Lake In Autumn

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart

Buzz Hummer Music and History

The singer, composer and musician Buzz Hummer (63) was born in Toronto, Canada. His interest by music started when he was teen. “It was on February 9, 1964, when The Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan, 2 months before my 10th birthday,” he comments.

Buzz usually practices music one or two hours a day, five to six day per week. “It depends on my schedule, but I try and keep it in my daily routine,” he adds. His parents always were supportive in his music journey. “They paid for lessons, drove me to lessons, bought me my first guitar, and gave me lots of encouragement,” he points out.

Asked about the difficult in the beginning of his musical career the artist tell us it was the same one he faces today, getting noticed. When he began studying classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, he studied with Carl Van Feggelen and Eli Kassner.  “Much later, I took blues lessons from John Tilden, a successful Toronto studio musician,” he says.

Initially the lessons were paid by his parents, and then he paid by his own way. His first guitar was a gift from his parents; the next two were money from summer jobs as a student. “Like half the kids in the world, I was inspired by The Beatles and wanted to be in a band,” he remembers.

The artists that inspired him were: The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Andres Segovia, Muddy Waters among others. His first public performance was a high school dance, when he was in high school. Buzz says the money he got from it was enough to pay the gas in the car. About the feeling of that experience he emphasizes: “I just love music.  When I play and realize that's me making that nice, it's a great feeling.  If someone in the audience likes what you're doing, that's a wonderful bonus when you see that you have made someone happy”.

Buzz started writing music as a teenager.  “Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, and had no life experience to draw on, so I had nothing to say, and those songs have long since been forgotten,” he comments. Buzz says he often hears successful songwriters say that their songs just write themselves, and he believes that.  “Of course, you have to nudge them along, and have to be equipped with the tools and knowledge to do that,” he adds.

In his writing process he tells us he rarely says: ‘I'm going to write a song.’ Usually he picks up a guitar or sits at the piano and starts noodling.  “If I stumble over something that sounds interesting I will play with it and see where it goes or where I can push it; somewhere in that process a bit of a lyric will suggest itself – a line, a word, a phrase – and I ask myself what that's about.  If I can relate it to a current event or life experience I'll play with it until the lyrics are flushed out.  Sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes the song refuses to reveal itself and so it takes more work; but it's always fun,” he reveals.

His favorite songs written by himself are: Stone In My Shoe; This Dream; Starshine; Omar Khayyam; Down To You; and Cash In The Bank. His latest album Let's Face It is available on iTunes with the songs: Stone In My Shoe; Cash In The Bank; Costs A Lot To Live; Down To You; When The Revolution Comes; Profit For The Man; Who's Gonna Care?; Watch Out; Drifting; The Next Best Thing; On The Take; Ain't Going Down Easy; Leave Me; Have Mercy; Let Oil Have Its Way; The Riders; Change This; What's Real; A Major Loop; and Why Else Are We Here?.

Buzz is an artist solo and has no label, the artist emphasizes he is in the music by love it. “As a youth I studied music and initially played in bands in high school and played a few dances; towards the end of high school, I switched to folk and acoustic music and played with a friend in coffee houses around Toronto, sometimes for free but never making much,” he adds. When it was time to go to university they went their separate ways, and Buzz switched again, studying classic music at the University of Toronto and classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of music; and then he took up a career in computer consulting.

Since he has retired he has pursued his passion for music in various ways.  He was in a classic rock bar band, playing guitar and keyboard, for six years.  “I write and record original songs, then put them up on the internet and hope someone notices,” he says.

About the difficulties in the music industry Buzz argues that there are so many talented musicians and not enough ways for them to get noticed.  “There seem to be fewer and fewer live music venues each year, and with it being so easy for young people to generate ‘beats’ on their computers, the barrier to entry is very low; it has always taken a lot of talent, a lot of luck and incredible perseverance to succeed in music, and I accepted a long time ago that I was in music because I loved it,” he points out.

