Today, I was able to sit down with Daymoon to discuss their inspiration to write music, heroes, and much more!
Interview:
What is your inspiration to write your music? Is it your surroundings?
Not usually the surroundings, no. (…although the next album will be!). Here a list of what often triggers my writing:
Musically:
– What the musicians in my band write and play outside Daymoon.
– Compositional ideas snatched from classical (often baroque) or contemporary music
– World music
Lyrically:
– Events in my personal life
– Current social and political issues
– Science
– Other people’s poetry, travel writers
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
The prog greats of the time did not impress me at all, such as Genesis, ELP, Yes, and so forth. So, up to the age of 18, I devoured:
– Queen (but gave up on them after News of the World)
– Klaatu (first three albums)
– Triumvirat’s ‘Spartacus’
– ‘Scheherazade’ by Renaissance
– ‘Numbers’ by Cat Stevens
– The Persuasions (who kept me jolly company for well over a year)
– Classical music: when I was 13, my mother offered me a large collection of LPs with the most important works of Mozart, and later I spent my pocket money on collecting all of Beethoven’s symphonies, plus some miscellaneous 19th and 20th century orchestral music.
Is there someone you looked up to as a hero?
Foremost all current and past members of Daymoon! I admire them. Other than that, I have quite a few actually:
Musically:
– J.S. Bach. Above everything and anyone else.
– The mighty Tigran Hamasyan!
– Vince Welch, whose skills as a producer and his videos about music production have changed my life.
– French genius Clément Belio, who composed and recorded an astounding album called ‘Patience’. His series of videos about the writing and recording process are among the most informative and captivating I’ve ever seen.
Other than music:
– My wife and my four daughters. Period.
– Kathy Keller, who runs her record label like they used to in the olden days, with all the incredible hard work and devotion that this involves. Without her, Daymoon would most likely have thrown the towel by now.
– Sylvia Plath, whose poetry taught me so much and at so many levels.
– The author Yann Martell, whose books never fail to impress, affect and entertain me in equal measure.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing today?
I am not a full-time musician, and that’s a deliberate choice: to survive as a full-time musician in a country like Portugal would require me to make music that doesn’t interest me. Basically, music as a craft and a trade. And as a bonus, I actually enjoy my daytime job a lot: I work as a linguist within the IT industry (and also teach private classes of computer-based music production). Other than that, I would love to have my own little restaurant, but unfortunately I know the business too well to be aware that most of it is not about cooking and being creative. Basically, cooking as a craft and a trade. Maybe I would also enjoy teaching how to forage, it’s one of my three favourite things in the world: music, cooking and foraging, done for the sake of love.
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create music?
Think well of what you want to achieve, and act accordingly. Is it money? Is it fame? Then go for well-established formulae, e.g., if it’s prog, then go for one of the popular prog genres, such as prog metal, classic prog (think Transatlantic), a mix of both (think Steven Wilson). Play live as much as possible, and don’t deviate from your chosen style. Give your act a unique, distinctive element though, you want to be ‘samey’, but also stand out from the crowd. Also, think about merchandise that you can take to your shows, it’s a major source of income.
However, if it’s total creative freedom you want, regardless of past and present trends and fads, and regardless of what people might think of your music, know that you will most likely be on your own financially, and it’s not a logical choice to make a living from. Many of the far-out acts that I know are often carried by well-off musicians, or sometimes state-sponsored, but if that’s not your case, stick to a daytime job. If it’s creative freedom that you want, let me assure you this is an extremely fulfilling option.
