Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I am an independent artist from Porto, Portugal, and currently based in the Netherlands. I create music in a variety of genres which I feel creates a unique and personal style. I feel inspired by many great artists across various genres and since a young age, developed a passion for both composing music, writing and performing live. During my childhood, I luckily grew up in a good family dynamic and loved listening and vibing to quality music from artists such as Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Chuck Berry, among others including Portuguese musicians like Miguel Araujo and Rui Veloso. I’d always enjoy the music playing and would often sing along. Having had access to a guitar from early on made me really wish I could play music so one day I decided to grab that guitar and ask for guitar lessons, so that’s how an already musical childhood impacted my musical direction. As the years went on, I discovered more artists both from the genres I grew up with and totally new genres and artists and this wide and varied music taste and the inspirations have played a role in shaping my own style and my own music.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “SC King”?
A: To grow my fanbase, I plan to and keep making connections within the industry, not only online but also within the music scene where I live and meet new artists in musical settings like gigs, open mics, concerts and support more local artists and get to know them and possibly collaborate in music projects, songs and even in live performances. I also plan on taking my opportunities and show interest in performing live, as I have already done during this year. I also find the support from other artists I connected with also online, the music communities, authenticity as well as radio stations and music blogs who feature my music quite important when it comes to growing my fanbase. I experience that the support, the networking and my presence in a supportive music scene both locally and worldwide (from strong online networking) will help me a lot in achieving this goal of growing my fanbase.
For anyone still about to discover my music, I want you to know that every song I write comes from a real place and that you can identify with and see a part of your own story in mine. I thank you for giving my music a moment of your time and stick around as there’s a lot more coming, and I’d love for you to be part of it.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Well, that is a question I often struggle with because the reality is that I feel that every artist I listen to and the new ones I discover, each inspire me in an unique way. But if I’d have to highlight the strongest inspirations, would say Joanne Shaw Taylor because of her guitar skills, powerful vocals and for her music also giving the blues and rock grooves that I love. Her music is very inspiring to me and is indeed also inspiration when it comes to music making, not just because we seem to share the fact that we create music also in the blues and rock genres, but her skill, talent, passion, type of voice and stage presence is something I really appreciate. I highlight her for these reasons.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Memory Blues.”?
A: Memory Blues is a song which has personal meaning because it is a storytelling I created based on my early memories which I remember the meaning and comfort present in them. Memories never really leave you, their details can fade and blur as years go by, but I took advantage of that to reimagine the details of those memories and write the story, music and lyrics for Memory Blues. These memories make me feel good and it is joyful to bring them back to life even with some reimagined details. Memory Blues was a very comforting song to have written for the meaning and story it holds.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: One word to describe my sound for potential listeners is the word “Authentic”. That word to me really is the essence of my music and sound.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Memory Blues”?
A: With Memory Blues, one challenge was that the memories I was writing about were already blurred, they weren’t crystal clear. So I had to reimagine the small details, almost like piecing together a dream. The tricky part was keeping it true to myself and my early life growing up in Porto, I didn’t want to invent something that felt off or very distant from my early life. So, I leaned on emotions and a nostalgic and feel-good atmosphere to make those moments come alive again in the music. That process helped shape the dreamy, nostalgic tone of the song. The recording process for this one went smoothly at times delayed due to technical issues, but when those happen, we have to adapt and be patient. I looked at the positives of technical issues and saw the delayed studio sessions as an opportunity to practice even more and ensure that when the studio session would finally be happening, to be fully ready even with the delays or setbacks along the way.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: The message of my music is one of honesty, connection and expression of emotions and creativity. I also really want my music to resonate and for listeners to find their meaning in them and understand the feelings I’m expressing through them. Connecting with people through my music and bringing people together as well as expressing myself.
In terms of goals as an artist, I want to keep building a community and network in the music scene, keep learning with new experiences and challenges – you really learn during your whole life, so there is always a chance to learn and improve as artist and person; to collaborate with other great artists I admire and also with new artists, to have many memorable performance opportunities, to inspire people, and to be happy as an artist in the music industry and world. The only place I will only feel rich is in my soul, not with money, but with great and soul fulfilling opportunities and moments to cherish for a lifetime.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: My dream artist to collaborate with would be Joanne Shaw Taylor. I think that because of the energy in our music, the fact that we both have a rock or blues groove and a passion for music. It’d be a joy and a dream to collaborate with her. Be it on a song, or in a live performance. For me the dream isn’t in fame, it is in a truly great musical time, and I think if I would collaborate with this artist, that would happen, for the great energy and sound we could deliver. Therefore, she is a dream artist to collaborate with.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: My advice is to never give up. It can be hard when we do not get accepted somewhere, when things don’t go as planned, when criticism isn’t well given and rather than feeling constructive it makes us feel demotivated. But when you have a passion for music, when you acknowledge that you have the talent, believe you can do it, and you practice, work hard and give everything to being successful in the music industry and doing a music or music related career, you will succeed. So, the key things here are hard work, practice, passion, motivation and also to remember to never give up. Sometimes things will not go as we expect, but if we persevere and keep pursuing our goal, without giving up, together with hard work and dedication we have every reason to succeed.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: I’d love to do that actually. I would tell a younger me to keep going, to keep believing in yourself and working towards your goals and when things are hard, keep doing your best and remember to stay kind and compassion to yourself and others, appreciate what you have and that the future ahead is bright. No matter which path you choose to go on later in life, make sure it makes you happy because once you get into it, you’ll feel happiest. I am proud of you.
It is not fully different than my advice to others. But really, if I would go back and see a younger me, I’d tell them exactly this advice because a younger version of me often would need this advice said exactly this way because this way is a motivating one.