Asked about what he expects to happen in the future of the musical world Buzz tells us: “when I was young, many of us believed music would change the world; I don't hear that ambition or relevance in most of the music that is being made now, and that's sad”. To find out more about the Buzz Hummer's work visit: Buzz Hummer Blog; ReverbNation; Facebook; MySpace; SoundCloud; Twitter; and YouTube.

by Zel Florizel

André de Brito Music and Life

The singer, musician and songwriter Andre de Brito was born in Lisbon, Portugal though, the artist prefers to call himself a ‘citizen of the world’. “I am the least patriotic person in the world,” he adds. His journey in music began when he was five years old but taking piano classes. “In that time I was too dumb and I quit piano lessons,” he comments.

Brito tells us that during his teenage years he used to practice guitar a lot, sometimes up to twelve hours per day; nowadays he divides his times on singing and composing. He chose the guitar because of its portability; he could bring it everywhere easily. His parents were his greater supporters; they always paid his instruments, music classes, and encouraged him to carry on with his projects.
   

About the difficulties in the beginning of his career the artist says it was complicated to find people to play with and venues to perform and he argues it is still a struggle. Brito plays guitar, piano, bass guitar and he also ventures himself on drums, percussion and saxophone. On his music path he took classes in several music schools. “Two important teachers on my music trajectory were: João Charepe, who opened my mind up to the different vocal techniques; and Pedro Madaleno in terms of music composition and theory,” he emphasizes.

Brito comments he usually listen to diverse music genres. “Some musicians may influence me in terms of vocal expression but not in composition field; I would say in terms of vocals some of my references are Mike Patton, Freddie Mercury, Sinatra,” he adds. About music composition he says he is currently attracted to a mix of pop and funk style like Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown, among others. “I’m inclined to enjoy so different things, from Pat Metheny to Nine Inch Nails, from Bach to Bjork,” he points out.

His first performance was in Almeda, his hometown in Portugal; he states he cannot remember the place's name because it was a long time ago; he received no money from this gig. Although the performance went on pretty good he was nervous and excited on the stage.

In addition to singing and playing different musical instruments, Brito is also songwriter and composer. He started writing music when I was around fifteen to sixteen years old. “I have written music from pop to rock up classical music, and other genres; I am not a religious person but I believe music comes from our spiritual side, like an empty box in our brain where creativity flows from nothing,” he reveals.

Brito says his writing process is quite diverse: he can pick the guitar up or sit down on the piano, and just come up with some musical ideas and then move forward or he may start with the lyrics and the vocal melody. “There are times as well as the entire song shows up in my head with vocal melodies and instruments included; walking seems to have a creative effect in me as well; I get musical ideas on the most bizarre moments as well,” he comments.

He tells us his writing process is to try to translate the musical ideas on his head into a physical product; this could start by writing the chord progression or part of lyrics but he also works differently like for instance by creating a beat on a computer and record his vocals directly to see where his creativity flows and what comes out. “Other peculiar stuff I do is to watch movies while composing particularly lyrics; sometimes I use something an actor said or a word or phrase triggers something inside me,” he describes.

Brito have collaborated with the singer Melanie Spencer which resulted on the music project called MEL, a pop soul project that started in 2010. Two of their songs are available on YouTube: Crazy, and Shine. “These songs are from our second album called ‘New Soul’ released in 2014,” he adds. Brito tells us he generally doesn’t like the songs he composes; however, there is a ballad called ‘I Can’t Say Goodbye’ written by him that he really appreciates.

   

He has an extensive discography of over 15 albums from different projects using different artistic names but he is currently focusing on his pop music project with some funk influences. “I am about also to release a new CD until the end of 2017. My body of work is very eclectic since I am curious about different musical genres,” he points out. He reveals that in his recordings he invites some musicians who are his friends and better instrumentalists than him.

He signed with the indie Swedish label PR Records with his project MEL but his projects solo are still released independently. Brito argues that there are so many ways of promoting music although it is difficult to be noticed. “People give more importance to someone who makes covers on YouTube rather than someone who makes original music;” he laments. The artist tells us he uses social media but he thinks it also distorts the reality and takes away the mystery around the artist.

