My earliest memory is of my sister and I climbing on the top of the pitanga tree that existed in the centre of our garden. We were about 5 years-old
I was raised in Entre Rios de Minas, a small town in the countryside of Minas Gerais, among lots of fruit trees and animals like hens, cows and horses. My mum used to listen to a lot of music from all over the world, and I grew up with this inspiring atmosphere till I was seventeen, when i moved to Belo Horizonte, which is a big city.
My mum taught me the power of curiosity. My father taught me the joy of living.
The best piece of advice I've been given is "Going slow, you get far". This was something my grandma always told me.
There were no artists in my family. I was a country boy. So I feel blessed to record and perform my songs around the world. Life has been very generous for me and i feel very grateful for how music works like a lighthouse, guiding my steps.
Caetano Veloso is one of the artists in which I have since I was a kid, coz my mum was a big fan of his music. Today i understand that i grew up having his voice and his songs as a very special reference of beauty and intelligence, and he is still a big influence for me in many aspects.
One of the defining moments in my career was the first time I played at FMM Sines, a world-music festival in Portugal, to perform with Graveola, in 2011. I stayed at the festival for a couple of days to watch some other concerts. It made a big impact to me to get in touch with such amazing groups from many countries in the world. After that i came to this festival again a couple of times and it was always awesome.
Once I met Itibere Zwarg, an amazing musician who played with Hermeto Pascoal for many years, at a time when I i weighing up putting more energy into music or following a "normal life" with other profession. Later Itibere wrote to me telling me never to stop with my music. This was massively important for me and allowed me to trust my musical path.
Brazilian culture is a special hybrid which provides some unique cross-overs. As a brazilian singer-songwriter I feel a big need to bring these inspirations to my music, together with my personal instincts.
Success is to have the opportunity to develop my personal research in art, with proper conditions to work and live, with no restrictions or expectations coming from others,
What I love is to write songs as pictures of moments in my life, remembering places and people I meet on my way. To reach places in the world I wouldnt go if it wasn't for my music. To collaborate with artists that inspire me. To express my feelings through singing and heal myself from my fears and difficulties. To feel how my music gets into the lives of the people.
I admire the films of Glauber Rocha, brazilian filmmaker from Cinema Novo movement in the 60s who has a very special style of thinking and making cinema. One of my favorite movies from him is "O Dragao da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro", a kind of an epic western in Brazilian northeast.
I´m now reading "Grande Sertao Veredas", which is a masterpiece of brazilian literature, written by Guimaraes Rosa. Its the story of a former mercenary called Riobaldo, crossing the deep lands of the countryside of Minas Gerais, with a lot of philosophical content between the lines. I'm still in the first half of the book but it really seems a great treatise about ethics and aesthetics through a very special vision from native characters.
I would tell my younger self…Listen more, talk less. (!!)
Listen to Luiz Gabriel Lopes' new EP 'Sois' here
