin is my favorite.
MCD: If you had to choose, would you rather become successful in music or acting?
YGN: That’s a hard question. At the end of the day, as long as I’m doing what I love, I’m good. If I had to pick one, I guess I’d pick music. But I’m just happy being creative.
As are we, Ms. Gonzalez-Nacer. As are we.
MCD: You worked with Justin Bieber. What was it like working with the Biebs?
YGN: I feel like everyone who’s worked with him gets asked that question!
MCD: Yup.
YGN: It was cool, man. We were doing a skit and a song for this Nickelodeon event. So he came on the show I was working on, and he was really nice to me. We had a cool time working together. He’s a really talented kid. He played that “Baby” song.
MCD: So you’re involved with an Alzheimer’s charity and a you wrote a short story for Chicken Soup For The Soul. How did that come about?
YGN: I did, it was published last year. Chicken Soup For The Soul: Living WIth Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias. It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to me. One of the reasons I work as hard as I do is I want to create a platform so I can be as useful to mankind as I can be. I created a non-profit called “Creative Minds Care” and one of its first undertakings is finding the cure for Alzheimer’s.
My grandmother died from the disease, and it’s hereditary. The thought of my dad or myself getting it, or me and of my family members whom I love so much, just worries me so much. My vision is to see a world without Alzheimer’s, and I’m working on creating an annual benefit concert, just like the ones for cancer and AIDS, that will help bring awareness to this rising epidemic. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., and the numbers are growing so fast.
At the end of the day, all we have are our memories, and without our memories, we have nothing.
MCD: You support an initiative to empower young girls through music. What’s empowering about music?
YGN: What’s not empowering about it? Growing up, music was such an important of my upbringing. It builds your confidence, it gets you in touch with your heart. When you listen to music, or make music, or experience music, you get in touch with this power that’s inside of all of us. You find strength and hope and inspiration, and we experience magic. There’s nothing more empowering than that.
MCD: What kind of b.s. do women have to deal with in the music industry that you would warn young girls about?
YGN: Oh man, I mean, b.s. is everywhere. Every job and every part of the arts. You have to really love what you do. You’re going to run into so many challenges, so many obstacles. As an artist and as a woman, you have to really know who you are. And you have to have that vision and hold onto it. If not, it’s so easy for people to get swayed and turned into something else. Having clarity of vision, even if people don’t like it, is important.
Luckiest wall in human history.
MCD: Who would you rather go on a date with: Liam Hemsworth, but he’s blind stinking drunk, or Bradley Cooper but he’s stoned out of his mind?
YGN: I’m going to tell you Bradley Cooper because my mom is obsessed with Bradley Cooper. My mom is happily married, she’s been married forever…it’s not like that in a weird creepy way. She just always bugs me, saying I have to meet him and have lunch with him. I think she secretly wants me to marry Bradley Cooper.
MCD: What about the fact that he’d be stoned out of his mind?
YGN: I’d just leave that part out when I told my mom about it.
MCD: You get to travel back in time to jam with one musician. Who is it?
YGN: Just one? Yo, I wouldn’t mind jamming out with Jimi Hendrix. I’d take out my violin, and it’d be fun to get all soulful. I’d want to play some obscure one. Or maybe “Little Wing.”
MCD: You’ve played bit parts on crime procedurals like Criminal Minds. If you played a detective on one of those shows, what would your catchphrase be?
YGN: You son of a bitch.
MCD: Last question: Red Bull and Vodka or Four Loko?
YGN: I’ve actually never heard of the second one.
MCD: Good answer.
Find her online!
Charlie Kasov will tell you jokes over and over again if you buy his comedy album, or you can just follow his tumblr, Vice In History, to learn what would happen if Vice News existed throughout history.
Charlie’s past interviews include Lil Dicky: The Skype Interview and Joe List and Mark Normand of Tuesdays With Stories.
The only man who can get away with calling his fans Dickheads.