Brito comments he loves the creative music aspect of making something out of nothing. “I love working in the recording studio as much as I like performing live,” he emphasizes. Asked about the music meaning in his life he takes a long breath and says: “It means everything, it sounds cliché but it is real... I don't care about fame, I care about music quality”.

In addition to his music career, Brito also does voluntaries gigs; one of them was an improvisation with actors in a performance style called ‘Playback Theater’ that involved people with rough background such as formers drug users. “They would interact with the actors and I would improvise music on top of it; this would help them recover psychologically speaking,” he describes.

Inquired on his expectation in the world’s musical future Brito points out: “I hope that some of the artificiality in music that is perfectly evident nowadays goes away and we focus again on music quality; now we have artists on Top40 that can't even sing, they can't play an instrument, they don't write or produce their own songs; you take a look at someone like Stevie Wonder or Prince and you could see real raw talent there; and they were control freaks in terms of their work and creativity”.

And to conclude our interview Brito emphasizes that music is what makes him happy, and he tries not to waste his time with negativity. To learn more about the artist’s please go to: André Brito Official Website; Fan Page; Twitter; and YouTube.

by Zel Florizel

Giuseppe Brai Music and History

The singer, musician and songwriter Giuseppe Brai (56) was born in Oristano, Italy. Giuseppe started to be interested by music when he was eleven years old; at the age of fifteen he began playing acoustic guitar. Between gigs, compositions and training the artist devotes three to five hours per day on music. On the weekends he can dedicate more time on his art; during the week he has other professions actives, he works in the production department of a company that produces organic food.

After obtaining an accountant diploma he was called to work in his family’s company; thus, his teenage art project became even more complicated. The artist tells when he was twenty five he stopped playing, and devoted himself entirely to the business what absorbed all his energy. “I started playing again with no great ambition; however, my passion had never faded and in 2007 I took my acoustic guitar and started playing again, after so many years and so much rust, it was not easy but from that moment on I never stopped,” he adds.

Giuseppe tells us his parents always helped him financially when he started on music. The artist says he tried to emerge in Italy for more than five years; several famous artists listened to his song, but he had no return about it, actually he performed in his country in several cities. “I attended lots of contests some very important but I always had to face female great voices sometimes with bad songs. The judges in Italy always prefer great voices instead of the singing songwriting performances. That’s why I decided to address English speaking countries where there is more attention for indie artists,” he argues.

His main instrument is the acoustic guitar, Giuseppe learned it by himself; his first guitar was simple and he did not have to spend much money to buy it. “I love guitar, for working reason I stopped my music passion at the age of twenty five and for a long time I worked in the family business. When I started playing again I wasn’t as good as when I was young. Now I’m a good musician but not a great one. I perform with my guitar from time to time but not always,” he reveals.

His musical and cultural background in general, have always covered the Anglo-Saxon world and in particular the culture and music of the United States and Great Britain. He has a profound knowledge of English and American literature and has been fond of Celtic music, country and folk. His inspirers from a very young age were Woodie Guthrie, Jim Croce and Bob Dylan. His music is also influenced by John Denver, Neil Young, and Johnny Cash. His first performance was at a music contest in Tuscany; actually he was five years old. “It was the first time I was on stage. It was frightening,” he adds.

His first song was written in 2010, the artist thinks it was late in his life; however, music has always been the dream of his life and as soon as his job left him more time he started again to chase his dream. “My great inspiration and my muse is my partner Elena. Every song I have written is dedicated to her; particularly the one I released a couple of months ago titled Elena; she has been co-writing with me, she’s very smart, very good in English, and also performs as back vocalist in my latest production,” he points out. Writing has always been something Giuseppe has never abandoned in his life. “I have always written about everything, articles for local newspapers, reviews for magazines specializing in my business, poetry and short novels,” he comments.

Giuseppe usually plays his guitar every day, someday for few minutes, someday for hours. “When I play tunes come to my mind; I usually compose first and immediately I try to find the first lines of the song; maybe the words are not the best at that moment but this helps me to go on; if I consider a good tune what come out from these work I record it to keep save and make a professionally recording in the future,” he adds. His first album is titled “Dreams”, at present he has only released digital music. The artist says there’s not a song from himself he loves most, and all his tracks he has written professionally in the last two years are very good for him.

