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1) We’re excited to be speaking today with talented multi-instrumentalist and composer extraordinaire MARO; welcome to our humble pages, MARO!
Before we dive down the proverbial Q&A rabbit hole, how has your 2022 been treating you? I’m good, thank you! Just finish ed a month tour in Portugal and I’m about to release the new album, so everything is good!
2) Congratulations on the upcoming album can you see me? which is set to premiere on August 26! How did this lovely album come into existence? Is there a Secret Origin story you could share with our readers?
I did it all with my best friend and amazing musician John Blanda. We planned a few days by the beach, in Portugal, to surf and write music, have fun. It was so good and productive that we decided, later that same year, to do a bigger trip, wrap up what we had started and write more music. It was all just because we love to create and spend time together, and it ended up being this record that we so excitedly want to share.
3) How does can you see me? differ from some of your past work? How is it similar?
Different in the production side of it, less “live” & folky, more pop, electronic. But similar in the way that it’s as honest as anything I’ve ever done.
4) Who was your producer on can you see me? and what did that collaboration look like in the studio?
I produced it all with Blanda, the friend I just mentioned. We didn’t really go to studio, except to wrap up some little details. Instead, we created the whole thing while traveling from house to house, with the computer, mic and speakers. It’s very home-made, really.
5) What are you most proud of with the release of can you see me?
I think just the fact that we’re actually putting it out and moving forward. We started this at the beginning of 2020 and then, with covid, it got particularly tricky to wrap it up and get things moving, and release it. I’m just so incredibly proud that we pushed hard, stayed motivated and didn’t give up on it, now releasing it so many months later.
6) can you see me? is such a lush and full album; can you introduce some of the talented musicians that lent their musical talents to the new album?
We didn’t really have a lot of musicians on this record, Blanda & I did it, in general, by ourselves. We were lucky enough to have 4 special features (2 pairs of my siblings, actually!). My brother & sister lent their vocals to a lot of the tracks, Gabriel Altério plays drums on “like we’re wired”, “but now I let you go” &”secrets I’m trying to keep”, and Pedro Altério (Gabriel’s brother) also sings on “but now I let you go”. Everything else is on us. There’s a very very special guest on one song that I will be sharing soon…
7) We’re huge fans of we’ve been loving in silence off of the upcoming can you see me? album. Is there a special story behind this incredible song?
I mean, I think the lyrics say it all (hehe)
8) What do you hope fans walk away with acer giving can you see me? a few dozen spins?
Hopefully they’ll enjoy it as much as Blanda & I do – and did while making it – and can, in any way, relate to it!
9) Your roots are in the beautiful country of Portugal. How do those particular origins inform you as a person and as a musical artist?
I think they are everything. I am the way I am because of my origins. The language I speak & my culture have direct influence on the music I listen to and how I sound, as a singer and composer, for example. Then the family-oriented life, sun/beach, food… I think all that molds me & my personality.
10) On the heels of the release of the new album can we look forward to seeing you on the tour circuit this summer and into the fall?
Yes! I’m doing my first headline tour in the US, this September (2022).
11) Who do you enjoy listening to when you’re not creating your own music?
A whole lot of different artists… Never easy to give a short answer to this question, but I can tell you who I’ve listened to today so far: Sérgio Godinho, Téo?, Chico Buarque, NASAYA, Tom Zé, Vic Mirallas…
12) No less of a champion of your music than the legendary Quincy Jones signed you early in your career. What did that sort of vote of confidence from one of the music industry’s leading figures mean to you?
I think it’s always a big motivation booster to have someone you admire “approve” your work, showing love to what you do. It’s a confirmation that I need to keep pushing & doing what I love.
13) As a singer and songwriter, which comes first for you – The lyrics or the music?
Both, at the same to me. Obviously in some cases, music first, others lyrics first, but in general, they come together, to me.
14) You won the Festival da Cancao 2022 and represented your home country in the Eurovision Song Contest this year, too. Can you talk about what these honors mean to you?
I am just, still, so grateful that people in Portugal liked me & the song enough to trust me with it. Representing my country felt amazing & I’m happy as I really did something that was true to me.
15) Final – SILLY! – Question: When and where were you happiest? Hmmm… maybe in 2018?
When I moved to LA and, for the first time ever, didn’t have to go to school or do things I didn’t want to do. It was the first time ever I was only doing what I love, with two of my friends that live there as well. I also, for the first time, had a room for myself which is a massive game changer! Ahah
