We had the opportunity to chat with Ricardo Martins before his performance at ADAO in February 9th, 2019 about his first solo work, "Furacão", as well as his past and future journeys in Portuguese and international music.
Photo courtesy of: Vera Marmelo)
“Furacão” is your solo debut, and the songs that make up the album were released one by one for a year by the London label Jeff Records. What was the process like, and what led you to this solo adventure after making music in bands for so many years?
It actually started in 2014, after some improvisational experiments which started here in Barreiro, interestingly enough, after a performance I had here (editor’s note: at OUT.FEST 2009). Afterwards I had the urge to create something on my own, but with so many bands and so much happening it was hard to do. When I came back from Barcelona (where I lived for a few years) I started playing with people here again, I was always making music and I always wanted to create, but sometimes people wouldn’t have as much free time as me, so sometimes I would end up in the studio for hours without sharing those moments of musical creation with others (which is more or less what I do, more than ‘playing’ – I never had that approach of playing on my own and practicing, I prefer to rehearse with other people every week). So then I started thinking about making music on my own, though at the same time I wasn’t sure if I would have the discipline to make an album – I think I’d still be finishing it up now if I hadn’t found this way to “trick” myself: I’d make a song a month, put them out, and by the end of the year I had a 12 inch – that’s more or less what happened. The record then took a while longer to be released, but that’s how it happened, more or less. And I ended up discovering other things I like in this solo approach to music making and maybe it showed me I can create music on my own with a discipline I thought I didn’t have.
How did this association with Jeff come about?
The guys at Jeff are friends of mine, they had this project and I played at some concerts they organized in London, so when I had this idea they liked it and wanted to be involved – not only by releasing it but also by writing the texts that came out with the songs every month. We became a team there as well, which was what I wanted, to not feel isolated – even though it was a solo thing I always wanted to work with other people.
You’ve been making music publicly for 15 years now – did you see yourself where you are today 15 years ago? What did you imagine the Portuguese music scene would be like?
I don’t think I imagined anything… (laughs) For me that was the time when you want to make music, you want to learn, you want to do more…and I never felt satisfied with anything, I wanted to have more and different bands, explore new musical languages… That was it for me, there was no objective, but I knew that with the way I was feeling music at the time that I wouldn’t be able to give it up for anything else. But I also thought I’d have two interests going strong at the same time, because I also feel that I can’t just make music, I get too deep inside my head…so I discovered graphic design, and this way I have two interests which balance each other.
You are or were a part of many great bands in Portugal: Lobster, Adorno, I Had Plans, Cangarra, Jibóia, Pop Dell'Arte, Papaya, Bruxas / Cobras... Were there any moments with those bands that left a particular impression on you?
There are a lot of moments – above all I only make music with people I like, friends or people whose work I admire and that I challenge to make something – it all starts there. The tours were really important to me and I think they taught me a lot, there was a time we were going on two, three tours a year, and that was really demanding…it’s hard to specify a moment or a phase, though. I think the beginning of any project is beautiful, because you’re starting out and discovering things, you have that innocence, you make lots of mistakes…sometimes I miss those errors, looking for something and finding out it’s not there, all of that.
What’s next for you, musically speaking? Do you intend to make more solo music in the future?
There’s a 7 inch coming out now, maybe in May, and it’s supposed to be the opposite of Furacão, which was based on drums and idiophones. I wasn’t using everything I’m using now – pitch shifters, delays, modular and regular synths…I’ve been feeling the urge to follow that path. That’s what’s coming now – it’s all written, all I need is to record it. I’m also writing a piece for eight drum sets, which will be performed at a festival in June. Writing for eight performers was also something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time, and I hope more projects like that come along, it’s something that gets me really excited. And I wanted to have more solo projects, explore things I’m not that comfortable with….I think that working on your own is sort of like that, for me it’s a panic inducing experience, when I’m playing with a band I feel at ease, you’re in the back, you’re protected in a sense, but when I play solo it’s scary, I don’t sleep the days before a concert…I’ve got the full package. But on the other hand when it’s over you feel like you overcame or conquered something that’s yours alone…even though I never want to stop playing in bands, I want to keep on doing more and different stuff. I was talking to a friend of mine that I played with in Barcelona and he told me something which I thought was an exaggeration, but which was: “The only thing worse than practicing and playing on your own is practicing and playing with other people”, and even though I wouldn’t put it like that I feel that while playing with others is some kind of ‘monster’, because you have tons of things to understand and learn, it’s a demanding process of sharing, and playing solo is a different kind of ‘monster’, it’s you in your head. It’s a good struggle but a struggle nonetheless.
You talked about using synthesizers in your next record – how do you integrate them, as well as other sound sources, with your work as a drummer?
I’m always playing the drums, but I can be playing other things at the same time. This all began with me using an SP404 a sampler that I used to enter a different sound world while I played, to play an interesting sub-bass sound or anything else, and that helped me thing differently, play more and experiment with keys. I really think it’s time to try to do that more and more, and these solo concerts are also good for that, for trying out new things, they end up being a laboratory of sorts. I’m more interested in going through that experienced than in presenting something that super polished and finished. I’ve been having that urge to explore, and there’s something worth noting – I started making music for theatre two, three years ago, and at first I usually started with the drums, but then I started producing recorded music that would later be triggered live, and that had plenty of synthesizers, and arrangements for other instruments besides the drums, so I was already in the mood to explore that in my solo music.
