Mutestare

First, tell us a little about yourself and what kind of musical education you had.
No musical education at all besides listening to other people’s creations. I got progressively used to all kinds of sounds, pretty much all kinds of genres and in a way i became desensitized to what would ordinarily be shocking or novel audio palletes. But this took a while, of course; maybe early into my twenties. I remember my sister showing me nirvana when i must have been about 6 or 7 and me dreading the screaming parts, but liking it besides. Playing the playstation one’s Final Fantasy games also had a lot to do with my musical initiation, i feel like. Those soundtracks, especially FF8’s, entrenched themselves deep in my psyche in ways that, when looking back, i’m extremely grateful for. Probably fostered my affinity for ambient music, which would resurface much later. I don’t know, i’ve been listening to more “serious” music since about fourteen, and then eventually i discovered RYM and found out that there are sooo many different genres and i wet my nose on a lot of them and got my music taste honed in. Fortunately i learned not to say no to anything just based on a pre-conceived idea. 
A little about myself then: I’m Portuguese, i was born kind of into a single-child role because my mom and dad were 45 and 47 at the time and my two, much older sisters, had already moved out by then. Good childhood, lots of playing with friends, RPG’s alternating with exploring and being outside, in a small village. Nowadays i feel like an adult (which i am), for better or worse. I’m good with life though. 

Which artists have influenced you the most?
Starts of the lid, Tim Hecker, Mark Hollis and Talk Talk, Formication, Hoedh, Deaf Center. Along those lines.

Besides, obviously, wanting to express yourself, what do you look for through music?
It’s fun and frustrating to compose. I feel like i should be doing something creative. A lot of the time i don’t necessarily like it to be honest.Passion for it only comes sporadicly, although i feel compelled to do it. I try not to force things though, that’s why this last project took so damn long to finish. 

How did the Mutestare project come about and why did you choose this name?
I’d been playing music with a bit more direction throughout my early twenties, mostly with a friend, or a couple of friends; guitar-based, screwing around with noise-influenced textures on terrible equipment. Then trying to get something out like early starts of the lid. Eventually I bought a synth and started doing music on my own. The name sounded ok at the time, now it sounds silly haha. A weird, intense, uncomfortable gaze. For both parties. 

"A Violet Wind" was the first album of the Mutestare project and it was a sort of concept album. How was that album born and where did the idea around which it revolves come from?
It’s conceptual because to be honest for me it’s much easier to think of an image or a scene, or even a storyline, and go from there. I’m definitely not special in that regard by any means, probably a lot of ambient-based musicians opt to do it like that. I just ran with the storyline idea. I find it to be very hard to make music totally unprompted, without a set of images to generate a direction for it. Without proper musical training or natural ability i’m left with very little to begin with. At the time of making “A Violet Wind” i was big into the “get out there, put yourself out there into the discomfort and embrace it.” It’s almost a cliche nowadays, but the internet and the era of westernized, industrialized-comfort brought that about as a natural counter-reaction. Basically the character in the album leaves his job and goes into the woods in hopes of encountering an idealized picture of life and gets kidnapned by aliens and completely disassembled and purgatoried. Reward for not trying to fix your problems the correct way, and running from them into a wishful-thinking world. 

On your Bandcamp page, the music of the album is presented as "haunting, insistent, droning music for rainy days". And then there is the following note: “Don’t run; don’t avoid; comfort does not equal solace; eyes all around your head, mouth as an exponent of a higher truth. All will be good, no aliens." Do you want to tell us more?
It reflects what i said in the previous question. That was the idea. I still totally believe it. Doing the right thing and saying the truth will get you very far, no matter what. People who for whatever reason have never came into contact with this frame of mind in a true meaningful way may get snarky because usually, until you experience itin some sort of embodied way, it’s never real; always abstract and in the distance. I do think we can be conduits for that “higher truth”, if we get our bodies functioning to their individual best, and so our thoughts clear. When we get there our intuition and our innermost feelings become louder and, i believe, more aligned with what’s correct for us. I’ve been there on and off (i think), more off than on unfortunately, but there’s a big difference indeed. 

Did the cover of "A Violet Wind" have a special meaning?
Not really. I like purple skies and telephone-pole wiring. 

And now we come to your new album, "My House Is Full of Faces", another concept album. It took you seven years to make it. What has changed in this long period of time?
In the meantime, I moved to the capital, got my life better oriented (more financial security, that’s the biggest difference), and so more at ease in general. I still use the same setup though, same synths; same technologies. I’m lazy when it comes to changing things of that sort. A shitty computer that made it a pain to mix the busier parts. As far as the music process went, the main difference was that i wasn’t in a rush whatsoever. I don’t think this reflected in an increase in mixing and mastering quality, but i honed in my sound a lot better, got much closer to what i wanted originally with “a violet wind”, mood-wise. I’ve remade entire songs more than once, which i didn’t do at all with the first. I’ve gotten a new laptop since i finished this last album, so the next one will hopefully be better produced. 

What does the cover represent?
Childhood, thinly-portraid parents, golden sun, a pretty women’s profile, a good dog, the randomness of having smudge-painted bathroom tiles assorted into what seems like a portrait of Nietscshze above my toilet. All of it may allude to loneliness, in some distant or not so distant way.

How do your songs usually come about?
There will be some thematic idea of how i wanna approach a given track and i’ll go from there; find sounds that i think will fit that idea without being too restrictive. I’ll do a “draft” for the track and i will move to the next one. I’ll finish the album this way and then i’ll do several run-throughs until i’m happy with it. 

What kind of relationship do you have, if any, with the Portuguese scene?
I don’t. Like i said i’ve been playing music with a few friends over the years but this is not the “Portuguese scene”. I’m quite despondent about the Portuguese scene, to be perfectly honest. 

What are the ten Portuguese albums, let's say rock and related (but you can also think of electronic music, etc.), that you would recommend to someone who wants to start getting to know the scene of your country?
I don’t know about ten, but I’ll say that bands like Linda Martini, Glockenwise and Bruno Pernadas have put out some great stuff and are still active. Nuno Canavarro’s Plux Quba is more than three decades old now but it’s the most distinctive and interesting electronic-based Portuguese record i’ve ever heard, so check that out too. Ornatos Violeta and older Xutos e Pontapés were alse pretty good.

Do you already know what your next album will sound like?
I’ve got an idea of a set of themes i want to approach. I read the Nag Hammadi scriptures and then a book called the Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception back to back, which are totally mind-bending and provide a very interesting take on cosmology. Take them at face value or not, doesnt matter much for music making, the pictures are definitely generated in my mind and so are some of the sounds. I think i’ll go from there. Will try not to force anything once again.