A Swedish singer/songwriter and “21st century hippie”, Mathias Melo has quickly become known for his warm, tender lyrics and charming stage presence. Influenced by soul, jazz and pop, Mathias’ unique style has already seen him winning awards and garnering attention from big names in the industry. Melo’s silky vocals together with his busy, melodic guitar are a winning combination and demonstrate his sophisticated pop songcraft each and every time.
We spoke to Mathias Melo ahead of the release of three exciting new tracks, premiering on Music Crowns.
Hi Mathias – thanks for taking the time to chat to us. Where are we speaking to you from?
Hi! I’m in Sweden, living and thriving around 70 kilometres from Gothenburg now.
Can you tell our unfamiliar readers a bit about the music of Mathias Melo?
I would say I’m a feel good singer songwriter with a lot of soul, pop and jazz. Singing songs about life and I’m truly grateful for that.
We’ve been really impressed with your songwriting skills at Music Crowns HQ, can you talk us through your songwriting process?
I think it’s very important to first have a purpose. What do you want to say? For me it’s important that I’m writing about the truth, or at least my truth. I find it hard to enjoy playing made up stories. I like to be a little witty when it comes to the lyrics and to be playful with the words. When it comes to the melodies and chord progressions I play around a lot and try not to be too critical – dare to suck!
So a little while back you swapped a professional football career for one in music. What made you decide that’s what you wanted to do?
Well, football was my identity back then (about 8 years ago) and I was really fed up with the competition side of it. I didn’t feel happy and I asked myself what i really wanted to do.
So I just threw myself off the cliff and so far I’ve been enjoying the fall.
Have you ever looked back?
Of course! I still love the game and if I knew what I know now about life, my football career would have been much different.
Where do you tend to gather the most inspiration from?
I listen to a lot of audio books whenever I do things in auto-pilot like driving, walking or cleaning. I try to feed myself with meaningful information. I try to use the things I learn combined with experiences from my own life. I love to meet people and talk profoundly about life. I love the acoustic stage and try to listen to artists that play their own music as much as possible.
You’ve been working with Veteran guitarist/producer Tommy Denander. How did that come about?
Tommy is a part of X-level, a production company I’m signed with. Last year we went to LA and I attended at Musexpo. I won Global Music Awards “Gold Medal Winner” Emerging Artist & Gold Medal Singer/Songwriter after the show. So me and him we work closely together, he gives me a lot feedback on the songs I write and that’s really helped me to develop my writing skills.
Who are your favourite artists at the moment?
I love listening to Paolo Nutini’s live concert at Pinkpop 2014 when I work out. Frank Sinatra when I’m in the kitchen, Jason Mraz whenever, Andra Day, Martha Wainwright’s Edit Piaf album, Tingsek, Allen Stone, Bernhoft, Laleh…. I need to stop now…
What would you say sets you apart from other artists?
I would say use my voice some how different than other singers. I like to scat and I’m quite percussive with it, I use the guitar as if it was a percussive instrument and I do the mouth trumpet pretty well.
Have you got anything exciting in the pipeline our readers should be keeping an eye out for?
I don’t want to jinx anything in the pipe!
Socials
www.mathiasmelo.com
Facebook.com/mathiasmeloswe
Twitter.com/mathiasmeloswe
