Through The Lens is our weekly series where we highlight current students and faculty, capture them on campus and ask them about their inspirations, advice and beyond.
What is your favorite musical memory?
The day I met “The Blues”. I was about 13 years old playing with my first guitar, an SG, along some AC/DC LP records. I used to live close to a radio station in Brazil and I had a shitty amp that caught all the interference from there. Then I heard a very cool music going on. So I stopped the records and started jamming with the radio. Then the host started talking and said the phone number. I called them immediately and asked what kind of music was that. He said: this is the Blues. I fell in love with that music and I’ve been playing blues since that day.
How do you handle mistakes during a performance?
I really don’t care about them. If it’s a live performance or live recording and as long as you are in the moment, playing from your heart and soul, there’s no such thing called mistakes. They’re just an expression of who you are. A real person, an human. But, if you are just playing scales and licks, no soul, just like a robot or a parrot, you’re already making a huge mistake.
What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?
I would say just to relax and try to shut up that voice in the mind that is saying “I’m not good enough”, “I can’t do this” etc. We all are good enough and we all can do this. We just need to believe in ourselves. And of course, practice a lot and listen to music as much as we can. When you’re over prepared you’re more confident.
What brought you to MI?
The networking.
Do you teach music?
No.