David is an arranger, sound engineer and drummer that usually work with him in his songs. Giuseppe supports all the costs of recording, producing and distributing his own music. “Music is the dream if my life, I work really hard on my music; I can go on in singer songwriting or only songwriting or also as a producer; but music is my life,” he emphasizes. The artist says us he is addressing completely to English speaking countries, so he has performed live in Germany and UK why these countries are near Italy.

For Giuseppe music is what make him happy, the artist adds when he is feeling down he used to listening to Dylan, Young Denver, U2, and others, what bring his happiness back. About the future of the musical world the artists says: “I hope to find labels more proactive towards Independent Artists. I know artists that are maybe better than Ed Sheran or other famous singer but are still unknown”. What make Giuseppe angry is the lack of loyalty and honesty. “A smile in a child makes me happy, sunrise and sunset makes me happy, emotions are the salt of life,” he points out. You can find more about Giuseppe Brai on: Giuseppe Brai Fan Page; YouTube; Twitter; iTunes and ReverbNation. 

By Zel Florizel 

Steven Vagovics Music and Life

The singer, musician and songwriter Steven Vagovics (21) was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. The artist says he’s been always interested by music. “As soon as I was five years old I started to play on the piano keyboard and on the drums,” he adds. In the beginning of his learning on guitar, Steven used to practice four hours per day; but now, because of his classes – he is also a music teacher – and his music career, he has been practicing about an hour a day every day.

The artist tells us his parents have helped him through his entire journey on music. “Without their support, I would not be able to buy a guitar or to produce my music,” he points out. Like most of the indie artists, Steven faced a lot of difficulties in the beginning of his musical career. “One of the main ones was my struggle to find some mixing engineers to help me craft my debut album. Then there were band rehearsals. To this day, I am trying to find some people who I can jam with. It is quite hard”, he reveals.

His main instrument is the guitar; about his music learning, Steven comments he is almost completely self-taught. “My dad showed me some basics when it comes to drums, but when it comes to the other instruments, I primarily taught myself on my own” he adds. His first guitar was paid by himself from his pocket saving.

The artists how inspire him are bands like: The Beatles, Radiohead, U2, Coldplay among others. His first public performance was around October 2015. Steven tells us it was just a fun little experience for his parents and for the parents of his classmates. “It made me feel quite energized; but there was this little weird feeling that I messed up the entire performance,” he comments.

Steven started writing songs seriously around 2013. His first recorded song was called Glancy; it even became an opener for his debut album called ‘Autumn’s Fall’ recorded in 2015. Asked about his writing process, the artist argues: “This is actually one of the most difficult questions that a songwriter can get, I think; it really depends on the song itself; sometimes it begins with the lyrics, sometimes with the melody or it both comes together at once”. 

On the Album 'Autumn’s Fall', Steven counts with the mixing engineer Kevin Stokley. “I've also tried to work with some other audio engineers but unfortunately, it didn't work out very well,” he reveals. 'Autumn's Fall' contains the songs: Glancy; Wonderful Day; Perfect Time; Come To Me; Eventually; Autumn Sunsent (Interlude); Buttlerflies; Part Of Me; Goodbye; Seens Like Yesterday and Autumn's Fall. 

In November 2016, was released the US Mix EP 'Steven Vagovics Volume One' with the songs: Perfect Time; Part Of Me; We All Stand Together; Glancy; Sing For Paris feat Ivana J. In August 2017, was released the acoustic EP titled 'Steven Vagovics Acoustic Sessions' with: Come To Me; Eventually; Part Of Me (on the piano); and Seems Like Yesterday. And his newest US Mix EP is called 'Steven Vagovics Volume Two' released on September 2017 with the songs: Cloud Nine; Come To Me; Eventually; Wonderful Day; Goodbye; and Follow Me.        

Steven says competition is, in his opinion, one of the main difficulties in the music industry nowadays. “We are living in a time when ordinary folks like me can record and distribute their music, which creates an avalanche of new artists and recordings,” he emphasizes. However, the artist adds that music is his fountain of happiness, a kind of relaxation, and an escape from the reality we currently face in the world.

