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Considering my musical heritage it seems inevitable that I would pursue this musical dream. In S. Miguel, Azores, my late Portuguese grandfather played several instruments. His brother, my great-uncle, was a famed marching band score composer or 'maestro' in his village who today remains somewhat of a legend to the towns people. To this day, even after his death, hundreds of his musical scores remain under lock and key in his basement despite several attempts to confiscate them by local music-lovers. My mother sings in the church choir and my father also enjoys casual singing and has a deep interest in the Portuguese style of music 'fado', or 'fate'. These Portuguese elements and influences are very much a part of what I like to call my 'musical hardrive'.
I received my first tape recorder at age eight - I sang into the microphone and recorded songs myself. I received a keyboard with a built in scratch effect at age eleven. I was writing rhymes at age fourteen but that was a phase which only lasted a couple of months because the hip-hop culture looked so appealing to me then.
I've always been obsessed with new music. I'm nineteen years old so I can't say that my influences are Pink Floyd and Kate Bush, because they aren't. I wasn't even born. I was listening to a haunting Paris sample or a PM Dawn song with a sampled Spandeau Ballet chorus hot off the radio. I was into anything sensational and loud. It was somehow so refreshing to my young ears. Ice T, LL Cool J, Salt n Pepa, Bel Biv Devoe, New Edition, High 5, Jackson 5, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Pharcyde 'passin' me by', Del, Hieroglyphics Crew, TLC , Janet, Word Up Magazine, anything rap and R&B, DJ Quik, Young MC, Diggable planets, Tribe Called Quest or anything I could get my hands on be it a bootleg off the radio or a friend's mix tape. Prince stands vitally, somewhere in the middle.
Anything that was created using a drum machine or a sampler - at ages 14-16 I was there with bells on. The culmination of these listening experiences led to my first studio recording at age 16, belting out full-fledged R&B vocals for a friends Toronto hip-hop group.
New influences came to me as I got older and started listening to my older brother's CD player. I also went to Portugal for a summer vacation and opened up to rock influences like Radiohead, Smashing Pumkins, U2, Pulp, Oasis, and Sarah Maclaughlin. Next came the discovery of Portoisehead, whose style had a significant impact on my writing and production experiences from that point on. Especially intriguing was Beth Gibbons haunting vocal style, which I could mimic to a tee for a good year following. With this wave of influences came Madredeus, Sade, Pedro Abrunhosa, Cornershop, Amalia Rodrigues, Tricky, Prodigy, Bjork, anything Brazilian especially Bossa Nova, Hindu music, and techno in all musical forms, especially drum and bass. Throughout this period I also discovered the greatest hits collections of the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. From this point on, the door had been opened up real wide, and it only gets wider each day.
Flashy urban music of the early nineties gave me a love for sampling, technology and hip-hop. It taught me how to be a bold singer, and how to sing with attitude. The later wave of influences taught me passion and meaning. They taught me how to express emotion and melancholy, how to write songs from the heart, develop a personal style and edge to songs and how to develop a signature vocal style.
All of these influences and all of the life experiences I've had that fuel my lyrical content come together to make me, as an artist, urban folk alternative, if that helps any. Through all of my recording experiences I have held good songs in a very high place. I believe in the power of words and the mystery of a good melody. What is music until you make it anyway?
Реферат опубликован: 2/05/2006