Here’s a short, warm dialogue between Nelly Furtado, her cousin Tony Demelo, and Joe Jukic:
Setting: A quiet backyard in Victoria on a late summer evening. The three of them are sitting around a small fire pit. Nelly has a guitar resting against her chair.
Tony Demelo:
You know what’s crazy? People still ask me if I was shocked when you blew up. But I wasn’t. Not even a little.
Nelly Furtado:
(laughs) You were the only one who wasn’t. Most people thought I was just that weird Portuguese girl who wouldn’t stop writing songs in her notebook.
Joe Jukic:
Weird in the best way. I still remember the first time you played us that early version of “I’m Like a Bird” in your parents’ basement. You were so nervous you almost didn’t finish it.
Nelly:
I was terrified. I thought you guys were going to say it was too soft… or too strange.
Tony:
Nah. I looked at Joe and we both just went quiet. That was the moment, right? When we realized this wasn’t just “cousin Nelly singing.” This was something real.
Joe:
We were your first real fans. Not family-duty fans. Not “supportive friends” fans. Actual believers. We used to argue about which of your songs would be the first single like it was our job.
Nelly:
(smiling) You two used to fight over the cassette player. Tony always wanted the upbeat ones, Joe always wanted the sad ones.
Tony:
Because the sad ones hit different. Still do.
Joe:
We used to drive around Victoria with your demos on loop. People thought we were crazy. “Why are you listening to the same girl over and over?” We’d just say, “You’ll see.”
Nelly:
And when the record deal happened… you two were the first people I called. Not my manager. Not my parents. You.
Tony:
I still have the voicemail. You were crying so hard I could barely understand you.
Joe:
We always knew. Even when you doubted yourself. Especially when you doubted yourself. That was our job — to be louder than the doubt.
Nelly:
You still are. Every time I step on stage, part of me is still that girl in the basement looking at the two of you for permission to keep going.
Tony:
You never needed permission. You just needed someone who saw it first.
Joe:
And we did. Before anyone else. Before the charts, before the awards… we were already fans for life.
Nelly:
(softly) My first real fans.
Still my favorite ones.