Asked about his expectations in the future of the music in the world, he ponders: “I think that the streaming services will get even bigger and take up the role of the primary distribution service. I can't say that I'm happy about this scenario because I've always liked and always will like physical copies of music, such as CDs or vinyl”. To find out more about the artist's work visit: Steven Vagovics Official Website; Spotify; iTunes; SoundCloud; ReverbNation; Fan Page; YouTube; and Twitter.

By Zel Florizel

Daniel Moon Music and Life

The singer, musician and songwriter Daniel Moon was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He started to be interested by music when he was seven years old, having piano lessons. “My passion for the music started when I was at the Dom Pedro Hotel, in Vilamoura, Portugal; there was a pianist who played very well, so I wanted to start to learn it,” he reveals. His first performance was at the Music School of the Lisbon National Conservatory playing piano solo; at the time he was nine. “My teacher (who was Russian) was pushing me hard. So I felt the responsibility and I was nervous,” he reveals.

The artist tells us he practices music everyday and practices more writing songs. “About the time that I practice it depends of the day, because I am also a music teacher here in Portugal; that’s the way I invest on my project right now,” he adds. Daniel’s father was his great supporter, all his music formation was helped by him, and the artist adds he will be always gratefully for it. His main instruments are Voice and Piano. The artists that inspire him are: James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Jamiroquai, Robbie Williams, among others.

About the difficulties in the beginning of his career, he points out financial, promotion and book gigs: “all the financial effort is done by myself, It’s me who pay the studio to record the songs that I write and it’s me that pay to the musicians to play the others instruments; on promotion, here in Portugal to get the songs on radio it’s not easy because you need wedges and I don’t have them; that’s how it works unfortunately; and about book gigs, I am looking for agents who can book gigs for a project with ten musicians like mine, because every musician has to be paid, I wish to get much more gigs than I got until now,” he argues.

Daniel tells us he started writing music very early, but it was not great compositions. “I only started to do good songs with the time and doing mistakes,” he says. About his inspiration to writing, the artist says each song comes from different kinds of inspiration. “On the song ‘Be Different’ the inspiration came when I was almost sleeping but the TV was on; and it was showing Mercedes publicity which the follow phrase: ‘where others find obstacles, you find a passage’; then I wake up and started to write. The song ‘Give More’ I wrote with my eyes closed with a recorder on my side, and I was just singing melodies and recording, a few months later I wrote it on the piano,” he reveals.

His favorite songs written by himself are: ‘Please,Come Back To Me’, recorded on September 2016; ‘Give More’, recorded on September 2016; ‘Be Different’, recorded on May 2016; and ‘Precious Love’, recorded on January 2015. His first Album called ‘Be Different’ was released on March, 2017.

Daniel doesn’t have label and prefers managing his career by himself. “I had label, but now I am independent; and from the experience I had, I prefer to be independent; my opinion is that a label don’t want to help you as an artist at all,” he advises. In his performance Daniel counts with: Amando Filipe on the Drums; Miguel Menezes on the Bass; Ricardo Amaral on the Guitar; João Barreiros on the Keyboards; Rodrigo Lage on the Trombone; Tiago Cordeiro on the Tenor Saxophone; Jorge Barroso on the Trumpet; Carla Ribero and Lola Corista on the Back Vocals; and himself on Voice and Piano.

Daniel tells us his incomes come from the music classes he gives, but his goal is to make money with the music he does and gives more gigs. Asked about what he expects to happen in the future of the musical world, the artist says: “I hope that the media promote what they really think is good and don’t pass music that just pays more to pass, because that influences people's way of living and thinking; a good choice will always be good for the future quality of life of the young, especially”. What bothers Daniel is to fail and what makes him happy is to succeed. If there are some businessmen, agent or promoter who wants to contract Daniel, please contact him by: daniel.moon.singer@gmail.com. To learn more about the artist's work visit: Daniel Moon Official Website; Twitter; YouTube; Facebook; and Instagram.

By Zel Florizel