Artist statement
I am a Multi-instrumentalist, Composer, Producer. I studied classical guitar at the National Conservatory (Lisbon), Bagpipes with Paulo Marinho at Xuventude da Galiza (Lisbon), and in various workshops (Dani Belon, etc.).
I was the mentor of the bands Omiri, Seiva, Sopro, and Dazkarieh, with whom I recorded several albums and toured internationally. I worked as a musician/producer/composer with Uxu Kalhus, Né Ladeiras, Carlos Mendes, Celina da Piedade, A Cantadeira, Filipa Pais, Kepa Junkera, O Báu, Velha Gaiteira, Tiago Torres da Silva, Nação Vira Lata, Toc’andar, Rui Junior, Voodoo Marmalade, Fado Morse, Orquestra de Foles, A Mariposa, Fogo do Ar, João da Ilha, Xoto.
I am the founder of Omiri, one of the most original projects to reinvent Portuguese music. To reinvent tradition, nothing better than bringing the real players of Portuguese culture to the performance itself; musicians and soundscapes from all over Portugal playing and singing as if they were part of the same universe. Not in flesh and blood, but in sound and image, with video field recordings manipulated in order to serve as a musical base for my own composition and improvisation.
Omiri is, above all, remix, the culture of the 21st century, mixing in one show already forgotten musical practices, making them permeable and accessible to the culture of our day, synchronizing forms and music of Portuguese rural tradition with the language of the urban culture. After using Tiago Pereira’s video recordings for years, I recently decided to do my own field recordings. With this type of work, I increased my connection with the people – the reason I develop my work -, and by doing my own recordings and experiencing in the first person the wisdom of the local communities, I gained a new motivation. Following this path, and travelling through Portugal, I started to compose with my own recordings, and quickly entered a new world, in which the invitations to think about each region and create a unique performance ensued. So, in addition to the usual concerts from North to South of Portugal, Omiri can “live” in a Municipality to listen, learn, collect and show, in an unprecedented concert, who are the people who inhabit the territory. The people who make it live through their ancestral wisdom, and the new generations that make it dynamic every day.
In 2019, Évora hosted an unforgettable show where all the Intangible Heritage, translated by the local protagonists, was highlighted on the large facades of historic buildings. The same was seen in Pombal, Alcanena, Tomar and Setúbal in 2021. A multimedia show was proposed with a strong ethnographic component mixed with new trends, according to the work I usually developed with Omiri, including unpublished video and audio content collected throughout all these municipalities, and exclusively for these shows.
The videos projected (mapped) on the walls of historic buildings are the result of many hours of collections and interviews that myself and my team carry out in each location, which are fllowingly re-mixed with new compositions, presenting a peculiar vision of the arts and traditions of each county. From traditional music and instruments, songs and life stories, to iconic local crafts and characters. A unique show is created, which also proposes the participation of some professional and amateur groups (philharmonic bands, ethnographic groups, and local artists) as well as the local community, in order to create an artistic object with an even more special connection with the city and with its inhabitants.
In addition to the show, I also create a book that becomes a document of the entire collection process, with photographs of the participants, lyrics of the songs and facts relevant to the culture of the municipality, as well as some texts by noteworthy individuals of each municipality, who are either connected to it or to the project. All the music composed for these creations is also available on digital platforms. The books “Alentejo vol.I: Évora”, “Beira Litoral e Ribatejo vol.I: Pombal, Alcanena e Tomar” and “Estremadura vol.I: Setúbal” are already an example of a collection that is increasing and demonstrating that tradition is the people, their experiences and wisdom.
I am now working with Omiri to do this work abroad in other countries, and I am starting to think of my project as something that could live in any part of the world.